plant and run

Spillway Classic Recap (updated w/pics) | July 19, 2009

So I woke up bright and early this morning. My alarm went off at 6am…I was already lying awake in bed. Made myself a cup of coffee and scarfed down a clif bar and a banana. Crystal and I left the house about 6:30am. She decided to tag along to check it out the racing scene and take some pictures. Aly came over to watch the boys [all five of them since her Athan and Aiden spent the night].

We arrived at the site around 7:15am. I had 45mins to prep. Good stuff. I wasn’t about to let the Crescent City Classic debacle happen to me again [I started the race 20mins after the starting gun went off]. We walked a litte bit of the course and took in the sights. I stretched and warmed up a bit and used the potty twice.

It was a nice cool morning. Wait? Isn’t this Louisiana in July? The sun did finally peek out from the clouds about 15 mins before the start of the race. I promptly took off my shirt and looked around realizing that I was the only one that missed the memo about shaving your chest for race day.

Lined up at the starting line with about 10 mins to spare. I decided I didn’t need to be in the front and picked a spot about 10 feet ahead of the costumed college students already drinking beer. [Surely, I should start out faster than those guys!?]

My goal was 23 mins. Right now I can probably run a 5K in about 22 mins. I figure with the trails and all, one extra minute should be a good adjustment. We’ll see…

The gun goes off and I realize immediately that I should be closer to the front. I must have passed a couple hundred people in the first mile. It was all levee before dipping down into the woods for the final two miles. It felt like my pace was a litte slow, but it is hard to pick it up much more when I you are passing people left and right. I was expecting a timer to be placed by the water station at the end of the levee. Nope. [Dang. I knew I should have worn a watch]. I promptly ignored the people holding out cups of water on my right as the course cut left. I passed another 5-6 people as we sprinted down the levee and into the woods.

Almost the entire rest of the race was through the woods. Nothing more than a narrow hiking trail with it’s share of puddles, tree roots, bumps and hanging limbs. It became quickly apparent that (1) passing in the forest would be difficult and (2) it will be next to impossible to gauge the remaining distance on the course. The pace felt kinda slow and you would often find yourself in a clump of 5-6 runners clogged behind some poor tired soul. Either the person would step to the side and start walking or finally the person behind them would pass and the whole clump would follow.

This is the part of racing that running by yourself on the levee just doesn’t prepare you for. This is only my second race since I started running again in January. I am confident that the best way I’ll improve my racing strategies is by running races. I realize now that I could have been more aggressive in passing people through the woods.

Somewhere near the half way point we reached a clearing in the woods and encountered a wooden bridge about 3-4 feet wide and about 10-12 feet long. It took you over a “mud creek” and was a pretty steep climb in a short distance. I guess I got a little tripped up at the top and lost my balance. [doh!] Next thing I know, I am going down to the right…off of the bridge. My right foot went into the mud and my left landed on solid ground. I was able to jump right back on the course and I cut right back in front of the guy who was behind me to begin with. I heard him say something like, “man, this one’s got a little bit of energy!” [Which meant, "dang, I can't believe that I couldn't even pass the guy who fell off of the bridge."] I yelled, “I AIN’T GONNA LET THAT SLOW ME DOWN! WAHOO!” Seriously, I did. I know, I’m weird.

After what seemed like forever in the woods, we finally hit the clearing. I heard someone say, “C’mon boys! Only 200 meters to go!” I thought, “Ah! I waited too long to kick!” I immediately started sprinting and passed another 5-6 people to the finish line…including some dude that was really concerned about telling the stranger next to him to run harder and not give up. I thought it was comical that I was able to pass him. I think it’s more important to concentrating on finishing well rather then trying to tell those around you to finish well.

I finished, they handed me a muddy mug [for the first 500 finishers] and I could hear the announcer annoucing times in about the 25:20 range. So it looks like my time was around 25:15. [Boo!] I was disappointed.

On the other hand, I did pass lots and lots of people and I was only passed by a few. I did get to know the course so that next time I know much better what to expect [like start out strong on the levee so that you are in a good spot entering the woods]. I did have a ton of fun.

So, I better stop typing. I have to get to church for my last youth group. I’ll try to edit this post later tonight and add some of the pictures that Crystal took…

UPDATE: here are the pics: