Decker Challenge 20k

Let me begin by saying that I'm very happy that the Distance Challenge series takes a 5 week break after today. This alternating schedule of 18-20 mile runs and long hard hilly races in between has been tough!

This morning brought typical Decker weather. Cool, drizzly, damp, breezy, temps hanging in the 58 degree range for the whole race. I met about 10 of the Gazelles at 6:00 am for our pre-race warmup and reconnaissance run, and after various bathroom breaks, we headed out, bundled up extra warm per Gilbert's instructions, and followed the Burundi Bandit on a tour from the finish line backwards on the course. We shuffled along at 10:00/mile pace or thereabouts, and chatted about the course and the finish. It was a convivial group, and we laughed a lot as we checked out the evil finishing bit of the 20k course. There were a lot of good sized gravel rocks strewn over the course in various spots on the backside of the finishing mile, and I made a mental note to step carefully through those as well as the 40-50 yard stretch of gravel road that we'd have to negotiate just when we were most exhausted near the finish. I felt pretty good during warmups, with little in the way of muscle discomfort or stiffness, and I was thankful for that bit of good news. After our warmup jog, we did the Gazelles drills and strides, and some gentle stretching. Gilbert dropped a little more running wisdom on us about pacing and using good form up and down the rolling hills to come, and we scurried back to our cars to drop off all of our extra clothes.

By now, I had decided to wear my Gazelles singlet and shorts instead of long pants or long-sleeved shirt, so I clambered into the Tahoe and changed pants there. I substituted my mesh cap for the warm wool hat, since it wasn't as cold as I had thought, pinned on my number, and I was off. I kept my now very old New York Marathon throwaway Tyvek jacket for the time being. I figured it would help me out early until I got warmed up during the race, and I could either throw it away or tie it around me later.

I jogged back over to the start area, and took advantage of a relatively short port-o-line, and made that last-minute hydration adjustment. I didn't want to give up 20 or 30 seconds like I did at Motive just because I had failed to pay attention to the full pre-race rituals. With plenty of time to spare, I squeezed into line with the other runners, a little further back than I would have liked, but I was okay with that. The same pre-taped National Anthem as at Motive, and then the horn and we were off.

I went with the flow of people early, and slowly made my way forward as the crowd crossed the start line (I was 52 seconds behind the official clock). There was a good bit of easy sliding forward as I found creases in the crowd, and really wasn't inconvenienced too much as I got up to speed. My plan was to take it easy in the first mile, something in the 9:00 range, and then get down to business once the course started getting tougher. The course had some moderate long hills in the first few miles, but the course generally trends downhill through mile 3 or so. I made the turn off of Decker Lane, and got down to the business of the main hills to come. So far so good.

Splits 1-3: 8:51, 8:32, 8:27.

Mile 4 featured a climb, and then the course really went downhill to its lowest point right at the 6 mile mark. I missed the mile 4 split, so the splits for miles 4 and 5 are an average split for that time. I passed Jan from the Gazelles during mile 4 and Don Albee just after mile 5 during this stretch on a hill, and was generally passing folks all along. Sure, there were some faster people going around me, but not too many. I felt pretty good at the mile 6 marker, and prepared for the start of the bad stuff. I took a gulp of Enervitene at the water stop along there, and planned on taking the rest somewhere like mile 9 or 10. I was drinking Powerade and water at the water stops. So far so good.

Splits 4-6: 8:42, 8:42 (average), 8:18. Average pace for 6 miles - 8:35, right around my goal pace.

Just after the mile 6 marker, the course turned hard right, and we started up a substantial hill. I tried to relax through this obstacle, and then tried to recover afterwards on the relatively flat (but still rolling) miles after that. I still felt good, and the hills seemed to just roll underneath my feet. The weather still sucked, but by now I had tied my jacket around my waist, and was feeling okay in the damp conditions. I seemed to have fallen into a funny spot in the crowd, passing people and sort of staying in open space for the most part. In races, I do best when I'm not running specifically with someone, and so I just kept picking new people to go after and moving along. There was a pretty steep hill during mile 9, and it was there that I passed Governor Perry. People on the side of the course were yelling at us to go get Governor Perry, and pointed him out ahead of us. I caught him right before the hill started, and talked with him briefly. A classical guitar group that I'm a member of was playing at his Christmas reception at noon today, and I told him that I'd see him there later. He sounded a little like he wasn't having a really fun time, but said that he'd be there, "God willing." I gave him an Attaboy, and headed up the hill. Cresting that bad boy, I took stock of the situation, and knew that I had just over 3 miles left. I had a vague notion that I was on pace for my race goal, and so kept pushing. My splits show where the hills were, that's for sure. I passed Richard, another Gazelle alumni, on the mile 9 hill.

Mile 7-9: 9:05, 8:14, 8:49

Mile 10 featured another long incline, and then we turned for home. The fog and drizzle kept obscuring the length of the hills until you got in the middle of one of them, which was both good and bad. You didn't have time to obsess over them until you had already run into them, but then it was hard to know where the end of it was at first. I got through this hill in pretty good fashion, and then the course rolled onward to the Expo Center, but the evil finishing section was ahead. During mile 10, I noticed that we were sent right by a part of the course that I thought was on the course map, but tried to put that out of my mind. It would have been a minor difference, but maybe on recertifying the course, it changed ever so slightly? I was struggling a little in my mind here, and I was feeling a little heavy-legged, but I tried to keep moving on. I must have missed a water stop or something, because I never got around to taking the last of my Enervitene. Anyway, I turned into the ground of the Expo, and grinded my way up the nasty hill that ensues promptly inside the gate there. I took a cup of water at the mile 10.5 water stop and poured it on my head, and rolled on. I finished the uphill bit, and fought the wind a bit as we went to the 11 mile marker and the turnaround. Just 200 yards from the finish line, we went to the bottom of a hill, and then turned 180 degrees back up that same hill, going away from the finish line. Mentally, this was a tough spot for me. I pushed up that shorter hill and then fought through a more subtle uphill all the way to a turnoff into the back parking lot. I got the chance to see some runners coming the other way, and nodded to a couple of folks, and then turned for the real final bit. It was a little lonely out there on the parking tarmac, but except for dodging those gravel bits that we noticed on our warmup run, I was just thinking about holding my form together for the finish.

I was catching a few folks, and holding my own against some others who were around me. Some of the Gazelles were doing their cooldown jog, and they cheered me up a little as they went the other way. I passed the mile 12 marker, and tried to guess how painful the last .43 miles would be. I know, those were negative thoughts, but I had to work with what was going on in my head. The course drifted uphill here, ending with a sharp little hill right before the gravel road section. At that corner, I saw Gilbert and a couple of other Gazelles there, and he went crazy cheering me on. He jumped in with me, and coached me up that nasty little hill, basically telling me how to do everything, trying to take my mind away from my personal agony. He told me that I'd pass a lot of people in the stretch run. This was all great to hear, but I whimpered to him to please not run all the way in with me, and he just kept cheering and turned me loose on the gravel path. I almost turned an ankle on a couple of big gravel chunks, but escaped that without undue injury. Gilbert had accelerated me, and I kept that speed up on the largely downhill portion of the homestretch. I saw the mile 3 sign for the 5K Brown Santa race, and knew that I only had a tenth of a mile to go. Gasping, pushing, grinding, I pushed across the line, and I knew it was over.

Mile 10-12.43: 8:28, 8:17, 8:40, 3:36 (8:22 pace)
Overall time: 1:46:41, 8:35 pace

Second half pace was only 2 seconds slower than first half pace, which was really good, and I had some strong miles late in the race. I struggled a bit more than I had hoped late, but I was strong enough mentally to pull myself through a tough day.

It was a big PR, and I destroyed my previous bests at Decker (pace only, since it was a 12 miler until this year). I caught my breath, chatted with Frank, Liliana, Alex and some other Gazelles, and then had to scurry to my car so I could get to the guitar gig on time. Sounded like there were a lot of PR's had today, including mine. I put on all sorts of clothes from the car, and took an additional 10 minute slow jog around the parking lot as I waited for the kids' 1 mile race to finish so we could get out of the parking area. That was actually a good thing. I was tired, but happy, and now I get a rest from racing for a bit. Next up, the Buda 30k, a nemesis race in years past, so that's an important mental effort there in January.