And I had a lot of fun. Totally worth it.
I like road miles. And they're relatively few and far between, which is why I like to run them whenever I can make it happen. The Harrisburg Mile had been recommended to me by a friend some time ago - at that time I had nixed it as too close in time to the Liberty Mile in Pittsburgh. The Harrisburg Mile was on Wednesday and the Liberty Mile was on Friday - no way I could miss that much work right now.
But my preference for the Liberty Mile was based on being fit enough to justify the 4+ hour drive each way. My performances this past weekend in Fredericksburg confirmed that I was NOT fit. Which made a two hour drive to Harrisburg more appealing, as compared to the four hour drive to Pittsburgh.
(and yes, I could just not race at all, but that's crazy talk).
So Harrisburg it was. Which was actually a bit special to me - Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is not only the state capital, but also home of the Pennsylvania National Horse Show each fall - a really big deal in certain horsey circles, where it's the equivalent of the Boston Marathon or Footlocker Final, depending on which division you show in.
I'd last been to Harrisburg in the early 90s, when I showed there. It had been 26 years since I'd been to Harrisburg. About time to go back, minus the horse this time.
(obligatory early 90s Harrisburg video)
***
I left home at 1:30 and got up to Harrisburg 2 hours later. The East Shore YMCA was located at the finish line and was also the site for late registration/bib pick-up. I had originally planned to use a local Golds Gym as my home base for the afternoon, but decided to buy a day pass to the YMCA instead. It was a good choice - besides the locker/shower/stretching areas that I needed, there was also a nice atrium area with tables, chairs, and wi-fi. So after registering I was able to set up camp and get some work done before it was time to start stretching and warming up.
The Harrisburg mile featured multiple heats, with two of interest to me. One was the 40-49 heat, where the top female time in recent years had been in the 6:3x range. The other was the "elite" heat, open to women who had run sub-5:30 (me in the past, but not right now) and masters women who had run sub-6:00 (me right now). The times in this heat in the past were all below 5:30 - significantly faster than what I was going to be able to run, and it didn't look like any masters women had ever run the elite heat.
So...I was completely in between heats. Consistent with my theme of what-the-heck for this month, I decided to do both.
Of course, this was going to be a bit trickier than Fredericksburg. In Fredericksburg, the course was a loop course, with the start and finish close together. This course was a direct point-to-point. In Fredericksburg, the two heats were an hour apart. Here? The 40-49 started at 7:25, and the elite heat at 7:45. So...20 minutes to a) run a mile in something under 6 minutes, and then b) jog the mile back to the start for round 2.
A further complication was that I needed to wear two different bibs for the two heats, and so would have to swap bibs between heats. With the tight time frame, I wouldn't have time to grab my bib from my car or the Y after the first race. However, one of the timing officials at the start very graciously offered to hold my second bib while I ran the first race.
So that was set. Now time to warm up.
***
When I had checked out the course, I noted that it was a net elevation gain (officially it's a "negative net drop" - which means a net gain). I wasn't sure why this was - generally when races are point-to-point, they're positioned for a net drop unless there's some specific appeal to having an uphill course (mountain race or something like that).
However, once I started jogging the course, it made more sense. The course was mostly flat, just with some very slight undulations in the second half and then a climb in the last 200m to the finish. The course was also set along the banks of the Susquehanna, with the prevailing wind coming off of the river from the northwest. Which meant that running the slightly uphill way also meant a nice tailwind for the whole course.
Net elevation gain or not, this was a very fast course. And we had a gorgeous evening to boot.
I warmed up with 2 miles of jogging, a half-mile at 5K-ish effort, and then some jogging before another 60 seconds very hard. I felt good and ready to go. So some strides and then we lined up.
There was the standard starting line chatter about what people were planning to run. When asked my PR, I answered truthfully.
"So why aren't you in the elite heat"?
"Well...I'm doing that one too...."
***
Then the gun went off. My half-baked plan was to hold back and just get the win, assuming times were the same as in past years), and then double back for the elite heat. But plans don't always survive the start gun.
Several women surged ahead of me as I started carefully. Within the first quarter mile I reeled them in, and was just running with guys. But then I realized - I had no way to check on how close someone was behind me - how much I could ease off the gas.
It was a mixed heat and I was running with guys, so I stayed with them, and then started passing guys as they faded. We hit the final uphill to the finish and I guardedly kicked - making sure to preserve the win while not totally trashing myself.
I broke the tape in 5:44 and that was nice. People were congratulating me, but I had no time. I had less than 15 minutes to jog back through the crowds to the start and change bibs. And hopefully take a few deep breaths.
***
When I got back to the start line (unpinning my previous bib on the way), the starter guy kindly had my elite bib. A quick pinning, and I lined up again. 3 minutes until the gun for this heat.
There were 3 elite women, including me, and about 12 elite men. I was the only elite masters female. I realized fairly quickly that I was likely by far the slowest person in this heat (not a total surprise). Had I been in good mile fitness (and fresh), I might have been able to stay close to the other two women. Now? I had no chance.
But what the heck - I was there, I had the bib, and maybe if I ran the heat this year it would pull out more masters women next year. And I also had to get back to the finish area anyway. So what the heck.
The gun went off (again) and this time I was really really dropped. I definitely hadn't rebounded at all from the previous race, and I was outclassed anyway. I debated dropping for an instant, and then pressed on - good practice in dealing with discouraging situations during a race. And it was just a mile, and I was getting plenty of sympathy cheers.
As I forged on in solitude, with the pack disappearing in the distance, I heard a bike behind me. I couldn't figure out why it was there, and then I realized - it was the sweep rider, sticking right behind the very last runner on the course.
Well..this was new and different. I've never been dead last in a race before. First time for everything.
As I approached the finish a second time, I mustered the best kick I could (which wasn't much). At least I was going to break 6. And then I was done. For good.
Within 20 minutes, I had experienced the high of winning a race and the low of being dead fucking last. Neat!.
***
I didn't do a cool-down. I just hung out, grabbed my two awards for 1) winning the women's 40-44 age group and 2) winning the women's masters elite (by being the only entry). Then I showered at the Y and pulled out for a fairly easy 2 hour drive home.
Splits were:
race 1: 86/87/87/83
race 2: 86/91/92/86
(taken with autolap on my Garmin)
***
In answer to the obvious question: would I do both races again? Honestly, no. It was too short a turnaround, but more importantly, I think I didn't run as fast in the first race as I would have if it had been my only race. I ended up running it all out but not ALL OUT, since the second race was on my mind. That cost me a second or two, I suspect. And then the second race ended up nothing more than a solo time trial on tired legs in front of a sympathetic crowd.
If I was in good shape and ready to go sub-5:30 again, I'd probably go with the elite heat. In similar fitness to where I am right now - I'd stick with the 40-49 heat, where I would have plenty of men to run with at least. It's a tough call, since I really was right between the two heats and didn't truly belong in either.
But I am happy I tried both heats this time. It was a lot of fun, I learned more about how quickly I can race a mile and recover, and I think it's a good story to tell.
Other notes:
- The weather was glorious - blue skies, low humidity, high 70s. Just a great evening for a race.
- I wore the Takumi Sens for both heats of this race, and was glad I did. Just a great shoe for this distance.
- As for why I ran so much faster in the first race here than at Fredericksburg? It's mostly explained by the difference in courses. Having gotten that first rust-buster out of the way on Saturday helped slightly as well.
- This is really a fantastic, well managed race, and a fairly easy drive from the DC area (especially if you live in the northwestern suburbs). Highly recommended. They have several heats for kids and other entertainment, so it would work well for a family day trip as well.
Super tight schedule - I don't know how you did it. I'd be trashed!
ReplyDeletethank you for sharing
ReplyDeleteobat kuat
viagra jakarta
viagra asli