Monday, October 23, 2006

i thought i had legs

or...why can't I go any faster?

Raced out at Rock Bridge State Park Sunday...the Rock Bridge Revenge 20k run. Actually the revenge part comes the day after the race when you stumble upon getting out of bed because your legs are so racked with stiffness and soreness that they rebel against any notion of movement. Actually "soreness" is not the right word: sore is when you smash your thumb with a hammer, this is more like dropping an anvil on it.

It was a Beautiful run even through the ice-cold creek (twice). It was great to be out in the woods on a sunny morning in October. Trees changing colors, deer out to see why there were so many two-leggers chugging through the woods, and the occasional squirrel yelling in anger at the runners. The actual race for me was kinda weird. My legs were not cooperating with my heart. I never was anyhere near my limit aerobically but my legs wouldn’t go any faster. Everytime I tried to go harder and think I was really starting to push it and my legs would say, "Give us a break, we're going already, ok!" Then I would glance down at my heart rate and it would say, "nope, you are just huffing along on stroll." I guess that is the difference between HR and Perceived Exertion. Nevertheless, great race. Great run. Someday they'll get the results posted and I'll have an idea how I compared to the rest of the back-of-the-pack.

Although running this race was pretty cool, I really missed not racing the latest iteration of the Bubba Memorial Cyclocross series. Probably won't be able to make it to another one until Nov. 5 or 12.

And...what about that local cx scene? The Columbia Fun Times Cyclocross Race and Picnic? Down by the ROTC Tower? Picnic and bonfire to follow at Stephens Lake? Maybe we could talk Bubba into coming?

1 comment:

S. Smith said...

Trail running takes about as much time and training and practice as cx does, and that is saying a lot. Sounds like you did pretty well, actually.