Running In Place

Subtitled: Bring on the hills! Yeah Baby! YEAH!

You know, for as low as the low is, the high is high! Sunday’s Save Our Switchbacks 5 mile race was put on by the Utica running club who have, in that last 6 years, revitalized some beautiful paths in the South Woods of the Roscoe-Conkling Park. Evidently, the paths were in such disrepair that the city was going to shut them down - until the Roadrunners stepped in. For having lived in the relative area for all my life, I had never been up to the South Woods. What a great treat! And what a challenge!! I will say right here, right now - this was my hardest (and best) race yet.

I could tell right away that this race was mostly comprised of fast folks. I only saw one of the familiar faces I’ve become accustomed to seeing with me in the back of the pack. Honestly, this is ok with me - it’s ok if everyone is faster and it’s ok if I come in last or close to last. That 10K really changed my perspective about what’s important to me in a race. When the pack spreads out and I find myself running essentially alone, the race becomes my own and it’s not so much where I place or who I pass as how I meet my own challenge and run the race that I expect of myself. Maybe everybody else already figured this out for themselves and I’m treating the obvious like a concept I just invented but, hell, it gives me something to think about when I’m out there alone and wondering if there’ll be any bagels left by the time I get to the finish

So, like I started to say, I could see it was a fast crowd and as we took off I quickly found my place with a couple of the 60+ age group folks - a man slightly ahead of me and a lady slightly behind. This course included the big-ass hill I’ve run up in the development runs and encompassed 5 miles of that difficult 10K development run I plan on tackling soon. Nearly all of the first 3 miles are various stages of uphill - some sublte inclines and some ‘dig your toes in and lean forward’ steep.

Mile 1 was the hill I was familiar with and I made it up in my fastest time yet at 11:28. As the path leveled off a little and I began to speed up a bit and run alongside the older gentleman ahead of me, he began to warn me about all of the uphills to come in this course (which I had not been aware of at the time) and cautioned me to pace myself accordingly. I stayed with him for awhile and he continued to offer advice and encouragement. Even after I pulled ahead, he kept on calling out support until I was out of sight. Mile 2 was hilly but easier with the cheers of this man, and ended at 11:06.

The first piece of mile 3 still had some uphill but also began a leveling off and heading back down so it was easier to speed up and finish it in 10:26. This mile also took place within the South Wood switchbacks and was really lovely. The day was overcast, relatively cool (high 60’s F), and not humid (thankfully!!). The trees were lush and green and offered a quiet seclusion that belied the bustling traffic of the nearby city streets. Sometimes I was able to look down through the trees to the switchback path just below and see another runner, but otherwise I felt pretty much alone - and even in the midst of my hard efforts - it was very peaceful.

Of course the last 2 miles was the much anticipated flip side of all the previous uphill trudging, but that held challenges of its own. Some of the hills were too steep to just let go on for fear of flying ass over teakettle and I got my first really good sense of the physical stresses that downhill running can create. Mile 4 was a reserved 10:03 and the last mile in was a finally-let-loose 8:39! (Thanks gravity ). In the end, my watch said 51:45 for my best overall pace of any distance - 10:21! What’s the upshot if I just take away all those numbers? It’s that I ran a race that was a real challenge, the most difficult yet in terms of terrain, and that I ran hard and I stayed strong. When it was over I was like THAT WAS GREAT!! When can I do that again?? Well, Wednesday’s development run as it turns out - with an additional 1.2 miles thrown in to boot! Molly, strap on your rocket boosters - we’re running up some hills baby!!

After I finished up, I hung around the finish to cheer in my old friend who was kind enough to coach me along and let me in on all the course secrets! He complimented me on my strong run and said he had been worried that I would spend myself too early because “you young people always want to go fast.” He thinks I’m fast AND young. I love him.

For the most part I felt like I was not too much worse for the wear until last night when I developed some low back pain, which lasted throughout today but now seems to be waning. I think I’m gonna hit that 10K run tomorrow! Did I mention that I think I love hills? They make you feel so….powerful! (Sure, I’ll eat that statement more than a few times in my future running endeavors but right now that just don’t matter!) One more 5 mile race on Sunday, then no more racing till July 10. After that, what the hell will I talk about??

Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences with supplementing during the 15K. I definately won’t be trying anything new on race day but I’ve got 8 mile and 9 mile runs to get in beforehand so I will experiment a little - though I haven’t decided yet quite what I’ll try.

Doh! Edited to add a correction. I was incorrect in saying that this race was my best overall pace of any distance. It’s not true but it’s close to true but it doesn’t matter either way really cause I still freakin’ rocked! Ok, settle down. Just in the interest of accuracy and all…