Saturday, July 18, 2009

I Cried, Ran, Ached, Laughed

(cried) Yes, Mooresville is quite a haul from my place! And I hit traffic. I really, really hate traffic. I know everyone does, but I hate it more than them! I headed out around 5:20 to make the 43 mile trek up I-77. Bad move. Apparently back roads are faster. I hit a bad patch of traffic at the I-485 interchange where 3 lanes try to merge into 2 already crowded lanes. Love Charlotte DOT. Ugh! Then my gas light came on. So had to pull off at the next exit and fill up. Ha! It was crazy getting in and out and I had to pull a few 'Charlotte moves' and piss some people off to achieve my objective. Once I got back on I hit another bad patch before getting to my exit. I went through some somewhat scary sections of small town America and finally arrived at downtown Mooresville at about 6:30. It's cute and quaint and reminded me a little of Albemarle, NC but without the mountains. With only one bar open.

(ran) The races were great. Very informal, but with timing chips. The start felt more like an old Sharksbite timed run than a race. We started the one mile a little after 7pm and headed up main street. It was hot! The sun was still out and it was about 93 degrees. The course isn't completely flat. You start out going up a small incline, then it levels out, you get a small decline and then some leveling, then a nice downhill when you turn the corner at about the half mile mark. Then you get a small incline, a tiny hill, a little flat and then the ending is up a small incline. Tough to kick it in at the end. The one mile race I ran a 7:51. I was pretty happy as it was pretty tough. The two mile I ran a 17:07 which I was really happy about because it was pretty brutal. The three mile race I was pretty much wiped out at the start. It had gotten cooler and little breeze kicked up as some serious looking clouds rolled in. I decided to just jog this one out. It was a good call. I was dying after the first loop! After the second loop, I couldn't believe I had one more to go. You don't think three miles is long until you do the same one mile loop three times! I don't know what my time was but I know I was just shy of ten minute miles.

(ached) After the second race I felt a strange ache in my left hamstring. It felt like a knot in the middle towards the left side. Luckily I have a massage scheduled today and can get it rubbed out. This was my fourth day in a row of running which is not something I normally do. I was aching in my ankles and knees after the last race. It was tough to get to sleep later that night with out Advil.




(laughed) This was a very social event. There was time between the races to meet people or talk to people you know. I really enjoyed hanging out with my friends who came to run. I even ran into a guy I met on the way back from Cincinnati. He was there with his brother but only ran the 2 mile race. He came in second. Fast guy. I stayed and had dinner at a nice place called Soiree with a couple of friends from the running club.

You see something new at every race you run. This time I was surprised to see people take water on the course at the halfway mark of the ONE MILE race. Really? Couldn't go the whole mile without water? Maybe they just like free stuff?

I already signed up to run this next month. I'm hoping to carpool next time with someone who knows the back roads.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're surprized at people taking water in a mile race when you see them wearing fuel belts full of water for 4 mile runs in Dilworth?

Seems like a nice idea for a race series.

Audra said...

Ha! I didn't see that as much as you did. I guess too, I didn't think about the people who rushed from work to get there and may not have had time to pre-hydrate.

It is a great event.