Humbled

I drove down to Holmdel again today to run the course. I can't make any excuses such as it being too cold (high 30s but sunny) or that it had only been 72 hours since running a grueling 5k race on Thanksgiving morning. Bottom line is that the course beat me today. I won't even mention the time. But I will be back.

Basketball practice started in earnest this weekend so personal running will decrease over the next three months. Hopefully, I can get out 2 or 3 times a week to keep the stamina at a decent level.

Two Good Days

The first day (yesterday) started out with the receipt of my second check from the N-City school. It ended when I stayed over my friend's house in preparation for the Flemington Turkey Trot. He would be running along with his wife, two sons, brother, and niece. The night was spent talking about nothing but running and cross country!

The second day (today--Happy Thanksgiving to all) was even better because I went out and ran an over-40 PB (personal best) in the 5K despite running only 3-4 times a week since Labor Day. The Verona Labor Day race was my previous best (26:15) and I bested that by 59 seconds (25:16.37). There were 3,851 finishers and I came in 859th. The time is a bit slower on the website results page because there were so many slow runners in front of me at the start. It took 51 seconds to get to the front. So I timed myself on my own watch. It was worse the further back you went; my friend's wife took more than 2 minutes to get up to the starting line.

After knocking off almost a minute off of my 5K time, I have to wonder how low I can go at this age.

Mecca

Today, on a beautiful Sunday morning, I decided to take a drive down to Holmdel to view the State Cross Country Championship Course. The state's cross country season officially ended yesterday with the Meet of Champions so I knew the park would not be crowded. I had never been to Holmdel Park, either to watch a race or just to visit. I had another reason for wanting to view the course for the first time. Although still being cautiously optimistic about next year's possible X-C team at E-City, my goal would be to take them there for the states. And this would be a first preview of the course for that race.

The park was easy to get to. Exit 114 and a few country roads brought me to the park. In hand I had a map of the course and a memory full of X-C videos of races held at the park. I found the starting line easily and proceeded to walk the course. As I traversed the running path I was amazed at what I was discovering. This is a true cross country course--almost all gravel, lots of open areas, and lots of woods running too. And it is a tough course--many hills including a hill which should be named "heartbreak". The entire park is very beautiful; even to a non-runner, the "bowl" is an incredible sight.

As I neared the finish, I had the temptation to go back to the car, lace up my running shoes, and give the course a jog. But I had already had done four miles in the morning so I just went back to the car.

I knew I had to come back soon to run this course and before the weather turned any colder. I am planning to do so one week from today. And I will definitely try to factor a run in whenever I visit family I have in the area.

In other news:

The N-City AD called to let me know that he has my second check. It's nice to get that money a lot sooner without all the letter writing to their treasurer, even though the amount is smaller.

Three more Juniors at E-City have expressed interest in running next year. The E-City now had six definites, three maybes, and a tennis player who wants to work out with the team.

This Thursday I'll be running in a 5K in Flemington with an old Pru/running friend and his family. Since Labor Day, I have been only running about three days a week and have lost some of my summer strength. So I'm shooting for a time of 28 minutes.

End of Another Season

This past Saturday, I drove my only N-City runner to the CTCs in W-Park in E-City. They say running is 10% physical and 90% physical. Well, my runner was definitely ready for the race mentally. He had been psyching himself up for this big day for weeks. But the physical wasn't there. No summer training and only 4 practices a week left him unprepared for the big race. He finished last.

And so my third season at N-City came to a close. Tomorrow I go there to collect uniforms and that will be it.

My new E-City team is still intact at 6 runners ready for next year.

And on the personal side, now that the season is over, I'll be spending more time after school to get ready for the Thanksgiving Day race.