Thursday was Thanksgiving – which means it was time for turkey trots around the country. For me, that meant the Ashenfelter 8k Classic.
I ran this race for the first time last year, and I finished in 31:52. I was hoping to improve on that this year.
This is also a big race for our team. This is home turf for us, and we usually have a huge showing. So it’s fun to get out there and run with the rest of the Essex Running Club.
Unfortunately, the weather was not nearly as nice this year as it was last year. It was cold and rainy, and I was soaked to the bone by the time I was done.
But I’m still glad I ran.
Pre-Race Morning and Warm Up
The race is about fifteen minutes from my house, and it starts at 9AM. So no need to rush in the morning.
I set my alarm for 6:15, but by 6:00 my brain had already turned on. So I got up and went to make coffee. I took a look outside and saw the rain coming down – steady but not terribly hard.
I drank my coffee, used the bathroom, checked the clock, and decided I had time for a second cup of coffee. I finally hit the road around 7:30. I parked around the corner from the check in area at about 7:45.
I was wearing a quarter zip and some gloves, and they kept me reasonably warm and dry while I walked to the registration area. I picked up my stuff, and I took off my quarter zip to put on my bib. I used my , and I’m getting better at it. I’m really liking them.
I saw Coach from across the room, and he walked over. We chatted for a minute and commiserated about the weather. I told him I was racing in my singlet and shorts, and he was second guessing how much to wear.
I went outside and checked in at the team tent. There were only a handful of people there, but there was still an hour to go before race time. I went off to drop my phone in my car and to jog a two mile warm up. By the time I got back, a second canopy was set up and both of them were packed shoulder to shoulder with people trying to stay dry.
We took the team photo, and then I went for a final mile of warm-up with one of my teammates. As we passed by the team tent, I stripped off my quarter zip (which was now pretty wet) and my gloves (which were also soaked through) and headed over to the starting area.
The course starts with a long but gradual incline. Around the two mile mark, it turns around and is net downhill for most of the remaining distance – with a few short hills thrown in.
So my plan was to take the first mile comfortably hard – 6:20-6:30. Once things leveled out, I could settle in to a fast pace, and then hopefully I could ride some of the declines. I was hoping to finish around 31:00 – which would require an average pace of 6:10-6:15/mi.
The First Two Miles
We all hopped around in the start corral for a couple minutes, waiting to get moving. It was still raining – albeit a little more lightly at this point. Eventually, they played the national anthem and we were off.
I took off at a measured pace – focusing on breathing easy and not going out too hard. I went out too hard last week at the cross country 8k championship, and I didn’t want to make that mistake again.
As we went up the long hill, the field spread out a little bit in front of me. After the first quarter mile or so, I focused on keeping pace with the people around me. I resisted the urge to look down at my watch – knowing that it wouldn’t be good.
We got to the top of the first hill, and I evened out my pace a bit. I felt good, but as we came up on the first mile marker I saw the clock ticking. I passed by at 6:30 – slower than I had wanted.
In retrospect, I also should have looked down at my watch. I started towards the front, but I was still 5 seconds off the clock time. So I actually split that first mile in 6:25, which isn’t as bad.
After that split, the course takes a quick jog to the left and back to the right. I picked up the pace a little bit here, and I passed a couple people that had been ahead of me on the hill. I was hoping to cut the pace down to ~6:20 or below for this mile.
The cold was starting to set in, the rain was picking up, and it was miserable. When i first took my gloves off, my hands had felt fine. But now, with the wind and the rain, they were cold, as well. Oh well, it’ll all be over soon, right?
Just before the mile marker, the course turns to the right and takes a parallel road back south towards the start. I hear this “swish, swish” behind me. Next time I know, this short, gray haired lady blazes past me in a poncho.
We pass by the 2nd mile marker, and I took a look at the clock. I did some mental math and figured my split was around 6:25. Still a little slow. Eugh.
The Second Half – Coasting Downhill
The good news is that for most of the remainder of the race, we were going downhill.
I picked up the pace a little bit after we passed the second mile marker. Or at least, that’s what I thought.
I was really starting to feel cold and miserable at this point. Two miles in, off pace, cold, and wet. Definitely the low point.
I passed the short, gray haired lady, and we went back and forth a few times throughout this mile. I was also able to pick off a few guys and move up slightly.
When we got to the third mile marker, I was hoping for a better split – but still ~6:25. My math was a bit fuzzy at this point, and for some reason I didn’t look at my watch. But I knew I wasn’t speeding up. Guess the guys I passed had slowed down.
Here, we took a right turn and merged back onto the main road. From there, it was a left and I knew we’d be done soon. I tried again to pick up the pace, and more than once I felt my feet slip a little from the rain slicked road.
We passed by the start, and a sign said 1.5 miles to go. Left turn down a hill – charged a little bit. Right turn at the bottom, and I knew there was about half mile of straight away. I saw a couple guys starting to slip back towards me, and I focused on trying to pick them off. Managed to move up a couple spots here.
At the end of the straightaway, we turned right for a final incline. I charged up it as fast as I could. Heard footsteps behind me, and a guy in an orange shirt moved ahead.
At the top of the hill, it was the orange shirt, a blue shirt, and me. Ahead of them, there was a pretty big gap until the next group of people.
We had a little over half a mile to go, and I pressed as hard as I could. I managed to gain a little on the two guys ahead of me, but I couldn’t quite catch them. A young woman came up and passed me here. I could see the group ahead getting closer – I think we were gaining on them slightly.
But as we got closer to the finish, I knew I wasn’t going to catch anybody. I sprinted across the finish as hard as I could and watched as the clock showed 32:00. Same time as last year.
Post-Race and Reflections
The top 100 men and women get a mug, and I was hoping to make the cut this year. No such luck.
The 100th man finished in 30:45 – similar to last year, when I think it was 30:30. So I was pretty far off. I finished 128/1,150 for men and 13/92 for men 40-44.
As I crossed the finish line, I saw my teammate standing there talking to people. So we chatted for a bit. The rain had let up, and it was just a drizzle. But when it picked up again, we decided to head out.
Passed by the tent with our teammates, grabbed my wet stuff, and walked to the car to warm up.
This wasn’t a disastrous result – it was better than the XC last week and the 10k the week before. But it was a slight disappointment, in that I expected to do a little better.
So what went wrong?
In part, I think I screwed up with pacing. I could have and should have pushed harder in miles two and three. I think I got in my head when I saw that first split and unconsciously decided that I just didn’t have it in me today.
But at one point, I looked down at my watch and saw me heart rate was only ~150. In Garmin Connect, my average heart rate for those first three miles was around 150. Could be a sensor issue, or it could be that I just wasn’t pushing hard.
In part, I also think I just need a few more weeks. I’m just far enough away Chicago that I’m starting to feel normal, but I think a few weeks of speed workouts would really help sharpen up my speed. Last year, I had an extra 4-5 weeks between my marathon (Erie) and this race. And I think it really helped.
In part, I also think the weather held me back. Not in a big way. But I could definitely feel my feet slipping a bit on the wet road. It’s probably not a huge direct impact, but I’m sure it cost me a few seconds per mile. And seeing that slower split in the first two miles probably contributed to me mentally checking out a little early on.
But there’s always another race, right?
I’ve got a week and a half until the Rutgers Big Chill. So I’ll have one more chance at a solid performance this fall.
Then, I can settle in to training for a while before the Fred Lebow Half at the end of January.