The race was 4.7 miles long, looping through nearly all of Rotary Park's hilly trails. A big rain shower moved through right before the race, leaving us with slick spots and a little mud. Overall, the trail drained well as it has been very, very dry here lately.
Run course map. We doubled back on ourselves a few times.
I had ridden earlier in the day, doing a good interval workout. I knew my legs would not be 100% so I did little to warm up. When you haven't been running, doing a run warm-up is just taking the strength out of your legs that you will need to make it to the finish. I was not sure I could even make the distance, let alone race it. My friend Tavis, who happens to be my ex-boss, was also running. Of course, I wanted to beat him. It's not every day you get to beat up on your boss! I don't need to remind you of my recent work history that made me want this even more. He has been running a lot so I knew it would be a tall order to hang with him. And I still wasn't sure that my hamstring was good.
We started completely in the dark at 9pm. The race required us to have some sort of headlight. I wanted a big light, but could not find a suitable headstrap, so, like most of the other runners, I went with a small LED headlight normally used for setting up camp or other outdoor activities. I also busted out my green flashing glasses that I have not been able to race with yet. I deemed them my "Hulk" glasses. I was going to need to run like the Hulk if I was going to keep up with the 87 runners that started.
The start was fast and went straight up a hill on pavement before turning into some tight singletrack. I started a little slower than I normally would, hoping to ease into the effort and pace myself so I could make all 4.7 miles. My plan was to stick with Tavis early and pace off of him, then push hard as I fatigued and just simply outlast him at the end. I figured that was my only tactic. If I let him get ahead it would be hard to ever catch back up at the end when I knew I would be exhausted. He started slow as well and we entered the woods together with him in front of me.
The initial descent was packed with people and rather slow. It was good for me to get into my rhythm while Tavis was unable to get away. He tried to pass a group of people on the first open spot and slipped on a grassy bank. He went down, but popped back up quicker than he went down, still making the pass on the group. I waited until the next climb to pass the group. There was too much traffic to worry with right now. I just kept Tavis in sight and stayed on my pace. At the top of the next climb, I looked ahead and was surprised to not see Tavis at all. He had flown the coup without me knowing! I hammered the next climb and got to the front of my group, but there was now a big gap up to the next group.
I ran harder than I wanted to, but I was able to join the group ahead by the 1.5-mile mark. Tavis was on the back of the line, so we were back together. I settled in again behind him as we descended the power line dirt road from the very top of the park. Then fatigue began to creep in. We started another long climb at mile 2 and I was starting to hurt a little. Tavis passed the entire group we were with and all I could do was watch. I did not have the legs to go now. If I did, I would pay dearly later in the race.
The next descent was long and rough. I was stuck in this line of runners. They were in my way now, but there was not room to pass. I tried a few times, but found that if I went to their right, then the trail curved left. If I went left, the trail curved right. You just couldn't see far enough ahead with these tiny lights to make a pass on a narrow downhill. My hamstring began to hurt before the bottom. My initial thought was that I was done. Every time it has hurt it has progressively worsened and within 0.3 miles I am reduced to a walk. I began to think about surviving and forgot about Tavis.
Then we hit a flat area next to the creek and I was able to pass the group ahead and get back to my pace. I figured I would run hard while I still could. Getting back to my speed increased my stride length and actually helped my hamstring. The pain began to go away! It was a miracle! I ran down another guy ahead and then just tried to pace off him. I needed to get to the finish now without the pain returning. We got confused at two intersections and lost 20 seconds or so, but we stayed on course and kept moving forward.
The flat section not only reduced my pain, but let my legs recover. Suddenly, I felt like I had a surge of energy. On the next climb, I dispatched the guy with me and set sail for the next group. There were no lights ahead of me as I climbed the ridge. It was really discouraging for a few minutes, but then I started to see lights ahead again. I was gaining time and my legs were getting better! It was so cool to look down from the top of the ridge. You could see lights snaking down the descent ahead and also lights snaking up the climb behind you. It was an awesome sight. I enjoyed it for a second, then got back into the hurt zone. It took me another half mile of hard running to catch the next group. I was flying down the hills, trying to hold my big stride to keep the hamstring happy. A few times I would call my run controlled falling. I don't know how I missed all the roots and kept my ankles safe. The roots come very fast when you are sprinting downhill and can only see a few feet in front of you. I think this is what made the race so much fun. It was exciting and got the adrenaline flowing.
There was a brutally long, steep climb back up the power line. It came at mile 3.5. Most people were getting tired now, so it was extra brutal. The climb went straight up the hill so it was almost too steep to run. Everyone was walking. I tried to stay low and almost lunge the first half. I passed several people and then realized Tavis was the next one ahead! I couldn't believe it! I lunged my way up to him, then sprinted by. I hammered the rest of the hill and kept going hard over the top to get the gap. I picked off a few more runners, then slowed on the next descent to ensure I did not throw it away with the hamstring. Once I got to the bottom of the last climb, I sprinted the rest of the way to the finish. I clocked a 50:29, good enough for 15th overall and 4th in the 25-29 age group. Tavis got 3rd in the 30-34 age group with a 51:19, winning a sprint over another guy that went all the way to the line.
Me coming in to the finish with my green glasses glowing
Tavis wins the sprint for 17th overall
I was overwhelmed by my performance. I felt so good! That may have been my best ever run. I was not even tired at the end. My time goal was the same as Tavis, to go under an hour. We both blew that out of the water. The Hulk glasses must have helped. I wound up wearing them on my head though. They were so bright that they messed up my vision when I put them over my eyes. There's a short video posted below of some of the runners crossing the finish line, including me and also Tavis's sprint finish. Thanks Shannon for the video. We saw lots of carnage from falls. There were plenty of skinned knees and even one wounded hand that was still dripping blood at the awards ceremony. Got to watch those slick roots!
Run Rotary Night Trail Race Video
My feet were so sore after the run! I had a huge blister between my toes and it popped the next day while walking up some stairs. It was gross, but felt better afterwards. All my ankle stabilizers were sore from the uneven terrain. I am definitely not in good enough shape to hammer like that very often. I had to modify some of my training for the following week as the soreness just kept hanging around. I took a few extra recovery days and most of it had resolved by Wednesday night's Bell's Bend Time Trial. I was hoping to better my time from last month's race.
I had a good run in the TT. I hammered the first hill and following descent, catching the rider ahead of me at mile 2. But just as I passed him the burn set in on my legs. The legs were tired, but still strong. I fought through the burn and gave all I had. The new Slipknot song "The Negative One" turned out to be a good song to get stuck in my head. The beat was a perfect match for my cadence. I felt like I was going slower, but reached the turnaround 31 seconds faster than last time. I had a strong rider starting 30 seconds behind me and I was holding him off as well, so I was doing much better than I initially thought. I kept my pace on the return, saving a little for the final climb. I felt like I cracked there last time and I wanted to finish strong today. The rider behind me caught and passed me as we started the climb, but I was a rocket going uphill today. I passed him back and put 10 seconds on him by the top.
It helped to have my Dad ahead of me in the last mile. He had started 6:30 ahead of me and I knew I could catch him if I did a good time. I caught him with less than half a mile to go. Of course I didn't just pass him, I came by like a freight train in an avalanche. I gave it my all at 34 mph to the line, but still got passed by the rider behind me. He must have been flying down the last stretch.
My return time was 28 seconds faster than last month. I clocked a 29:52 for the full race, beating my previous best by 59 seconds and breaking the 30-minute barrier. I upped my average from 23.3 mph last month to 24.0 mph this month. I am very happy with this ride. I know I am stronger because I went faster with tired legs. I think I did this simply by being aggressive. Something clicked at the crit. last week and has made me push myself much harder, both at the run and in the TT. I finished 7th out of 20 in the Open Men's class. I still need to chop off 2 minutes to be competitive with the real heavy-hitters. My Dad wasn't shown on the results, but he knocked 1:45 off his time from last month, which would have given him the Most Improved award for the week. I think they just missed him coming through because so many of us came through at once. The finish is very fast and I could see how it could be a bit confusing when four riders come through together.
Things are looking good for the end of the season. I'm feeling strong in my workouts and have dropped another four pounds over the past month. I even outsprinted the scooter this weekend for the first time. After motopacing, Shannon and I will do 20-25 second sprints from a stop, usually on a slight incline. I have been close to beating her a few times, but never succeeded until this week. I feel like my acceleration is finally starting to show some improvement. Next on the schedule is the Music City Crits race tomorrow. It will be my last race of the series as the series finale next week is just two days before Gateway Cup and I am definitely focused on doing well at Gateway. Hopefully, the riots on the St. Louis area will stop before we go up. We don't race in the Ferguson area, but I would rather not be anywhere close to that kind of madness.
I leave you with a little video I found on Facebook from the Tour de Grandview race back in June. It is of a crash in the Cat. 5 race, but it is not your typical crash. We did not get to the race in time to see this thanks to the Jason Bourne movies, so I'm glad I saw this video. Make sure you watch it all the way to the end.
Cat. 5 crash at Tour de Grandview
Video by Jeff Yochem
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