What started out as a simple 5K in May 2005 turned into 10Ks, half marathons, and trail races by the fall. I ran a local trail series. Ran a couple 10Ks. And when I heard about the Run at the Rock 7mi/14mi race at Cedarock Park in Burlington, NC, I cleared my calendar. After all, I’d been getting in the miles and figured I only needed to throw in some mud and hills for good measure. Right? Right.
In ’05, I crossed the finish line at 53:20 (7:47 pace) coming in 20 out of 186. The following year, after recovering from a calf injury, I finished 35 out of 254 in a time of 56:09. Five years later, sporting Vibram KomodoSports, a few extra pounds, and a bit of facial hair, I decided it was time to give the race another go.
Coming off the high (and training) of the Army Ten Miler and OBX Marathon I asked a buddy if he was interested in running Cedarock. He agreed, and we prepped with a 10K run through the woods near Lake Brandt the day after Thanksgiving. I’m not sure if it was the turkey or the trails, but by the end of our run I looked at my buddy and said, “Dude, I thought I was in shape, but these trails kicked me in the pants.”
Needless to say, I wasn’t feeling too confident about the coming race. The good news, however, was that I was able to knock out the run in Vibrams (my longest trail run in my non-shoe shoes). And the even better news…my hip wasn’t giving me too much trouble.
The following week I made the drive out to Cedarock. Signed up, warmed up, hit the head, and hit the trails. The first 1/4 mile was on asphalt and the next 1/8 was through an open field. I like when trail runs start out like this because they allow you a short bit of time to get further up the chain in preparation for the dreaded single file line. The downside, you will expend a lot of energy getting jockeying for position. And I did.
A mile in and I was running at 8:30 pace. Half mile later I passed up the first water station in favor of passing a few more folks. Two miles in and my pace picked up to ~ 8:15. I fell, recovered, and was back at it. Vibrams were holding up well. I particularly enjoyed not having to navigate around creeks or mud pits. Unlike my shoe-wearing competitors, I just ran straight through ’em.
Mile 4 was preceded by a rocky downhill leading to the waterfall water station. It was somewhat technical, but having Vibrams made maneuvering the rocks a lot easier. I grabbed a cup of water and was back at it just under 8 pace. Around the bend, up a hill, got passed by a 10-year-old, up another hill, through mile 5, followed a creek, spotted an elf, then crossed a bridge into mile 6. With one mile to go I did what I could to push myself. Up, down, up down, jump, stagger, down, around and finally up the last hill leading to the finish line at ~7:40.
When I popped out of the woods the race clock read 56:54. I had six seconds to get myself across the finish line. It took me 8 as is evident by the look on my face.
I crossed the finish line in 57:02 at 8:09 pace finishing 35 out of 228 total runners. Not bad. And, while I’m nowhere near the shape I was in 2005, I am creeping back in that direction. When I run this race next year I will break 57 and I’d like to point my finger towards the stands and say I’ll break 53. Godspeed!