Winter Flight 8k Race Recap 2.21.10
Cruised out of Charlotte shortly after noon time on Sunday and made the short drive to Salisbury for the rescheduled Winter Flight 8k. What a change a week makes. I was running in several layers of clothes the weekend before and this weekend, the weatherman was forecasting temperatures to be in the 60s.
Several years had passed since my last visit to Winter Flight. Honestly, I had to look up the directions to the course; it has been that long.
My expectations going into the race were not very high for several reasons. I had kind of lost my MoJo after "the marathon". My Achilles tendon was badly swollen. And I knew Chad Newton had planned to run.
All morning long, I kept my foot propped up and ice on my Achilles. About 2 hours before the start I took one Motrin. My hope was that it would dull the pain enough that I could at least run through the race. After all, I had my bet with Peter and I would rather crawl to finish than lose a bet. Peter would never let me live it down.
I arrived early and did the usual stuff before heading out for some warm up miles. The Motrin seemed to be doing the trick. The pain was dulled down enough that I could at least run on it. This was a far cry from the night before when you could not even tell that I had an ankle. It was swollen to the point that it was a smooth transition from my calf to my foot.
They made the 10 minute call to the start.
I had switched out to my new Brooks T6 racing flats and Thorlo Experia race socks. This would be the first time that I would use them in race conditions. I was keeping my fingers crossed that everything went smoothly.
Funny thing, maybe it was the excitement of the race, my new racing flats, or maybe the Motrin but my Achilles pain was toned way down.
Looking around the starting line, I didn't see Chad so the prospects of my having a shot of the RRCA 8K Master's Championship were vastly improved. But I did spot Milton a Master's runner from the Salisbury area. He has been tough competitor for years so I didn't expect any less form him today.
The gun went off and I tried to settle in. I wanted to see how the Achilles felt before even trying to make any type of push.
I fell in line at about 8th or 9th place in the first quarter mile.
Jay took off after the leaders and Milton was running just off my shoulder. We passed one guy and then another going up the hill on the first mile.
Around 2 miles we hit a nice downhill. The pain from my Achilles was tempered at the moment so I tried throwing in a small surge. Nothing broke. On the next uphill I carried my surge half way up the hill before settling back into my normal pace.
This gave me a small cushion over Milton but not enough for me to feel too comfortable. During the next mile I got some cheering support from our CRC support crew which really helped. Also I could see the red light in the distance and knew that a good long downhill would follow.
At the turn, I took a quick peek and saw my margin over Milton had grown which made me feel a little better. Not being a huge sprinter, I wanted as much of a gap on Milton as possible. I knew historically he is a very strong closer.
Coming through the 4 mile point, I really started to feel the heat. I felt like I had another gear or two but I was having trouble seeing. The sweat was running into my eyes and giving them a burning sensation.
As I climbed the last hill before turning into the College and running the loop around the track, I thought I could break 28 minutes. I had gas in the tank, but it must have been low octane because I couldn't get that extra push that I needed.
My Garmin registered 5.04 miles which means the course was just a little long for an 8k. But then, on several turns we ran to the wide side of the cones. In hindsight, I should have been running to the inside.
Overall, I had what I thought was a decent race. I picked up the RRCA 8K NC Master's Championship, my time was okay, and my Achilles didn't go too ballistic. 65 degrees in February makes me feel the same as when it is 90 degrees in June – pretty much like I wanted to meltdown.
But it did help me get out of my funk and hopefully back to training better. Now, I just need to get this Achilles tendon heal up.
Winter "Summer" Flight 8k recap by the Cool Down Runner
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