Long version:
When we last spoke, I made the bold prediction that I'd finish Napa in the range 3:16-3:21.
I didn't.
Mind you, that's not all that bold of a time I suppose, but it seemed a reasonable guesstimate. But a guesstimate based on faulty data, a fault all of my own making. But let's rewind.
Going into the event, I had done more 20 milers than I had ever done before (4) and several runs of distances 15-18 miles. I didn't do much in the way of speedwork (mistake for this course) but I felt, nonetheless, that 7:30 pm pace was easy. All my long runs were in the range 7:30-7:40 and so my estimated finish time seemed imminently plausible.
It wasn't.
Here is why (we'll dispense with the ugly, then get on with the nice stuff later). I trained reasonably well, but trained for the wrong race. This course is a tough course. I did not make the mistake of staring at the course profile and, seeing it was net downhill, conclude it was an easy course. Rather, I made the mistake of not realizing that this course is forever undulating and serpentine. Some hills were long (both up and down). But with the exception of the post-20 mile mark, there were very few places where you weren't either going uphill or downhill. The grade or elevation is irrelevant. You are always going up or down. And life has it's ups and downs.
For me, after mile 15, it was all down. And I don't mean down as in "downhill" but down as in the sense of someone quagmired in quicksand...going down for the count. I deduced I made three mistakes.
1. On my long training runs, I frequently stopped (for GU, water, rest) thus making them less 20 milers and more punctuated 5-8 milers.
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| Happy, unaware. |
3. I misjudged the route. I concluded the first half was "harder" than the last half. No. Not this route. The middle 9 miles is where the truth is spoken.
And the truth spoke loud and clear. At mile 15 I was right on 3:16 pace and then the course came-a-knockin'. And I had no answer. I'll leave it to you to do the math. 3:16 thru 15. A finish time of (essentially) 3:36.
Why was I beaten up so badly? I train on flatlands. The steepest hills in Davis, CA (where I live) are the overpasses on I-80. I didn't make the effort to find the requisite hills to train on. Blissfully, I ran decently paced runs in Davis and, thinking it would translate to Napa, found out the hard way it didn't.
Damn. Those last 11.2 miles hurt like H E L L.
In the end, there are no excuses. I was not prepared for this route. I misjudged the course. The conditions (rain and a bit of wind) were not optimal but they were not deal breakers. Truth told, I'd prefer the conditions yesterday to full sun and a warm day and tailwind ANY day.
But the beauty of running is, you live and learn. So when I run this race again, I'll be ready. Or hopefully so. The Running Gods have a way of making one's path belated.
Now to the good stuff.
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| Some of my Tucson friends. Look up Tucson/Oro Valley. |
I used to live in Tucson, AZ. A bunch of my dear friends and former running buddies came up for this race. Seeing them from Friday until Sunday was a wonderful time. It made the bitterness of a poor race evaporate.
And if I'm disappointed with my own performance, these Tucson guys (and gal) made up for it. Three of them went under 3 hours; the remaining bunch all close to 3 hours. But the main thing running does is it creates immutable bonds. Even if words go unspoken and time between contact seems endless, when you do reconnect, it's as if yesterday was, well, just yesterday and there they all are. Those old friends.
So in the end, a poor race is more than made up for by a great weekend. And that's the point.
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| Three Icons: Beardsley, Rodgers, Benoit-Samuelson |
No regrets. That's the way it should be in the end, right?
Out.
B.
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