Picture courtesy of Tetongirl Photography -- Thanks, Lisa!! |
This past weekend I ran in the USATF National Club Cross
Country Championships in Lexington, KY. It was an amazing experience that I can’t
wait to tell you about, but first let me back up a bit. A few months ago, I got
accepted to the Playmakers’ Elite/New Balance Women’s Masters Racing Team. I was super-excited about this opportunity. I
started running as an adult, so I had never had the experience of running with
a team. I came onto the team at the end of the racing season. They had been participating in the USATF Masters Long Distance Club Grand Prix Series. I was very happy to be on the team, but having
never run cross country before I was also pretty nervous. Our fearless leader,
Ruth, assured me that I would have a great time and that I would do fine – she was
half right.
In our boxes at the start |
The Race:
First of all, you may be wondering why I was worried about
running cross country when I am used to running trails. How different could it
be, right? Let me tell you right now, it is totally different! In the trail
marathons and ultras, I am used to cruising along the trails, conserving energy,
walking when necessary and enjoying the scenery. Cross country is flying over
the terrain, pedal to the metal. You actually have to be in very good shape for this type of running -- which I, of course, am not right now. The only part of my trail training that carried
over was that I was never worried about the footing.
The course itself was fantastic and did not seem
particularly difficult, from my inexperienced point of view (or at least it
would not have been for someone who was actually in shape to run this type of
race). It was almost all on grass, with just a bit of mud. The terrain rolled
through most of it, with just a few hills, but nothing I would call killer (although
they did kind of wear on me by the second time around the loop). I was glad I
was not in the men’s race. They did three loops. Our race distance was 6k. They
did 10k.
The course was pretty wet. It had rained the day before, and it was still raining on and off the morning of the race. Thankfully the rain held
off for the women’s and men’s masters races, but the open races got pretty
wet. Because I had not run cross country
before, I did not have spikes. I really wanted to wear my Pure Grits, which are
my favorite trail shoe, but which are not that great in slick conditions. I
made some homemade spikes with my Grits and some hex head screws. They ended up
working perfectly. I did not slip at all.
Pure Grits for Cross Country |
The start was crazy. We lined up in our boxes which were marked out on the ground in chalk. All of the
masters women’s teams (40+, 50+, and 60+) were lined up together, 21 teams in
all. Looking down the line was pretty impressive. We were starting on an
uphill, with a right turn about 100 yds out, followed by a more or less level
section. I was lined up at the front of one of our boxes, with my 50+ teammate
Sue at the front of the box next to me. I knew that I was not in condition to
go out too fast so was planning on holding back and running a sensible pace. The gun went off and the field took off like a huge wave. I was at the
back of the pack quickly, in the last third of the runners, and the pace was
still way, way too fast. So much for the plan.
After topping the hill and making the turn, I glanced down
at my watch. It said 7:10 pace. “Shit!!” I wanted to be no faster than 7:50 in
the first mile. I knew I was in trouble. I dialed it down a little and was
promptly passed by several runners. We all had our ages pinned to our backs, so
it was easy to know if the person passing was in our age group. I thought it
would be nice to know, but it was actually quite annoying. Before the race had
started, our coach, Jim, had said “Don’t get discouraged.” I actually smiled
then as I thought of that. It was exactly the advice that was needed at that
point.
Somewhere around the half mile I started to wheeze. I have a
condition called vocal chord dysfunction that sometimes causes my vocal chords
to close. I had not had problems with this in a race for almost ten years, but I felt
the familiar "breathing through a straw" feeling. It was probably the combination
of the severe cold I had had a few weeks ago, anxiety, the thick damp air, the lack of conditioning, and the too fast
pace that had brought it on. I was hoping that on the downhill that I would be
able to relax, do the stupid little throat stretching thing that sometimes
helps, and get rid of the wheeze.
I did get a short break in the wheezing, but as we started
the rolling back part of the course, the wheezing returned. At this point, I was
surrounded by several of my team members, and that really helped. I focused on
the back of the person in front of me and just tried to hold pace. Somewhere on
the first loop Ruth passed me. I tried to go with her, but just could not pick
it up. I had to settle with keeping her
in sight. On the back side of the course for the second time the wheezing was really kicking in. The
last mile of the race is just a blur of all kinds of hurt. They should have a
new motto for cross country races “All the pain of a road 5k – plus!!”
I finished right behind Ruth, where I had been running for
most of the latter half of the race. In case you don’t know Ruth, she is 68
years old --- and the new National Champion in the 65-69 age group! We also had
two other National Champions on our team, Kari Chandler in the 60-64 age group
and Sharon Dolan in the 70-74 age group. I, on the other hand, finished 21 out
of 23 women in my age group. I think it was my lowest finish in a race ever. I
definitely have lots of room for improvement!
The men’s race was absolutely incredible! Our Playmaker’s
Masters men, as well as the men from the Mid Michigan Track Club did absolutely
awesome! I had never seen a men’s cross
country race before. So much toughness and testosterone! The start actually
gave me chills.
Speaking of testosterone, there was a men's team there from
Atlanta with singlets that said "Team Testosterone" on the front and “No I am not
on steroids, but thanks for asking” on the back. I thought it was hilarious (Okay,
I admit I was a little oxygen deprived). I went over to take a picture of the
back of the singlet, and one of the runners, Grant, asked me if I wanted to
trade shirts. I could not give him my new Playmakers sweatshirt, so I ran back
to my bag and dug out my Dances With Dirt Hell shirt. Unfortunately, it was a
women’s medium, and let’s just say Grant was not. Still he was a good sport,
and his wife probably has a new shirt by now. Interestingly Grant also
mentioned that he has a running streak of 30 years. I looked him up on the
United States Running Streak Association web site, and sure enough, there he was. He has run every day since 8/28/1982. Amazing!!
My new friend Grant looking very buff in his new DWD Hell shirt |
I am embarrassed to say that I did not see either of the
open races. It started to rain, and I was in that post race freezing thing that
I go into all the time. I was huddled in the car trying to get warm. I am sure
they were even more awesome for running in the rain!
I have to say that the team atmosphere was just as amazing as the race. Everyone was so
supportive and so friendly. We were all staying at the same hotel, and it was
like a summer camp for adults. My abs are sore from all the laughing. I am sure
the staff at Jalapeno’s restaurant in Lexington is still talking about those
crazy women runners.
Probably the highlight of the trip for me was the music
night. We have some incredibly talented
people on the team. Not only can they run, but they can make beautiful music as
well. Chere Pepper is an amazing singer and songwriter, and she was joined by Carol
Levack, Mike DuCharme, and Tom Halm for an impromptu concert in the lobby of
the La Quinta on Saturday evening after the race. It was the perfect end to the
day.
Rockin' the Lobby of the La Quinta |
I was lucky to room with Lisa Soros, our team photographer. She put together a slide show of the trip and was nice enough to agree to share it here. If you get time, be sure to visit her site: Tetongirl Photography.
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