Nicole
Fall Series #3 is my #2 and final of the season (#4 takes place when I will be supporting Team NEO athletes at IRONMAN Arizona and #1 was the day before I flew to Kona…)
This race took place in Palmer Park, a 730-acre park in the middle of town, conveniently located only a couple miles from my house. We never know what kind of weather we’ll get for these Fall Series races, and this one was sunny and warm. Plenty warm for 7.4 miles on the trails, and some quite exposed.
Since I wasn’t pre-registered, I showed up about an hour before the start to get signed up (and good parking.) Then it was time to socialize a bit and get warmed up. With the length of the race being about my longest run in any recent amount of time, and the trails here known to be challenging, I wanted to be well-warmed up but not too warm. I got in some dynamic stretching, the lunge matrix, and a little over a mile in easy running with a few pick-ups on the grass.
There were many familiar faces ready to run, probably all souped up on halloween candy and extra sleep from the time change the night before. The race started at 10:30am, so the sun was already pretty high. The first mile of this course is mostly road and all up. I started towards the back of the pack and wanted to take it conservatively to start, but the incline made that hard, but I still passed a handful of people.
Once to the top, we turned on to a dirt road and got a little recovery but not in terms of the pounding. I usually feel good on steady descents, so was able to pass a few more. A the bottom we hit the first water station, which was quite welcome. I slowed to take two cups, as I knew I’d be out there a while.
Next up the technical stuff began, and didn’t conclude until the end of the race. Up and down rocky sections, some tight dirt single track, some rock steps that never seemed to end. There were several people bent over at the waist at the tops of these climbs. At least I knew if we went up, we’d eventually have to come down.
I did my best not to twist an ankle or biff it on a rock and faceplant. While I might have come close once (flailing arms to the rescue to regain balance!), I came out unscathed in that regard. At about mile 6, my quads and calves were feeling the effects of this race. But I was able to hold off any cramps that might have been bubbling under the surface and made a solid push to the finish line. My legs were toast and any finishing kick I had (I don’t really have one) wasn’t there. The day before I was telling my high school cross country kids to not let anyone pass them in the finish chute, and I really did try to heed my own advice, though not completely successful.
7.4 miles, ~1450 feet of climbing (and descent!) in 1:26 was a good way to burn off some of that Halloween candy.
Nicole
