2012 Cotton Row 5K ... No Taper, No Problem

This was a good race despite it being a late start on a warm day. I even managed the race with little or no taper.  I had run 16 miles on Saturday and biked 31 miles on Sunday. So race Monday I had no expectations. I had decided that after passing out the week before at the Priceville 5K I was not going to push myself. Well let's be honest I promised my family I would not push too hard.

On race day I got to see my cousin Jenny who has been doing a good bit of running and racing.  What made the race special was that my daughter Dru got up early and came to the race to cheer me on. My friend Dave Truitt was also at the race and I started out behind him at the starting line.It was pretty warm and the sun was beginning to bear down on us. I decided to not push too hard and enjoy the race. After about a half mile I eased passed Dan. Who was I trying to kid, this was a race.  My pacing was OK and I was feeling better than I thought I would. I managed a pretty good pace (6:30, 7:04, 7:38).  There was a pretty good breeze and there was some shade around the buildings.

When I came running down toward the finishing line all I could think of was not stopping to quickly and passing out. Seeing Jon Elmore at the finish also reminded me of the Priceville 5K pass out. I slowed, but ran out of the shoot and then ran on around behind the finishing area. Dru lost sight of me and it took us a while to find each other. She had found one of her friends from high school and I had found his parents, so eventually we all got back together.

I managed to finish 30th overall and 1st place in my age group. I wanted to run under 21 minutes but got a 21:10.  I will take 30th out of over 2000 runners any day. It was great to share the day with my cousin and daughter and not passing out was a real plus.

Prepping for McKay Hollow 2013

McKay Hollow was my first trail race and remains one of my favorites. I am back to some long runs and I did finish Black Warrior 25K in February, but McKay is a different level of race. McKay is more technical and more vertical. It is different right down to the rock, these are slicker limestone and the ones at Bankhead are more of a sandstone material. They are like running on sand paper. I love both these races,but I also have to acknowledge they are different.

I hope to do better each year, but coming off an injury I am not quite up to the level I was last year. I did do pretty good at Black Warrior this year. Not a PR but I did place in my age group. My weekly mileage is close to the point before the injury and I have done some trail running. I ran 8 miles at Rainbow Mountain in Madison Saturday to prepare myself for McKay. I managed not to have any major falls Saturday. The trails there are pretty technical, but lack the elevation of the McKay course. It is surrounded by residential housing, so it is a trail I feel like I can run by myself. Bankhead is to remote to run by myself.