WWC Frigid 10k Recap
The WWC’s Frigid 10k lived up to its billing this morning.
Runners stepping to the starting line were greeted by temperatures in the upper
20s. Not something that I normally expect during the month of February.
This might have made the race tradition of taking a dip in
the Catawba River afterward have a bit more of sting, but runners were given a reprieve
this year. With the buckets upon buckets of rain falling earlier this week, the
river is running a bit higher at the moment. Erring on the side of caution, the
WWC canceled this portion of the race. I cannot say as I blame them. Having
runners jump in to a roaring river and get sweep downstream in the current would
definitely have not been good “Press” for them.
The 5k runners headed out for their race starting around
9:20. My race, the 10k, headed off at 9:30 on the nose.
They altered the course so the start and finish ended at the
Pavilion. This meant that we would be running portions of Tortuga, Figure 8,
North Main, and the Thread trails.
Every start from the Pavilion that I have done is always
fast coming out of the Pavilion. Today is no different. The runners stretch out
in front of me as we round the channel and enter the North Main trail.
Entering the North Main trail is always tricky after a
rain. The hard, twisting downhill, combined the mud and every runner’s
eagerness to use their fresh legs to press their advantage wherever possible,
makes for a treacherous start to the race.
I enter the trail in 7th place. I can see the
runners attempting to stretch their advantage. I tried to settle myself and
gauge the trail conditions. Knowing how much to push on a wet trail helps keep
my upright and headed for the finish line.
I catch one guy, and I fall in behind this young runner. He
cannot be more 13 or 14. He is silky smooth on the trails. He navigates the
twists and turns with ease while lightly bouncing along on the trail. I close
the distance on him but he is running well enough that I cannot make a move on
him while we are in this rolling hill section.
As I follow him along behind him, his gait reminds me that I
have seen it before. He was running the New Years Eve 5K race at the WWC. I was
following him most of the 5k course.
The trail widens, and I move up beside him. The trail then breaks
left and being on the inside of the turn, I am around him.
I am now on the lower section of the Tortuga trail. This is
the section that I love to run. The course is mostly flat and fast. My
breathing is labored but not to the point it affects my race. I am working
through the runners in front of me.
One guy I recognize from the WWC Labor Day race last year.
He dropped me pretty early in the race. Today, I sense that our races might be
going differently.
I pass him and then quickly pass the guy in front of him.
Heading toward the far end of the Tortuga trail, I can still hear their footsteps
behind me. There is no need to look back at this point.
Leaving Tortuga and picking up Thread, I press my pace in
this pine needles section. Again, this is another of my favorite sections
Crossing the road and heading back on the upper end of the Thread
trail, I can no longer hear their footsteps, and at the next switch back, I
have a small gap on those two.
Turning on to Figure 8, I hit the steep hill. Suddenly, I am
feeling the early pace in my legs. I can only hope those behind me feel a similar pain.
Before I know it, I am back on the North Main trail. My legs
are really starting to feel the sting of the miles. I run down to near the river
before climbing back to the top of the ridge. I can see that my advantage has
grown ever so slightly. Running along the top of the ridge involves conquering
many twists and turns. I pump my arms in hopes that my legs will follow.
I charge hard on the downhill section back to the river. I
am pounding the trail so hard that I feel it in my eye balls. I attempt to
carry my downhill pace for much of the rolling trail section along the river. At the next switch back, again I got pretty
good idea of my advantage. Problem is that I am not sure if I hold once we pop
out and run along the channel back to the Pavilion.
Continuing to charge hard on the uphills and pound the downhills, my
legs are entering the wasted zone. I follow the arrows back to the channel. No
more roots, no more rocks to worry about at this point, my arms are pumping to drive me forward yet my legs do not feel like they are following. In fact, my legs feel like
they are turning over in slow motion. The climb along the channel seems to drag
on forever. I don’t dare look back, or I give away the fact of how bad that I
am feeling.
Making the U-turn to head up the final stretch to the Pavilion,
I steal a glance back down the channel. My advantage is greater than I ever
expected. I take a deep breath. Knowing now, no one is going to catch me before
the finish.
I finished 2nd overall in 50 minutes and 12
seconds placing 1st in my age. This was better than I expected, and
my time was better than last year.
The rain from the last few days made the trail slick and
muddy. I was happy to be wearing my Hoka Evos. They grabbed the mud well, and
they contributed to keeping me upright the entire way. At the start of the race, I admit that I was a
bit timid, but as we moved through the course, my confidence in being able to
read the trail grew. More so, when I planted my Evos in the mud, I had the confidence that they were going to stick and not slide out from under me. Yes,
shoes can make a race better.
Big shout out to the WWC for making great decisions where it involves us runners. They adjusted given the conditions and gave the runners an opportunity to have a great race.
Kickin’ up trail mud,
The Cool Down Runner
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