Spring Forward Distance Run 15k
Sunday, April 5, 2009
2009 Spring Forward 15k results
The Short Version: A sunny tour of the hills, hills, and more hills of Mendon provided by the wonderful crew at Yellowjacket Racing. I managed to run a "smart" race... took it easier for the 1st half (in part because my legs were feeling tight and tired) and then picked up the pace for the 2nd half once I had warmed up, passing about a dozen runners who'd passed me earlier along the course. Crossed the finish line in 1:43:38, knocking almost 10 1/2 minutes off my time from last year! Definitely a good morning!
The Long Version: Actually, I don't know how much longer the long version will be. Since I'd picked up my number and shirt yesterday, I left the house a little later than usual and found myself snagging one of the last parking spots along the exit road to the beach lot at Mendon... this race is a little big for that parking lot, and this year they had a record turnout for it. Hustled over to the shelter to get my timing chip, then back to the car to figure out what to wear. Initially it was darn chilly (ok, downright cold) but in the sunshine it didn't feel too bad... so in the end I opted for shorts (I saw a lot of tights and pants out there, but I decided to be tough... grrr!) and my cycling windbreaker over a long-sleeved shirt. I was mostly worried I'd freeze when I left the park and was more exposed to the wind whipping across the Mendon fields...
One plus to where I parked... it was about a 30 second walk to the starting line, where we all stood around and waited for the fun to begin. The snippets of conversation are always interesting, especially at the back where many of the runners are first-timers to what they think of as long distance. Eventually we had a few words from the RD and then off we went... uphill. Yup, Spring Forward starts with a gentle uphill climb for a bit before the long downhill past Lost Pond and then onto the road out of the park.
Legs felt rough at first... tired, stiff, and slow. I decided to run smart and take it easy during the first few miles... always tough to do when the other slow folks are passing me left and right. But I'd rather warm up gradually and have a strong second half than go out fast and crash and burn. One plus, there was a group of runners with a very vocal member who just would not shut up... I was initially concerned they'd be running at near my pace the whole time, so I was happy when they passed me and ended up a quarter mile or so ahead of me for much of the race.
One of the features of the Spring Forward course is hills, hills, and more hills. None of them killers, at least if you're slow like me, but they're pretty relentless. At least it turned out to be a great sunny day for a run... a heck of a lot better than yesterday's rain and snow. I was a little worried as I hit mile 4... about 46 minutes, or 11:30 miles, definitely off my goal of 11 min miles, but somewhere after that my legs starting feeling pretty decent and I picked up the pace a bit.
From then on I kept to a pretty consistent pace and even continued to pick things up a bit as the end drew near... and best of all, managed to pass pretty much everybody who'd passed me earlier in the race. I was awfully pleased to see the entrance to Mendon Ponds Park, and even more so to reach to top of the last major hill... not only was it mostly downhill for quite a while after that, but even the remaining climbs were pretty minor. Best of all was finally turning onto the dirt road leading down to the finish... ran it in as hard as I could and finished in 1:43:38, wahoo!
After that I stumbled around trying to regain my breath and keep my legs working, then made my way into the lodge and around all the folks standing around to snag some food before slowly heading back to the car to change into dry clothes. Sat on the front of my car eating and marvelling at what a nice day it had turned out to be - warm and sunny! Then it was time to head back home and spend some time with my sweetheart before getting on the road back to Albany.
So two good races in two weekends... unfortunately, both are pretty darn easy compared to next weekend's trek through the hills of northeastern CT. I fully expect Northern Nipmuck to both kick my butt and have me crying like a baby...
JMH
2009 Event Totals
Run 18.6 mi, 3 hr 22 min
Bike 6.2 mi, 39 min
Snowshoe 54.6 mi, 13 hr 05 min
XC Ski 3.3 mi, 1 hr 2 min
states visited: MA, ME, NY, RI, VT
