Saturday, January 26, 2008

Pigtails 50k

I was hopping for snow when I woke up but it didn't make it this far south. After dropping the kids at granny's Jenn and I headed to the trailhead to start our lap together at 6 am. There was supposed to be a few others starting at that same time but I guess they started even earlier.

We got off to a pretty slow start. We had a couple stops in the first mile to remove rocks from Jenn's shoes and a couple to figure out holding leashes, bottles and lights, but we quickly got into a Rhythm after that. We passed Tc going the other way, I guess his trainee didn't show. Then Shawn pulling her spare tire, but by then it was light. We had a nice run. Jenn finished stronger than last year and only 6 minutes slower. Lap #1 time 2:21

I started lap 2 without Shela, cold and with very tight legs. Shela was just too distracted by all the runners and loose dogs, and I didn't feel like fighting with her for 3 hours. My legs were tight from running slow with Jenn. I think it's more work to go that slow then my natural or trained pace. Soon after I started Gwen caught up to me and we ran (or what seemed like sprinting) the 2nd lap together. I think she kept going faster in hopes that I would run out of breath and stop talking. And it worked on a few of the uphills. I guess she just asked all the right questions that turned me into a chatty Kathy. We finished the lap in 1:22 and I didn't stop until I got to the Port-a-Potty. Luckily she was gone when I came out, I don't think I could have made another lap like that. I had a nice long A/S break and then away I went alone again.

I felt pretty good starting this 3rd lap. I could tell I didn't eat enough but I had a gel and figured that would be good to make the last lap.

After about 7 mile TP caught me and we ran together for about a mile but I didn't feel like working that hard anymore so I let him pull away. I finished that lap in 1:31 (not including the A/S time) and again had to hit the head. Something didn't agree with me today. I'll have to figure that one out later. I dropped all my stuff and headed out for the Out & Back to make the distance for the day 50k. I figured it's only a couple miles so I pushed the pace. James was out walking the course and I passed him just before the turn around. I guess he got bored sitting around the finish. That's what you get for being so fast. I finished in 5:44.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Arthur . . . Ray and I are slow. Maybe one of these days Jenn can run with us!

Jane

Unknown said...

Nice run, Arthur! I am sure Jenn appreciated you running with her.

Jenn said...

I had a great time, and I know you will use the slow pace to train for "something".

Backofpack said...

Whoa, you think Jen was slow - you shoulda seen me today dragging my butt on the trail.

Congrats on your run yesterday!

Anonymous said...

I agree that the slow pace sometimes seems harder, especially when it's cold.

An interesting interval run. Start wtih a slow 9.6 mile warmup, then run two fast 9.6 mile intervals, and finish with a 2 mile cool down. Maybe you should be an online running coach. But don't quit your current job yet.

You did earn some good points on the spouse lap.

Journey to a Centum said...

I can see it now.. Mandatory spouse laps in the Lake Youngs Family Fifty K.

After my smack talk toward Shela in my previous post I expected you to unleash the hounds on me when I ran by you on my first lap. There must have been too many other runners around. She probably would have taken them all out.

I think Jen had the biggest smile going for the day! Nice work!

shawn said...

Glad you posted how long that first lap took...I decided to forego the watch again and didn't know whether it took 2 hours or 3 hours or longer.

I thought about stopping at the Cedar River on the way home, but...nah!