Race #7- 10k Jungle Run, July
15
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We scheduled this local foot race,
held in The weather was perfect and the
course had only a few undulations. After an extensive warm-up of easy running,
drills, and accelerations, Team JaS was ready to race. Here’s how each of
races unfolded. |
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Jami 42:20, 2nd
age-group, 2nd overall |
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“I started the race without
expectations for a quick time. I simply wanted to gauge my fitness level,
particularly for faster races. It would be my first foot race with my Newton shoes and, to date, they had already
helped boost my speed in training as indicated by our benchmark comparisons. They sent us off in IAAF Track
& Field fashion, which was ‘at the gun’, regardless of when you crossed
the start line. Therefore, it was wise to line up at the front. As always,
runners took off fast. I dismissed the chaos and focused on my cadence,
wanting to set a rhythm that would get me to the finish line fastest. I did
my share of passing within the first mile and got passed as well. One
memorable pass was by these two girls- scantily clad, perfectly tanned and noticeably
endowed (well, by the hands of a plastic surgeon!). Instantly, they became my
target. Everybody else in the race may as well not have been there because I
didn’t notice anyone except these girls who, if I had my day, were not going
to beat me. One of the girls- Barbie #1- fell off the pace (although, I later
learned that she was running the half-marathon distance. Good for her!), but
the other one- Barbie #2- was pulling away. Throughout the first half of the
race, my focus was on closing the gap ( I matched her pace and again closed
the gap down to within a few seconds, but there were no mile markers after
mile 3 when the course turned off the streets and onto the foot trails so I
had no idea when it would be wise to kick it in. I’d have to time it just
right so that when I made the pass, I wouldn’t get caught. However, that was very
difficult not knowing where the finish line was! Suddenly we only had 300m left! The
course finished on the |
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Jami just seconds away from a win! |
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Sherwick 40:06, 2nd
age-group, 9thoverall |
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“I wanted to do this race just to
get back into competition again. I had to cancel the last triathlon due to a
shoulder/knee injury from Rich Oliver’s Pro Camp and I didn’t want to have to
record another DNS (Did Not Start). So I approached this race with even fewer
expectations than Jami. The warm-up was good- a little pain
in the knee but definitely manageable and my shoulder flexibility improved as
we finished up our pick-ups. Then the gun went off! I stuck with the lead
pack of about 15 runners expecting to be dropped within the first mile. The
top three disappeared ahead but I was able to pass a handful of runners in
the first couple of miles. When the race turned onto the foot trails, our group
was down to six all within a minute of each other. At that point I was in
seventh overall but eventually I gave up two spots including one to another
in my age-group (unlike triathlon, athletes are not marked with their
age-group categories)! Like Jami, I was a bit lost without mile markers on
the trails. Here were my mile splits:
Mile 1 = 6:17
Mile 2 = 5:31!!
Mile 3 = 7:00?? Assuming the course markers were
off, I averaged miles 2 and 3 to come up with 6:16 which showed some
consistency. Nevertheless, the pace slowed down to 6:39 for the remaining 3.2
miles which is not how you want to run a 10k. My new max heart rate of 189
set in the last couple of miles shows that the effort was there but
unfortunately not the speed. There is still work to be done and we now have a
month to do it! Not a fast time by any means, but I was happy to not have to
hobble across the finish line! Afterwards, we immediately went to the med
tent to get some ice packs!” said Sherwick. |
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Sherwick being chased by the eventual age-group winner |
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Enjoy the ride! –- Team JaS
Special thanks to: |
