Let's go 'cocks. Let's go 'cocks.
this weekend the jumbostate gamecocks tore up the state of new jersey. we ended up running 9 hours 20 minutes and change for the 92 mile course across the state. i think we ended up with 7th fastest time (someone correct me if i'm wrong)
i thought it was a really fun race. it was kind of hectic at times since we had to coordinate getting people to the line and helping the runner still on the road, but we survived and made it in one piece. there were definitely some times on a lonely road inthe middle of new jersey when i thought i had been running way too long and that the support car had fucked up and sent me down the wrong road, but in the end it all worked out and was a lot of fun.
i was a little scared going in to the race. i hadn't really run in a week because my knee had been sore. it felt fine on the shakeout the day before, but an easy 3 mile shakeout is very different from hammering out an 8 and a 6 miler. my first leg was 8.05 in the middle of the day. felt pretty good out of the gate. cruised through 3ish feeling pretty good, crushed it up a big hill and was beginning to feel it, but there was a mandatory 2 minute stop to cross a road. felt fine after that for a little further then at probably 4 or 4.5 shit began to hit the fan. myknee tightened up again. another hill was met with a series of dry heaves. felt real poor for a while. i was expecting to finish in like 53 or 54 based off how i felt, so i was pretty shocked and pleased to come around a corner at 47:50 and see ragz there for the next handoff.
next leg was supposed to just be a quick easy 2.5 to end the race but ragz is a wimp and decided he can't run with a 101 fever so i had to step up and take 6.55. pretty dehydrated going in but felt surprisingly good off the line. began to struggle about half way through. stuff started to tighten up. managed to hang on for like 6 even throughout, felt strong, still no real signs of any turnover though.
pretty pleased with how the runs went. wasn't sure what to expect going in and i think it went well. really fun road race. bugt sunday morning was rough
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I figure ill just leave a comment instead of making a new post. R2C13 went very well considering the state of our team. Hutch with his deformed knee. Blaney only being able to run a few times a week because of work. JRags nearly dying in the backseat of the car. Blaney's friend Corey taking off for the Yankee game halfway through. And nearly having to have Ana run the last leg made it quite an interesting race. Personally I feel like I had two excellent runs. I ran first in the morning. It was nice and cool and I only had to go 4.8 miles. I had originally planned to try to run about 5:50 pace so i could save some for the afternoon, but starting at the same time as a team of old guys was enough motivation to drop a few fast miles. I ran it in around 26:25 which is about 5:30 pace without too much strain. That made me very optimistic for the upcoming cross season. I was a little more confident going into my second leg, 9.15 miles, than I expected to be. Hence I ended up hammering for close to five miles, and ended up paying for it in the last four. I wore my streaks in the morning and my trainers in the afternoon. After a few miles of dumping bottles and bottles of water on myself in my second leg, my shoes and socks were thoroughly soaked and heavy as hell. For my last four miles i alternated between feeling absolutely terrible and pretty good. Usually depending on whether i was in the sun or the shade. I managed to stick it out as well as put in a pretty decent kick at the end. I ran about 53 minutes for the second leg which i considered great after a5 mile tempo a few hours before. Our team finished more than half an hour faster than my team last year. I also got in my 100 mile week, which I don't plan on doing again any time soon. Somehow I'm not that sore aside from my eternal shin pain.
ReplyDeleteI'll follow Chris and leave my thoughts as a comment to Hutch's post. R2C13 was a memorable experience, no doubt. It started with a 5 hour trip from Philly to New Jersey, courtesy of NJ transit. A shakeout run and some delicious lasagna at Brunk's, followed by a night on the floor. The next morning, we arrived in Milford, NJ, in time to see several teams start the relay (which was staggered by average 5k time). Brunks opened up with an impressive first leg, and set the tone for the day--we were here to compete. My first leg, AKA "The Beast" came at around 11:30. By the time I started, the sun was out, and the heat and humidity I had expected had arrived. I tried to stay relaxed for the first mile or so. Soon came the 1.5 mile hill that gave this leg of the relay its name. Once I crested the hill, the sky opened up and I heard crashes of thunder around me. It started pouring around halfway through the 8.2 mile leg. Although the kid I started with (who someone said goes to Wyoming)destroyed me in this leg, I was still satisfied and felt ready to tackle another run later in the day. A few hours of hectic driving later, I was racing again, this time in the 13th (second to last leg). I was expecting to run either a 6 mile or 2.5 mile second leg, but with the various issues surrounding our team, I decided to take on another 8 miler. For the first 20 minutes of the leg, I ran through some of the worst pain I've ever felt. My whole chest was cramping, and I had to slow down significantly probably down to 7 minute pace. I was seriously considering walking or having a teammate finish for me. Suddenly, the pain went away, and I realized I still had energy and could turn my race around. I sped up and probably dropped a 5:30 or two to finish my leg in 47:54. JRags took over and brought us to the sea. Overall, our team averaged under 6:00 pace for 92 miles. A relaxing swim capped off the day. The best part: 16 miles of racing and I wasn't sore the next day.
ReplyDeletehmm, lets see, what do i remember about river to sea:
ReplyDeletethat brunnquells mom is a FUCKING MILF! oh my god
lying in the back seat of my brothers CRV wrapped up in wet clothes clutching a thermometer and a gatorade thinking "i hate my life"
team 23 being so fucking hot.
nate getting up.
and you can shit talk me dying all you want, i still averaged 5:24 for 4, came back from my deathbed, and averaged 5:12 for 2.5, dropping the wood team and 3 others with ruthless efficiency. in trainers.
seriously though, lets do it again next year. i promise i'll be alive for the majority. and i want stage 13 this time.