Last weekend was a crazy weekend. It started off on Friday with Rudolph's Red Nose Run 5K in Nashville. It has become sort of a tradition for Shannon and I to do this race. I worked really hard to prepare for this year's event. I wanted to break the 20-minute barrier and finally get on the podium at this very competitive race. My only concern on race day was that I was doing this race after a rest week. Sometimes I feel terrible after a rest week. My body just seems to like being tired more than fully rested. But Tour de Turkey was tough and I needed some recovery time.
It rained all afternoon and continued to pour as we prepared for the race. The only good thing about the weather was a warm temperature. I did my warm-up in a downpour and was soaked immediately. My shoes are not the best for rain, as they have vents drilled all along the sole, making it extra-easy for the water to get to my socks and feet.
The rain stopped as we lined up. This race usually has around 1200 runners, but the weather scared away many this year. Still, over 400 runners took to the start line. I started about 30 from the front. The promoter put all the small kids on the front few rows. I understand that you want them to feel special and get to start at the front, but it is dangerous. There are some very fast and very serious runners at this race and making them run through a group of slower children who are running all over the road is just asking for someone to run over a child. Heck, you can't even see some of the smaller ones in the crowd because they are so short.
Rudolph's Red Nose Run 5K Course Map
It took me a while to get through the pack of kids. I tried to be careful while being fast. The course began with a flat section around the back of LP Field, then turned left onto Woodland St. for a climb up over the Cumberland River. I was in 7th overall as we turned onto Woodland. I could not believe I was that close to the front! I was still irritated though. I was the first runner off the back of the lead group. That seems to be my place at every race. I felt like I started slow, but I was holding a 5:33/mile pace as I started climbing the Woodland St. Bridge. I knew that was too fast for a course this tough. I wanted to finish fast today, so I backed off on this first climb to save a little for later.
Start on a wet course
photo by NeedLink Nashville
The front group began to split. One runner was alone ahead of the rest and a few runners were coming off the back. I began trying to catch the stragglers, but was getting caught myself. By the time we reached the top of the hill, I was 11th. I then lost another spot as we turned onto 2nd Ave. and began descending. My plan for this race was just to hold on the best I could up the first two climbs, then gain time back on the descents. I remembered the descents being steep and you could almost fall your way down with a fast cadence.
The first descent was nowhere close to as steep as I remembered and I gained little time. I wanted to stay on a 6:20/mile pace and was already behind at this point with a 6:24. Then came the long climb up Broadway. In the past, we have climbed about 80% of this hill before turning around. This year, we did all of the hill plus a few hundred meters more on the other side before turning around. This hill destroyed me. I just couldn't settle in. My legs felt stale. I knew I was running hard, but I was missing that ability to dig deep into the red zone. I don't think I could have blown myself up if I had tried. I just couldn't go that hard today. The rain came back and pounded us all the way up the hill. I watched my pace slip down to a 6:43/mile by the turnaround. That was demoralizing in itself. I kept pushing hard though. I may not make sub-20, but I could still have my best 5K time ever.
I lost one spot going down the hill on Broadway, then gained one back. I was now running 12th and could see several runners who were fading ahead. The rain stopped again as I reached the third and final climb of the course over the steep Shelby St. Pedestrian Bridge. It is a shorter climb, but it is tough with a steep grade at the bottom. I gave it all I had up this one and did manage to push myself a little harder. The descent off this bridge is steep and I managed to gain some time down this one. I came up short of catching a group in front of me. Six of us finished within 15 seconds. I was 12th overall with a 21:09 time. My pace was a 6:49/mile. It was my fastest time ever for this race. I was disappointed to not get closer to the sub-20, but the course was way harder than I remembered. This is definitely not a place to go for a PR. I did achieve one goal however, as I made the podium in the 20-29 age group, taking second place. They gave us a nice mug full of tasty snacks. The winner was just ahead of me in the group I was chasing. So close! After the race, we watched the fireworks that kick off the start of the Nashville Christmas Parade, then headed home. The rain was starting again and I was not sitting out in it for a parade.
Photo by NeedLink Nashville
Once I got home, I downloaded my Garmin data and felt a little better about my effort. While I did not feel great in the race, I matched my effort from the Springfield race last month. I had the same average heart rate at 177 bpm, and maxed out one beat higher at 184. The data also confirmed that the Rudolph course is indeed harder. It featured double the amount of climbing as Springfield. So I guess my time was not so bad when you consider I was just 22 seconds slower while doing twice the amount of climbing in a rainstorm. I'm still not giving up on that sub-20. There's another 5K in Clarksville this Saturday on a course that is almost completely flat. If there ever will be a chance for me to achieve my goal it will be here at the Claus for a Cause Run.
Shannon also did Rudolph with me. She trained less this year than in year's past, but she still made it through the tough course and fought off the rain. She had bib number 276 and finished 276th with a time of 36:04. I'm hoping this will springboard her to getting back on the riding/running wagon that she fell off of when the weather turned cold. So far, I'd say the run helped as she has been up early a few days this week for some ride time on the trainer.
We were asked to help out with the Festival of the Nativity at the church this year. It's a three-day festival of Christmas and specifically the nativity that is open to everyone for free. It's a cool event as people in the community donate their nativity sets to be on display. There were many, many nativities on display this year. There was also an art room of nativity-themed pictures and paintings, a room themed as Bethlehem back in the day, a live nativity and multiple musical performances by everything from family and school choirs to renowned local singers.
Shannon and I were in charge of the costumes for the live nativity and for the Bethlehem room. We helped people get dressed which can be a challenge. Clothing from that time period was quite intricate with the many layers they wore. We found people to fill in for us on Friday night while we were at the run. Saturday it was all us. We kept all the volunteers straight and on task. That was a challenge as well. The live nativity people kept wandering out into the crowd. At one point, only Mary and Joseph were on stage. Shannon had to wrangle up the angel, shepherd and all three wise men. It kind of defeated the purpose of having a live nativity if they were off somewhere else walking around. We also staffed the Bethlehem room with merchants and Roman soldiers. That room sort of turned into the kid zone and was a zoo just about every time I walked into it.
The festival continued on Sunday and I missed the first few hours because I was back in Nashville for a race. This time it was for the Red Kite/Halcyon Cyclocross at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. We were literally right next to the Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville where the Music City Crits. took place back in the summer. It was a flat grassy field with one small hill to keep everyone at least a little honest. This was a first-year event promoted by a collaboration of two local bikes shops, Red Kite Bicycle Studio and Halcyon Bike Shop.
I not only underestimated the drive time to the race, but I also forgot there was a Tennessee Titans game going on as well. We had to detour around town to avoid game traffic. I got to the race very late, less than 30 minutes before the start of my first race, which was in Singlespeed. I like 45+ minutes of warm-up before a hard effort like cyclocross, but that was not going to happen today. After registering and changing, I had just 13 minutes to warm-up. That was enough time for one lap of the course and a few quick dynamic stretches.
Course map for the Red Kite/Halcyon CX
I was in no hurry off the start line. It was flat and windy. Chances are we would be drafting at least some in this race. Thirty minutes is not a long race, but it is long enough that you don't have to go all-out the first lap. Usually, I get a poor start and then build my speed up over the length of the race. I have been so close to winning a Singlespeed race, but can't seem to break through. I am always coming like a freight train at the end, but run out of laps. I guess that was in my head on the start more so than the lack of warm-up. I started slow, but was quickly into the top 5.
Singlespeeds and Juniors roll to the start
SS start line. I'm in all black on the green bike.
The group was slow 1/3 of the way into the first lap so I went to the front. I hammered one straightaway and found myself with a gap. Near the end of lap 1, I had a bigger gap, so I punched it. I didn't want to go hard so early, but I was not about to let them catch me so easily. I was going to make them earn that gap back into the strong wind. Peter Young came across the gap to me by the end of lap 1. The two of us pried open the gap even more in the early part of lap 2. The start missed the only hill on the course, so lap 2 was our first time up it. It was very steep and off-camber. There was a ditch to hop at the bottom that killed what little momentum you had coming into the hill, making it nearly impossible to ride on a singlespeed. At the top was a 180-degree left turn on the most off-camber part of the hillside. The descent down was off-camber and steep, leading you into another tight turn at the bottom. The camber and steepness made for some real carnage during the race. It was hard just to run up the hill and make the turn, let alone remount and make the turn at the bottom.
I was blown up by halfway through lap 2. My chest hurt and my legs were toast. I went out too hard. I kept waiting for Peter to pass me, but he stayed on my wheel. That was smart because I was doing all the work. But I was content to do the work. It allowed me to slow down to my pace and recover some. After two laps, I was still leading Peter with Jason Bolt chasing about eight seconds back. Lap 3 was even slower as I tried harder to recover. I felt like I was soft-pedaling, but my heart rate was not going down. Again, I waited for Peter to come by, but he did not. It was setting up well for me. If he had come by on laps 2 or 3 I don't think I could have upped my pace any at all.
We got the bell after lap 3. Jason was still about five seconds back, but made the junction to us as we started the hill. I ran it slow this time. I felt like I made a lot of mistakes the first two times up the hill because I ran too fast. I couldn't get my feet back into the pedals and was out of control going into the turn at the bottom of the hill. This time up, I remounted perfectly and made the turn with ease. I kept the pace low as I wanted to encourage Peter to come by now. I felt recovered enough to follow him and wanted him to do some work. Shannon had not come to the race so she could be at the nativity, but my Mom was there and she was yelling at me, "You're doing all the work!" But again, that's where I had wanted to be.
As the final lap wound down, I put in a few good digs on the windy sections to ensure Peter stayed behind me going into a set of large logs near the end of the lap. I no longer wanted his help. We had all been dismounting for these logs so far, but I knew I could bunny-hop them. I did it in that one pre-ride lap I got in earlier. I led us into the logs and hopped them both, them immediately went into a full attack. Peter was strong and he was able to close the gap down with a few turns to go. We had dropped Jason so it was now going to be a duel.
Me hopping the logs
On the attack now
My strategy now became to just go hard and make him pass me. My big gear was better suited to this course, but I was still a little slow coming out of the 180 turns. There was one just before the finish, but Peter did not take advantage of it. The finish was a slight uphill in deep gravels with one main line up the middle, then came a hard left turn onto pavement for a short 150 meter sprint. I punched it again just before the gravels to ensure I hit the good line first. I was going to make him pass me through the deep gravels or through the turn, neither of which did I think he could do. Peter was unable to get up next to me until we came out of the last turn. I saw his wheel briefly new to my back wheel, but that was as far up as he could get. It was an exciting finish and my first win in Singlespeed since my first singlespeed race way back in 2010.
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It was that close.
As soon as we crossed the line, we congratulated each other. That really was a fun race. I enjoy being a part of exciting finishes like that. Peter put his arm around me as we spun across the grass. The first thing he said was, "Tell your Mom I'm sorry for making you do all the work." It was so funny! It is still cracking me up now just thinking about it. Apparently, he was going hard just to stay on my wheel, that's why he never passed me during the slower laps. There's a video posted below of our Singlespeed race thanks to my Mom. She was having a hard time filming in the cold. You can see her shivering a few times!
Singlespeed podium. I had already changed for the Pro/1/2/3 race before they did the podium.
Video: Singlespeed race
I caught up with a few old friends between races, like Eddy Taylor from Clarksville. I grew up riding with Eddy at the local group rides, but now that I don't do the rides as often, we never see each other. I had fun cheering him on in the Masters race. He is getting the cross bug. It's fun for me to see someone else having so much fun out there. I also got to see my high school gym teacher, Pam Tanner. We were always scared of her as kids because she is so fit and ripped. She started doing triathlon and mountain biking right after I graduated and we used to see each other quite often at races, but lately she has not been racing so this was our first meeting in several years. It was good to chat with her and see her out there in the CX 4 getting the cross bug as well.
The weather had been nice all day, but the wind picked up and clouds moved in for the Pro/1/2/3 race. I had to add a layer of clothes right before the start to block out some of the cold wind. This course did not suit me against these stronger riders, but I was interested to see what I could do against them compared to the last few years. I had a good start, but the top three opened up a gap on the rest of the field almost immediately. I hit a stake in the second turn. Instead of passing riders to be able to cross that gap to the leaders, I was closing a gap on 6th place.
Andy, Johnny and Jeremy were the three that jumped out front right away. Craig and I had to take up the chase and were 4th and 5th after a few turns. I followed Craig early on, as he was hurting me on the power stretches. But he slowed after the log crossing and I went around him. We were a good 10 seconds back after lap 1. Jeremy Nagoshiner was hanging on Craig's wheel. It was three chasing three.
Johnny crashed on the hill the first lap, taking Jeremy down with him. That let Andy open up a nice gap on just the second lap. I did not attempt to ride the hill. It was safer just to run. I saw Johnny making it in practice, but he crashed just as many times as he made it. I tried it twice myself and wound up on the ground both times. The turn was too sharp and slick with that much camber. The course was even more torn up now with all the people running up it in the other races. There's a video below of our first time up the hill.
Video: Pro/1/2/3 first lap up the hill
Craig tried to ride it, but simply didn't make the climb. He gave up a second or two to me, but nothing major. He stayed with me on lap 2, but we did start to pull away from Nago a little by the end of the lap. After the fall up front, I thought I might could catch Johnny and Jeremy, but no way. They were way faster and were back to over 10 seconds ahead again. Andy took full advantage of their mistake and had pulled away to a 15 second lead.
Andy Reardon leads
Johnny Brown in 2nd
Jeremy Chambers in 3rd
Me and Craig Evans battle for 4th
I battled with Craig for another lap. I gapped him over the barriers and up the hill, but he pulled me back on the windy open sections. I gapped him again over the log crossing. He and I were both hopping the big logs, but I was doing it faster so I got away a little. Again, he pulled me back on the following power straight.
My goal became to just get rid of Nago for good and then see what happened with Craig. On lap 4, I gapped Craig over the barriers and then he fell on the hill. He was trying to ride it and it was not working out for him. I hit all my lines well that lap and turned my fastest lap of the race to get a 10 second gap on him. Like in the Singlespeed race, I was going to make him earn it into the wind if he wanted to catch me. By the end of lap 5, he was fading and I started to pull away. I was now comfortably in fourth, but the three leaders were pulling away from me. Andy was still leading at the halfway point of the 60-minute race, with Johnny chasing alone at 40 seconds, then Jeremy another 20 seconds back in third. I was a good 1:45 back in fourth.
Johnny Brown
Jeremy Chambers
Me
Craig Evans
In the second half of the race, I started trying to race the course. That's one thing that makes my practice races at home different from real racing. In a real race you wind up racing the competitors more than the course. I am a rhythm rider and getting into my groove against the course is better for me than racing a rider. I knew I had to stay on it or Craig would catch me. I kept pushing and kept pulling away from him. I felt like my speed was staying the same, but I was consistently dropping three seconds on my lap time every lap. I was fading. But Craig was fading too.
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The last four laps I rode the hill. I had not planned to ride it, I just hit it hard one lap and the next thing I knew I was at the top and turning. The third time I even rode it without sticking a foot out through the turn. There was a big crowd on the hill and they were going crazy. Apparently, Jeremy and I were the only two that could ride it consistently. I think the key for me was gearing. In practice I tried it on my little ring. The gear was too easy and my power caused the rear tire to spin so I had less momentum at the top to swing out for the turn. In the race, I big-ringed it. The gear was tougher, but I was smoother at turning it over and the tire kept traction. I will keep that in mind at future races with tricky hill climbs. There's a video below of me making it smoothly, shot by Tammy Richardson.
My first time making it up the hill
Coming back down
Video: Dustin makes the hill
video courtesy of Tammy Richardson
Craig chasing in 5th
Andy won the race by almost a minute over Johnny. Jeremy was third and I was fourth. The last few years I have been lapped by these guys whenever I raced them. I was way back today, but far from being lapped. I was probably 3/4 of a lap behind Andy at the end. That's a long way back, but showing progress. I wound up being the last rider on the lead lap as Craig faded badly at the end and was caught by Andy. Some race footage is posted below, again thanks to my Mom.
Jeremy runs over the logs
Final lap for me
I finished 4th today.
Video: Pro/1/2/3 Men's race
It was nice to make a little money and race hard with some good riders. The course did not suit me and my legs were off after the morning race, but I did well considering. I usually can't ride with Craig on any course so beating him on this course was a good achievement for me. I had to rush home after the race. I dropped off the bikes at home then drove to Clarksville to assist Shannon with the end of the nativity. Sunday night went much smoother than Saturday. The volunteers stayed on stage and all costumes came back with all their parts. I had the good job of fetching food for our workers from the hospitality room. That job was nice because they fed me cookies too!
I have another double-weekend approaching with the Claus for a Cause 5K on Saturday and then the Crossfire Cyclocross in Franklin on Sunday. It will be my last run and last cyclocross of the year. I'm hoping for better legs at both since the rest week is behind me now. Thanks for reading!
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