Decker Challenge 20K Race [Entered Monday]

Sunday, we ran my favorite Distance Challenge race, the Decker Challenge 20k. The course is a challenging one, with rolling hills throughout the race, but for some reason it has always seemed fun to me. My friends from North Carolina, Jeff and Andy, were in town for the race this year, which made this an even better run than normal. We got rolling at 6:15 for the longer trip to the race site, and the weather was exactly as predicted on www.weather.com when checked last night: 51 degrees, windy, and overcast skies. As usual, we got there early, but that was okay with me. With some extra shirts on for the warmup, we strolled over to the Expo center for some relief from the wind. The Gazelle gang was there, excited about the prospects of the run, and dreading getting out in the weather for the warmups. Gilbert chatted with us from the comfort of his car before he headed out to the water stop that the Gazelles would be doing at the 10K mark.

Finally, we got everyone to go outside, and we ran the last mile of the course, backwards from the finish line, and then turned around and came back. Nice and easy running, 2 miles at something around 9:30-10:00 pace. Lots of nervous chatter as we rolled along. When we got back, we ducked inside the giant barn there at the Expo Center to get out of the wind, and did the drills and some striders, followed by some easy stretching. Shannon and Amy laughed and asked me to give the usual last-minute advice, so I tried to do my best Gilbert imitation, telling them that this wasn't a PR course, to run conservatively early, and then to "Go!" at the 9 mile mark after the last long hill. After that, Frank and I jogged over to the cars to change into our race shirts. I took a pre-race GU, put on my long-sleeved Gazelles shirt instead of the singlet that I had considered, loaned my gloves to Brian, and I was ready to go. Andy was running the 5K since he's still coming back from an injury, but Jeff was running the 20K. Jeff lined up much closer to the front, and I sidled up to Amy in the crowd so that we could continue our private competition in these races. Richard was lined up a few people ahead of us, but I figured he'd be trying to run a faster pace than I planned.

The wind was really howling, reaching 15-20 mph (found this out later), so that was going to have to become a factor in how we ran our race. I hoped to duck behind some folks on the first couple of miles which headed directly into the wind, and then just deal with it once it came at us from the side after we turned. Race plan was to run how I felt, but I hoped to average 8:00-8:15 per mile.

After the National Anthem (sung live in nice two-part harmony!), we were off into the teeth of the breeze. Wind chill was in the 40's going into the wind, but that was the least of our problems. I tracked along with Amy as we did the short portion of the course exiting the park, and then we were on the long straight stretch up to the first major turn. Bryan was running along with us for a while, but during mile two, he settled into his own pace, and Amy and I were left to our own devices. I tried to duck behind people when I could to break some of the wind, but it was somewhat tough even so. I skipped the first water stop. It was a relief to reach the first corner and turn out of the breeze. I found myself running along just ahead or just behind a man and woman running together during this stretch, and I ended up around them the entire race, with some occasional stretches when we'd gap each other. I think Amy settled into a different pace during mile three after the turn, and I guess I picked it up then. I was trying to "run how I feel," and used the downhills to recover slightly after efficiently moving up the inclines. By mile 4, I could see that I was on a really good pace, but after that, I concentrated on keeping my effort consistent without going overboard too early. So far, so good. My pace splits seemed erratic, but later on, I was able to match them with the terrain map and elevations, and it became obvious why that was the case. I did a GU at the mile 4 water stop, and moved on without stopping.

Splits miles 1-4: 8:12, 8:23, 7:34, 8:11. Overall pace through 4 miles was 8:05, right in the goal pace range, and I was feeling good.

Right after the mile 4 marker, we took another sharp right turn leading into a nasty little hill, but it didn't seem too awful. This is where I first became annoyed with "Gasping Boy." I'd go by him on the uphills, moving quietly, and this guy was slapping his feet hard and making a world of noise that really made me feel tired. It became my goal to get away from him. By the top of that little rise, I thought I had put him behind me, but he came back on the downhill and passed me again. This pattern would continue for a long time. I started to treasure those stretches when I was away from him. Maybe this gave me something to take my mind off of any discomfort that I might have otherwise felt? I dueled with two groups of women in this stretch, but got past them by mile 6. These little wars gave me interim goals on the way to the big prize of the ultimate finish time. Typical day at the races. Mile 6 finished with a fairly decent downhill stretch, and I sought to get myself together so that I'd look good and strong for the Gazelles at their water stop at mile 6. When we got there, they had cameras and movie cameras both to film their fellows as we came through. I took down half of my Enervitene packet here, and grabbed a cup of water to wash it down. Gilbert yelled encouragement, and as quick as I had come upon them, it was over. That water stop was at yet another sharp right hand turn and subsequent uphill stretch. This one wasn't as steep as the one at mile 4, but was longer. The sounds from the water stop carried to me, and helped me scoot up that hill. This mile of the course was challenging because of the road construction next to it, which let a lot of side wind blast through to us, and we also had to run right alongside those concrete barriers that they use on highways. Just didn't feel as comfortable as when we had a road shoulder beside us. I tried to note my 10K split time as I stomped on that timing mat, but only really noticed it was somewhere around 49 minutes (exact split below). Negative split, maybe? There was a guy on the side of the road, sitting in his pickup with a boombox on his roof. He was blasting Van Halen to us, which helped me a lot, believe it or not. Mile 7 seemed easier, and maybe it had more downhill than we had had lately. I saw the Governor's support vehicles coming up and down the road between mile 4 and 6, but the Guv was apparently way behind me by then. I never saw him today. Mile 8 was on one of the last two big hills, and I was doing great at that split. Could I hang onto this pace?

[Ed. Note: I forgot to mention Sandal Boy, too! Starting around mile 3 or 4, I found myself dueling with a guy running in sandals. Don't know if they were "running sandals" or not, but there he was, nonetheless. I didn't get past him until the Expo Center grounds, but I did finish ahead of him. It was very disconcerting to see such odd footwear, but then, he probably would say the same about all the rest of us. :-) ]

Splits miles 5-8: 7:50, 7:43, 8:21, 7:47. Overall pace dipped to 8:00 even. 10K split was 49:34. I took my second GU at mile 8, even walking a few steps to make sure I got the full cup of water with the GU, but got a little nervous when my stomach did a little flip-flopping after that. No more Gu-stuff for me today! Just 4.43 miles to go, and I was having the race of my life so far.

I finally put Gasping Boy away during mile 8, and I never heard from him again. Thank God! I relaxed as much as I could while pushing through the long hill in mile 9 that led to the last big turn on the course. I wanted to make sure that I didn't waste my final kick by pushing too hard up that last big hill, and I think I did a good job there. Once we turned for the straight stretch back to the Expo Center, I was sort of spacing out a bit, but I kept the hammer down and continued to pick off runners as I recovered after that last big hill. I skipped the last water stop, focusing instead on bringing this race home. On those rollers during mile 10, I pushed at every chance I could, but my goal at this point was to get to the top of that hill inside the Expo Center grounds with something left for the last 1.6 miles or so. I was surprised to run up on Richard during mile 10. At first, I thought it was somebody that looked like Richard, because I thought he had on a blue singlet. Turns out, his singlet is blue on one side and white on the back. I planned to stalk him for a while and then try to pass him inside the Expo grounds. Instead, all of a sudden, I was going by him on a slight rise in that mile. He said a few words, and I think I gasped out something in reply. (Sorry about the terse response, Richard! :-) I didn't have a lot of spare energy for a conversation). As I went by him, I started having all kinds of thoughts about him sticking to me and trying to pass me, NASCAR-style, in the final stretch. So, I pushed even harder than I normally would have, trying to at least make it painful for him to try to keep up with me. Believe me, these are entirely new thoughts, since I've not been at a level before now where I could intelligently race someone. Finally, we turned into the Expo grounds, with a last nasty sharp right hand turn and a fairly long and tough hill rising into the parking lots. The wind also became a big factor again here, blasting right into us as we tried to push up that hill.

The stretch inside the parking lots is very tough for me, mentally, because it puts some stresses on us that are unusual. Plus, the wind today made it even tougher. I crested that hill, and tried to get some relief on the flatter section that followed. I caught the couple that I had been running around for the entire race here, and we duked it out from there to the finish. As I passed the spot where I'd later turn for the finish, I started scouting the runners heading towards me going the other way. I saw Frank, so I knew he was 5 minutes ahead or so, about right. I think I saw a few other Gazelles going the other way, but after I hit the 11 mile marker, I had to utilize all my mental energy for my own purposes, holding my effort at a hard level when my body was screaming at me to back off. We reached the turnaround at the bottom of the little hill in the parking lot, and I tried to ignore the sounds from the finish line that were just a couple of hundred yards away as the crow flies. At the turnaround, as I started pushing up that incline, I peeked at the runners that were behind me, buoyed a bit by the knowledge that they could see me ahead of them. I heard Shannon say something nice to me, but I didn't see her over there. My vision seemed to be narrowing, not in a physical sense, but in an emotional sense, focusing on the task at hand. I saw Richard and Amy as they passed on the other side, and gave them a little wave. Man, I felt rough, but I had a shot at something special if I could hang on. Finally cresting that modest rise, I turned into the parking lot stretch, which was almost like running on the moon. Sort of wide and desolate, acres of paved lots, with the wind howling at me from the side. I actually got pushed around a bit by the wind, which is a first for me, I think. My next intermediate goal was to see and pass the 12 mile marker. For some reason, I thought it was on my right, and I got a little concerned when I didn't see it right away. My reserves were flagging, and I needed a boost. I got it when I finally saw the marker on my left (oops!). My split there was 7 seconds over 8:00/mile pace, which hit me both ways. First, I was happy that I was still on such a good pace. However, my second thought was that now I had to really kick it in the last .43 miles to grab those 7 seconds for an 8:00/mile pace. Last, having .43 miles to go to the finish seems like way more than the usual bits left over at the end of a 5K, 10K, or half marathon, and as hard as I was working, it almost seemed too far to go!

The last 0.43 miles of the course starts with a steady little incline, then a short steep bit, and then blessed relief as we glided downhill at a slight decline into the last parking lot stretch. I put a lot into the uphill portion of this bit, and caught and passed the man and woman that I had been with all day. They ended up a few seconds behind me. Once I got across the little stretch of gravel road and onto pavement again, I would push hard, then I glided around a turn, then put it back into my best finishing gear, turning for the last tiny uphill stretch to the finish. I tried to remember all the workouts that had gotten me to this point, and pushed hard all the way across the timing mat. I took a Powerade from the volunteers, and found a spot where I could grab some air. After a bit of time, I moved on, and finally at the end of the finishing chute, I spotted some fellow Gazelles, including Diana and Sean. I was mostly gasping, and had to keep moving a little bit to find some recovery. Shortly after that, Shannon, Richard, Amy and then Brian all joined us. Smiles all around, tired but happy.

Splits miles 9-12.43: 8:06, 7:53, 7:53, 8:13, last 0.43 in 3:18 (7:51/mile pace). Overall, 1:39:24, 8:00/mile pace! My second 10K was 49:49, just 15 seconds slower than my first half. I was very happy with that consistent pacing. Awesome! I PR'd by 7:12 over last year's race, and it's always good to PR by that big of a gap.

Shannon, Diana, Sean, Brian and I got ourselves together enough to grit our teeth and do a nice and easy 1.5 miles of cooldown jogging. Our pace varied from barely moving to a slow jog. I did feel much better after having done that little run. A set of 4x100m striders inside the barn again finished things off, and I felt remarkably like a human being again. We made our way into the expo center for warmth and refreshments after that. I didn't do any of the food, but I did finish off my Powerade. Soon enough, we saw all of our friends, and it seems everyone was pleased with their day. Jeff had had a good run, reaching at least one of his goals, and Andy finished second in his age group in the 5K. Gazelles took a lot of the trophies in the 20K, but that's not a big surprise.

Shannon beat me by 12 seconds, based on chip time, which stung a bit, but that's racing. Amy did well, too, as did Brian and Richard. I was really excited about how I did, on several levels. It was cool to have a race plan and be able to execute it. I think I did a good job of moderating my efforts up the hills, pushing hard but not too hard. The dozens of Gazelles workouts that involve hill running all helped me to achieve my goals, so once again, all the hard work is obviously paying off. When I would find myself wandering mentally, I would use the simple mantra of "engaging my abs," which would snap my running form back into place, and it also gave me something very simple to focus on instead of everything else about the race.

Digging into the numbers, I am most pleased with the two 10K splits. On a course that is perhaps more difficult in the second half, I managed to run almost bookend splits. My relative performance, according to the results site, showed that my first half split put me at 333rd place, and my second half split, while slightly slower, was the 283rd best split. That is very satisfying to see that I was maintaining or getting stronger while others were fading.

After hanging out for a really long time at the post-race expo, we finally made our way to the truck and then home. Getting all my warm and dry clothes on at the truck was a wonderful thing! After an afternoon practice with my classical guitar group, Alex and Frank met up with Jeff, Andy and me at Mangia Pizza for a post-race feast. Between the 5 of us, we devoured 2 large deep dish pizzas, which the waiter said should have fed between 8 and 10 people. Heh! Full and happy (the couple of beers helped, too), I took a side trip with Andy and Jeff to show them Amy's Ice Cream. We each got a healthy scoop of ice cream, and somehow found room in our bellies for that on top of everything else. Once we got home, we had more fun talking and such, and we ended up crashing around 11:00.

All in all, it was a great day at the races, starting with quality running, then good friends at the expo, then a little music to cleanse the palate, and ending up with massive quantities of great food. You gotta give that kind of day an "A+."

For the week, 44.6 miles. Good gym work compliance, 5 runs. I only skipped one recovery run, just to give myself a good mini-taper for Decker. This coming week is mostly about the 20 miler on Saturday, where we get to explore a little more of the new Freescale course. And the weather has turned colder again, which makes me very happy.