Skull Valley 10K Race

This has been a weekend of races as a participant, physical spectator and online spectator(great job at Big Sur, Mike & Michelle!).  The weather cooperated and that helped make for some quality family time.

Friday was the start of the Whiskey Row Off Road mountain bike race.  It's a huge, 3-day event that draws the elite and amateurs from all over.  There is a big prize purse and our town is flooded with people and pop-up tent vendors.  We went to the square late Friday afternoon and watched the day's racers come in.  Johanna was totally into the whizzing bikes coming by at the finish line and then screeching to a halt.

Later that evening I met a friend out to watch some live music.  It was great getting out for a couple hours and the town was happenin'.  We enjoyed the soothing music of Kort McCumber.

Saturday morning I arose at 5:15am to eat toast with peanut butter, a banana and a couple cups of coffee.  I left the house at 5:40am and drove the 35 minutes to Skull Valley.  The morning was crisp where I live, but it was wicked windy in Skull Valley.  The skies were clear, but it was downright cold at the start.  We were all running around, swinging our arms, anything to keep warm.  A few group pictures were taken at the start which I hope to get on here at some point.  I broke out of uniform for this race and wore a tank top, knowing it was just a 10K distance, so how bad could the chaffing get?  We were all giddy at the start and had just welcomed back one of our club members, Rob, from the Boston Marathon.  He was trying to break 3 hours and missed it by a couple minutes.  A little after 7am we were off.

The group of runners totaled just over 40.  I suppose I chose to go for it again.  In all my goofiness before the start, I actually tried to stay with Rob in the first minute of the race.  When I realized my absurdity I looked down at my Garmin and it was showing a 5:43 pace.  Whoa!  Obviously I backed off as I could hardly breathe the desert's fresh air.  I bounced around from a 7-minute to 8-minute pace over the first mile before settling in at around a 7:25 pace.  I had no idea if I could maintain that.  It was a race of discovery in a sense.  So I just concentrated on controlling my breathing and felt that that would be my best indicator.

I raced with 2 guys from my running club, all of us trading positions multiple times.  Funny - they were 2 of the 3 rabbits I wrote about in the POW MIA 5K two weeks ago.  I would pass them on the uphills and they would cruise by me on the flats.  I have never thought of myself as a good hill runner.  By the first water station one guy made a successful break for the front and the other guy must have stopped for something because I never saw him again.

The weather was absolutely ideal for a running race.  The sun was out, it was cool and there was a decent tailwind.  I was breathing hard, but in control.  My pace remained very consistent and I stopped worrying about whether or not I could hold it at about mile 3.5.  It was hard mentally, but I knew I was capable.  I started doing calculations in my head and figured even if I slowed down to a 9-minute pace I would still make it a few minutes better than my goal time of under 58 minutes.  The last mile was on pavement and I was able to turn it on to a 7-minute pace.  I crossed the finish line sucking wind and loving it in 47:51.  I checked my Garmin to make sure the course was measured correctly.  It said 6.23 miles. Oh my goodness.

47:51.

That is a time I can be proud of.  It is also a time that will be hard to best.  There were a lot of people who PR'd due to the tailwind conditions, I think.  Alas, my time was not good enough for first place.  Three women finished ahead of me.  One was 18 years old, one was in her 40's and the other, who is in my age group, is a former Olympic trials athlete.  Darn you, Heidi!  Her time was merely 9 minutes faster than mine and not even her PR.  Ha!  Still, second place felt pretty good.  Actually, I'm pretty sure I could have gotten dead last and still been proud of my performance.

Afterwards a delicious pancake breakfast was served and an awards ceremony ensued.  The local fire department relies on that annual fundraiser 100% to keep their doors open.

Now I'm curious.  What else am I capable of?

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