On December 6 I met up with friends at Monticello and ran their
Holiday Classic 5k.
I ran it two years ago, and that was my 5k PR. I don't run many 5ks though (other than the
Montalto Challenge). That's because 5ks are hard. I'd much rather run long and slow than short and fast. Ouch.
Anyway, I got to the visitor center and picked up my bib, then took the shuttle up to The House. Two friends were also running, and another two were volunteering.
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| Twins! (Coincidentally. We took off our jackets to run though.) |
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| It was chilly. |
I jogged around on the mountaintop to try and get a warmup in. That's key (for me) for not dying during a 5k and actually having a decent chance of going fast.
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| Part of the course, right through TJ's garden. |
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| A backward view from the course of TJ's vineyards and Montalto. |
The race started at 8:45. I was going to attempt another PR, even though I haven't been doing any speed work lately. The course runs around Monticello, the gardens, down some roundabouts on the mountain, down part of the Saunders-Monticello Trail, and back up the trail to the parking lot of the visitor's center. The terrain included pavement, gravel, wood chips, and boardwalk. I managed to keep up a decent pace most of the way, but then came a dreaded side cramp. Around mile 2 I decided to take a walking break. That's pretty pathetic for a 5k, but I hoped it would make the cramp go away so I could continue running. Which sort of worked. I finished 8 seconds slower than my PR. Stupid cramp.
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| Happy finishers. They both won prizes. |
In other running news, I registered for the
Blue Ridge Marathon in April again. I've been running about three days a week, but as soon as Christmas is over I will start training for realz. (Though I haven't figured out a plan yet.) I'm not nearly as excited and obsessed with it like I was two years ago, but I think it will be good as long as my body holds up. Last Saturday I ran up Observatory Hill once for kicks, and it helped me get excited to work on hills and mountains again.
