Running In Place

Ok. Ok. I know. I know that every time I run up a hill I say it was a big-ass hill. I know that each time I run a hilly race I am running up the biggest hills ever. I know. But dudes, seriously, Sunday - I ran up (and down) THE BIGGEST HILLS EVER! I know I am the runner who cried hill and that, since I don’t have any fancy surveance equipment to show grades over distance, you just have to trust my subjective assessment and my limited descriptive skills, but please bear with me.

This race - the Lane 10K Lake Run - took place in a little town about 60 miles north and east of me. I was looking forward to the run and the hour plus drive for the same reason - scenery scenery scenery. I love this area. Heading out there at 7:30 on a Sunday morning, there was very little traffic and lots of wildlife to be seen. The area is rural enough that there might’ve been 100 houses along the entire way. Mostly it was woods and lakes with occasional tiny communities. This picture, out my dirty windshield, about sums it up.

I showed up at the pavilion in town, picked up my number, and hopped the bus to the start line on the other side of the lake. I had heard that the course would take us around the south shore of the lake and back to the pavilion, and that’s all I knew…until I listened to the conversations taking place around me on the bus. There was alot of talk about killer hills at miles 2 and 4; statements asserting that if you could run this 10K you could run any 10K, any time, any where; and of course, the above quoted statement.

I was surprised to see a familiar face as I lined up at the start. The older lady who I see at all the races in Utica, the one who always places in the 70+ age group and always smokes me in the last mile, was there (though she had to drop out in the first mile due to trouble with her pacemaker - she was ok, just said it’s getting time for a replacement). Anyway, we lined up and set off in short order and the course immediately began to roll up and down. Having a sense of what was ahead of me, I set off slowly. The weather was beautiful, mid-70’s and very little humidity. The course was almost entirely shaded by the woods on either side of the road. What could be better to attack a challenging course!

Right smack at the beginning of the second mile was the first of the promised “big” hills. It was, I guess what I would call moderately steep and long and I made my way up thinking well good, now I don’t have to worry again till the big hill at mile 4. I’m so silly. Much of the course from there on out was hills, some pretty steep ones. And here’s the thing - nearly every uphill was matched by a downhill, steep downhills, some scary steep. I often resist just opening it up on downhills because the notion of a little trip-up and a big face-plant is vivid in my imagination, but after the first downhill I knew that I couldn’t continue trying to keep the brakes on, it was just too hard. So up I trudged and down I flew - again and again and again. I was pretty much alone out there, a few people a little distance behind me and 2 people in sight well ahead of me. I knew I wasn’t going to catch the 60 year old lady training for an October marathon but I was hoping to reel in the guy who was walking up all the hills. Finally, in mile 6, I passed him. Heading into the homestretch was downhill and then flat. I passed a lady who appeared as though she was probably an early finisher as she headed through the course backwards. I thought about having to run this course again - like, what if it was a 20K and you had to run it twice. Could I have done that? I don’t think so. Then I, of course, thought about how I’m going to manage a hilly 1/2 M and got all freaked out. I squashed that pretty quick and left another day’s worries for another day. Then it was time to cross the finish line and, this time, I did have a lil’ kick to give it so that was nice.

This course was way more intense than last week’s (Molly would have loved it!), and my frame of mind was much better, so I hope my whiney-ass is redeemed. I finished in 1:11:31, 11:32 avg. pace and I feel good about that.

Here’s a bit of the lovely lake we ran around.

Oh, and check out Brown Socks for a picture of fresh-as-a-daisy-Jennifer and rode-hard-and-put-away-wet-Lara after our cross country 5K. More on that later. Believe me!