2nd place in 1:50:17. 14.33 miles/ 3500ft of gain/ 7:37 pace per mile.
Full results here. I'm pretty happy with the race, having not actually done a running race in a full year I wasn't sure how my brain would do. During the warm-up my glute cramped and I could feel twinges in my hamstring remnants of Tuesday and Wednesday's hard run/ bike workouts which freaked me out and I literally was very close to walking back to my car and going home. The race started and I immediately felt very good, the anxiety that I feel before races disappeared and I went to the front and held what felt like 7:30 pace which felt joggingly. The race organizer though told me after the race that we (Geofrey would put 3:00 on me between mile ~4 and the finish) were
under course record pace for the first 8 miles which meant we were actually holding sub 6:45 pace. Which also means that the drop off in pace was quite dramatic (IE: we died) By mile 9 the cramping returned in my quads and groin but I didn't feel that it hurt my performance much if any. With smarter pacing and less biking I know I can take a significant chunk of time off this. Someone mentioned to me that my time was the 2nd fastest Masters time ever in the 41 years the race has been run... of course the fastest time is by Matt Carpenter who was 43 when he ran an UNREAL time of 1:37:01 here. Nearly a minute faster per mile than I ran. MC is certainly a mountain God.
I had a blast which is above all else the most important take away (well, that and the fact that I OWNED Sweeney's best time :) I really do hate racing so I was pleased to find myself dying at mile 12 but loving every second of it. This also bodes well for my fitness heading in to the start of Leadman in 2 weeks. I'm fit and I'm ready to kill it.
.jpg) |
| Course profile |
 |
| Slowly losing ground |
 |
| Mile ~9.5 just before the switchbacks. Geofrey in front and I'm the speck way back. |
 |
| Geofrey looking like... well, a Kenyan! Beautiful runner. |
 |
| Nice back drop... literally. |
 |
| The last switchback. |
.jpg)
Gorgeous and congrats....glad you didn't turn around to the car and stayed to toe the line.
ReplyDeleteThank you Damie! I'm a head case when it comes to racing... it's hit or miss between spectacular failure or good racing. How are you!?
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear that you enjoyed the day. Remarkable. run for a master's athlete!
ReplyDeleteBOOOOM!
ReplyDeleteThanks Guys! With much less focus on ultras and cycling... I got much more in me here.
ReplyDeleteMike- I had you in my head at the start. What you said in our phone call helped me a ton, so thank you! And I'm YOUR coach? Happy Father's Day again!
I was just hoping you didn't get lost.
ReplyDeleteB- I get lost doing 400's on the track. Surprised I didn't make a wrong turn too!
ReplyDeleteWoot woot! Double congrats on both toeing the line and having such a great race! I loved it when things come together. I hope you are celebrating! And laughing at you getting lost doing 400s on the track. I always say I get lost in my back yard...and it is tiny!
ReplyDeleteGreat run out there. You looked incredibly focused and strong coming 'round the last switchback. Congrats.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRpzxKsSEZg
ReplyDeleteice to your blood, my friends!
Way to go - that's an amazing pace.
ReplyDeleteAwesome run, Lucho....best of luck in the series!
ReplyDeleteYou don't even look tired in the finish photo. You're going to kill Leadman!
ReplyDeleteDid I see rockets on the back of your feet? (aka Hermes)???!!
ReplyDeleteSolid solid solid. Now ... stay upright on the bike for the summer!
ReplyDeleteGz- Welcome back! Any wolf pics? The risk of crashing is what this interesting! I can't wait.
ReplyDeleteNo wolves, bears or moose spotted in Yellowstone. But they may have spotted us.
ReplyDelete