Just yesterday I did my first race since the Thorpewood Trail 10K back in September. It was the Byron 15K located right here on the Mount Saint Mary's University Campus and the surrounding mountainside. I won last year's race so I was hoping to be able to replicate that feat but also realizing that it would be nice to run faster than last year considering I may or may not be in as fine shape as last year at this time. The race started out about as I expected, I ended up in the lead with someone whose footsteps I could hear over my shoulder right behind me. I didn't know who it was since I like to follow a strict "never look over your shoulder" policy most of the time but I felt comfortable through the rolling first 2 miles. Then we turn onto Eylers Valley Road and head up College Mountain for about 2.3 miles. It was around this point my pursuer caught up and started pressing on my shoulder. I tried to be relatively aggressive in responding to his surges as soon as he made them but at the same time taking note of how my legs were feeling and making sure to notice if it was time to back off a bit. It is unlikely you can win the race in this uphill 2.3 mile stretch, but you certainly can loose the race here...
Eventually with about 3/4 of a mile left to go he surged and I could feel the lactic acid building in my legs and decided to conserve my energy for the downhill portion. Around the time I crested the mountain the third place runner passed me, and he was flying on the rolling section at the top of the mountain. I was pressing pretty hard to catch up to him so we could work together to catch #1 but to no avail. I think I passed the 5 mile mark in 34:41 which was much faster than last year. Unfortunately everything went downhill from there. Literally and metaphorically. I was about 150m and 300m back off the #1 and #2 runners when I turned onto Crystal Grotto Road. From here it is essentially 1.5miles downhill and then 1.5 miles rolling/slightly uphill to the finish. I started to feel cramps coming on here so I focused on deep breathes but still tried to push, to no avail.
I ended up a pretty safe 3rd place in 1h:03:00, slower than last year. My average time tells me I definately ran the last 4.3 miles much slower than last year after going through 5mi in 34:41. I was all alone on the downhill so while I think running with someone could have shaved ~30 seconds off It wouldn't have gotten me 1st or 2nd place (~1h:01) but I am OK with that. I was aggressive within reason, I backed off when I realized I couldn't quite handle the heat, and I pushed to catch back up when the opportunity presented itself. Compared to last year I am much less sore so I am looking forward to a good week of training coming up and I will check this off as a nice tempo run sort of a workout. A few pictures courtesy of Mike OGrady (blue/white singlet):
With the Byron 15K behind me that should be the last race of 2011. It has been a pretty good year overall, but I will save that for a different reflection post. For now, let us hope this mild winter weather sticks around *knock on wood* and we don't see snow for a while. Winter break here we come!
“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. That surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. So when I feel like quitting, I ask myself, which would I rather live with?” ― Lance Armstrong
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