I’m a bit slow in getting my weekly post out from last week but here goes.
It’s official. Racing has commenced! I spent Saturday afternoon in Rockford, IL. for second race in the winter, Rock Cut Trail Series. Since the race was a short 10k race I didn’t freak out about my lack of training since I’m targeting late Spring and Summer ultra’s. Regardless, I still like to go out and compete at the top even if I fail.
I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. The drive up to Rockford, one hour away, reveal lots of snow as I made my way up I-90. The series is being held at Rock Cut State Park, a super great place to come overnight camp and trail run. With temps in the mid 20s I wasn’t super thrilled as I had planned on sunshine and mid 30s. But that’s how it goes. After signing up I had about 30 minutes to attempt to warm up. As I started to warm up on the roads around the starting area I discovered the trails were all snow. Uck. And on top of that we are talking 4-6 inches of loose snow.
So after a brief 20 minute warm up I made my way to the starting area. Umm, exactly where do we start??? Yeah, its straight up this 30 yard hill in the snow. I could tell this race had some fast looking doods which made me pumped for good competition and the expectation of real racing finally. So we start, the mad dash up the hill begins. It’s a struggle but I find myself in second place tracking down the lead guy. I’m all over the place as we enter the trail and begin the onslaught of pain. I sure as heck wasn’t ready for this intensity. I’ve done maybe one speed workout this year on top of going through physical therapy to fix some hip strength and muscle knot issues.
During the first mile I could barely breathe. My nose immediately froze and I couldn’t breathe through it so I had to rely on my mouth for air. Cold, freaking air. I wasn’t sure the trail was marked for mileage and I just refused to look at my Garmin. So when we crossed the first mile marker my immediate thought was screw this lets drop out. But I decided to keep going. My hips couldn’t keep the intensity up trying to maneuver through the snow and sliding all over the place. This was quickly becoming one of the hardest races I’ve ever done. And so my second place position quickly fell to fifth.
I suffered through another two miles before I could finally breathe and find a decent rhythm. Then I had a freak out moment. These midwesterners are so use to cold temps and freezing they aren’t scared to leverage frozen lakes as part of the chaos. So at mile 3 we crossed a lake that had to be at last 1/3 of a mile across. WOW. That was a bit freaky and was added motivation of freaking don’t stop or look down. And so the craziness continued as the trail took us back across the lake not just one more time but twice. It wasn’t until the last time across that I decide to look down close to the end of the crossing. Yes it was then as I approached the end that I looked over and saw some mushy areas. DOUBLE FREAK OUT!!!!!
Finally off the lake and onto the last 1.5 miles. I hit the five mile mark and could just feel the burning in my hips as I struggled to pace myself up a hill. Seeing the final .5 mile I began to be thankful and question the next race if this was going to be the racing experience. But I finished in 12th by the time it was finished. Considering the terrain, weather, and my racing shape I decided to be please with my result.
Finished, I grabbed some hot chocolate and decided to walk back to my car. Let me tell you this as well. My race day wear is go minimal. When I’m in the heat of competition i’ve discovered my body will keep warm so I don’t need lots of layers. So as I walked to the car I went to get my car fob from my jacket…….Whatttttttttttt FFFFFFFFFFFFF SHHHHHHHHH*T. The ultimate please don’t ever happen to me happened. My jacket zipper wasn’t all the way up and my fob popped out!!!!! Immediately I began to freak inside. WHAT THE HECK AM I GOING TO DO. I’m easily an hour away from any friend that could help me and even then I can’t remember phone #s. The panic even escalated as I thought well maybe just maybe I left my car unlocked. No dice. Locked like Fort Knox. I bumped a cell phone off the people parked next to me and called Subaru Roadside Assistance. Thank you Subaru for this service it really got me out of a pickle. SRA located a local locksmith who could be out to the state park within 40 minutes. Quickly I thanked God for providing the resources necessary.
Did I say I barely had anything on???? That 40 minutes I almost froze. I was so happy to see that locksmith but even more impressed how she manuevered my window open. Wait. I’m almost worried seeing how a criminal mind opens a car up. Geez, nobody’s car is safe. So 10 minutes later she had my car open and to my final release of worry I’m finding the car keys and jacking up the heat immediately.
Within 15 minutes I’m back on target and getting back to Chicago. What a day this turned into be.
And for the record, I’ll be back Feb 20 for the 15k race. Hopefully in a bit better shape and with little expectations.
Zack Perry Uncategorized