endurathon 25k
john and i headed down to bulverde for the running of the endurathon 25k, a race that i very much enjoyed the year prior. thick fog was present during most of the drive down south on 281; we arrive with plenty of time to spare.
by the time the race started, i really felt like i just finished last week's race. i felt mentally taxed. and with the hills that are present on this course, it left me with one feeling: go out conservative.
i did. somehow, it was ~10 seconds faster per mile than last year. "i had a good race last week," i figured, "maybe it's a sign of my conditioning."
going up the hills, i was running with one runner who seemed confidently interested in some cat-and-mouse, but i didn't bite. as we returned down the hill, he sped ahead. i was still running around that 10 second margin compared to last year; i knew i was on the razor's edge, anda i didn't want to press any harder. i wanted to conserve energy for the flat second half.
passing through mile nine, i saw a runner stopped. much to my dismay, it was john, who looked good in the early miles. he had a hitch in his calf/achilles around mile 8, and hung it up soon after. i was really bummed to see him pull up short, but it gave me a little bit of fire for the rest of the run. the next mile would prove to be my fastest of the race.
with the long flat stretches, i could see runners up ahead pretty well. the sun was rising and the temps were climbing into the 60s. i saw cat-and-mouse ahead, and timed him as being 15 seconds ahead of me. i chipped it down to 7 seconds with 4 miles to go, and knew i had a chance.
i caught him on the final climb of the course with 1.5 miles to go. he didn't seem to take this move too kindly:
"i'll be right behind you."
wuh? did i just hear... trash talk? that's almost as bad as looking backwards to see where your opponent is.
i floored it up the hill with all that i had... if i can't break him here, i won't break him anywhere. at the turnaround, i saw that i put ~10 seconds on him in the span of a half-mile, and tried to floor it back home. that didn't go over so well; i was feeling trashed and my calves were beginning to cramp. however, i was able to hold my position to the finish. the post-race was another fine production; breakfast buffet and open keg under a sunny sky.
i went looking for the razor's edge this year and i think i found it: it's easy to see how a slight overpush in the early miles can make your late game fall apart. fortunately, damage to overall time was minimal, finishing ~1.5 minutes slower than last year (most all of which came in the final 3 miles).
back-to-back races is tough. i'll be looking forward to a nice stretch of slower running in the next couple of weeks.
by the time the race started, i really felt like i just finished last week's race. i felt mentally taxed. and with the hills that are present on this course, it left me with one feeling: go out conservative.
i did. somehow, it was ~10 seconds faster per mile than last year. "i had a good race last week," i figured, "maybe it's a sign of my conditioning."
going up the hills, i was running with one runner who seemed confidently interested in some cat-and-mouse, but i didn't bite. as we returned down the hill, he sped ahead. i was still running around that 10 second margin compared to last year; i knew i was on the razor's edge, anda i didn't want to press any harder. i wanted to conserve energy for the flat second half.
passing through mile nine, i saw a runner stopped. much to my dismay, it was john, who looked good in the early miles. he had a hitch in his calf/achilles around mile 8, and hung it up soon after. i was really bummed to see him pull up short, but it gave me a little bit of fire for the rest of the run. the next mile would prove to be my fastest of the race.
with the long flat stretches, i could see runners up ahead pretty well. the sun was rising and the temps were climbing into the 60s. i saw cat-and-mouse ahead, and timed him as being 15 seconds ahead of me. i chipped it down to 7 seconds with 4 miles to go, and knew i had a chance.
i caught him on the final climb of the course with 1.5 miles to go. he didn't seem to take this move too kindly:
"i'll be right behind you."
wuh? did i just hear... trash talk? that's almost as bad as looking backwards to see where your opponent is.
i floored it up the hill with all that i had... if i can't break him here, i won't break him anywhere. at the turnaround, i saw that i put ~10 seconds on him in the span of a half-mile, and tried to floor it back home. that didn't go over so well; i was feeling trashed and my calves were beginning to cramp. however, i was able to hold my position to the finish. the post-race was another fine production; breakfast buffet and open keg under a sunny sky.
i went looking for the razor's edge this year and i think i found it: it's easy to see how a slight overpush in the early miles can make your late game fall apart. fortunately, damage to overall time was minimal, finishing ~1.5 minutes slower than last year (most all of which came in the final 3 miles).
back-to-back races is tough. i'll be looking forward to a nice stretch of slower running in the next couple of weeks.
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