Bradbury Scuffle Race Report

Undertrained, unmotivated and it showed. This was my fourth time doing this race and it was my third slowest, significantly so compared to the past two years. But enough whining, one reaps what he sows, and I have spent little time working in the fields.

So, that all being said, it could have been worse. Here's the skinny:

Warmed up with Nathan and could tell my legs didn't have it in them, a far cry from last year when I told Zak during the warm-up "my legs feel spry".

Lined up and Ian gave a very moving talk about how the race is dedicated to our friend Chris Douglass who died in a car accident five years ago. It kinda got to me a little bit but fortunately the race officially started moments later or I might have been more of an emotional wreck.

Miles 1 and 2:
Fast start. Too fast. I bit off more than I could chew. A year or two ago the pace would have been fine, but not now. Lesson learned. By the time the first mile was up, I was letting runners ahead of me. All I could think was Oh crap. By the end of mile two my pace had slowed to a crawl. The heat and humidity was also not helping.

Miles 3 and 4:
By now, I was really mentally defeated, perhaps more so than physically. More runners passed me. I had pretty much decided to just jog it at this point. Seriously. I was at my bonafide easy pace. I didn't really care.

However, there was a bit of a turning point. At the end of mile four, one guy passed me and I decided that he shouldn't be ahead of me. It lit a fire. I got him back either right before or shortly after the turn on to the snowmobile trail, which would soon start to turn downhill and at a very runnable grade to boot.

Miles 5 and 6:
Mojo is back. At least chilling out for those middle two miles recharged the batteries. I had three friends in front of me and I worked at picking them off, one by one. By the time we were on the Knight's Woods Trail in the final half mile, I had my sights on a younger fellow and worked to reel him in.

We made the final turn and only a tenth or so of a mile to go, but the young guy looked over his shoulder and now knew I was there. He kicked it up a notch and I couldn't get him. Crossed the finish line in 48:13 and in 19th place.

Afterwards:
Talked with the young guy I was trying to catch, he came up and thanked me for pushing him and I thanked him for the pull and added incentive. I love the sportsmanship in running, it's one of the many things that makes our sport awesome.

Went on a cool down run with Scott H. and I puked. Watched other runners coming in, including Kate who had a really good finishing time thanks to her injuries not really bugging her as much, which is great news.

Postmortem: 
I dreaded the race, knowing I wasn't in decent race shape and I simply didn't want to do it. But I ran it and I guess I'm kinda glad I did. I had fun. Saving grace was the final two miles where I got it together a little more physically and mentally.

Is this race lighting a fire under my butt? Nope. I really still have very little desire to race for now and just want to continue running for fun. No idea what I'll do for the Breaker (I'm registered for all three races), might just run it with Kate. We'll see.

Oh yeah, the new shoes (Saucony Peregrine 3); they did well overall. Bit of an adjustment for me as they are higher off the ground than I'm used to for trail shoes, but I suspect my ankles will learn after a few more runs. Grip and fit were otherwise great. They'll serve me well.

Courtesy: Maine Running Photos

Official Results

Ran 5.9 miles @ 8:12/mile pace.
Official time: 48:13
Official place: 19th out of 145
Trails.
Moderately hilly.
Mid to upper 70s, sunny, humid.
Saucony Peregrine 3, shorts, sleeveless shirt.

w/u: Ran 1.1 miles @ 9:57/mile pace.
c/d: Ran 1.2 miles @ 13:16/mile pace.