A Final Tune-Up

Lincoln School Holiday 7K (course was 0.2 miles short)
Vancouver, WA

The Short Version

Unofficial Time: 33:02 (8:00/mile)
Splits: No splits since I forgot to turn on the auto-lap on the Garmin.

Fashion Report: Red Gym Girl Snowflake skirt, black LS tech shirt, red USAT hat, red/black maple leaf socks, black gloves, Mizuno Wave Inspire 4
Breakfast Report: Cinnamon oatmeal, coffee, water
Pictures: None because it was cold and we forgot the camera and it was cold. I think Matt may have taken a picture of my socks when we were hanging out at his house post-race.

The Long Version

My marathon training plan called for an 8-12K tune-up race this weekend followed by a 17 mile long run the next day. I had a race all picked out, a hilly 12K out in the Columbia River Gorge but then Mother Nature was planning to wallop the Pacific Northwest with a snowy, icy winter blast. Not wanting to get injured this close to the marathon, I decided to stay in the valley and just do a hard tempo workout on my own but that wasn't too palatable either. There's nothing like a race to get the juices flowing. Good thing the Clark County Running Club puts on regular weekend races and better still, they were closer to home and less likely to get the brunt of the gross weather we were expecting. An almost 7K is just as good as an 8K right? Besides, who wouldn't want to race for the princely sum of $2.00? I talked Matt into racing with me and I had my final tune-up for my marathon build.

Short warm-up around the neighborhood with a few strides tossed in. Chad, Nathan, and Matt's son, Zachary, were already back in the car because it was cold. I dropped my track pants and jacket in the car, stood around freezing for a while, and then joined the other brave souls at the starting line. Matt had said the course had the potential to be somewhat hilly but not as bad as the 12K would have been and I figured I could average just sub-8:00 m/m for the course. Lined up towards the front so I'd have room to run and shot off. Ran with Matt for the first 1/3-1/2 mile or so and he pointed out where he crashed his bike and supermanned across the road then he pulled ahead and I didn't follow. First mile was all downhill which explained the 7:02 average on the Garmin. We turned off onto a multi-use trail where it flattened out and my average pace dropped to a more reasonable 7:27 for the second mile. We ran to the other end of the trail and turned back into the neighborhood. WTF! The first thing I saw was this massively steep hill. Uh, no one told me about this. This is going to suck.

Shorten stride, get into a rhythm, and get it done cursing every step of the way but I was still passing a few runners. Slowed to 8:00 at this point. The course flattened out a bit and then we had a gentle incline to the finish and I kicked it in. Grabbed a candy cane, jogged a short cool down, and then headed over to Matt's for lunch and a beer. It was a great run...much better than a hard 10K effort on my own.

Next up, I take on the Mouse!