CLYDESDALE RUNNING

If I could only escape the frigid air, I might figure be able to gauge my performance sometime this year. Race day, once again, was absolutely abysmal. With temps in the mid-to-upper 30s, and winds gusting up to 40mph, here in late April, I’m reminded yet again that weather here in Wisconsin, totally sucks, and as soon as I can afford to, plan on spending several weeks a year in warmer climates, and on a regular, scheduled basis. Read: I want to rent a condo in Florida.

My goal for my third consecutive Crazylegs Classic 8K, was a PR, but I didn’t want to be specific about it, because the only race experience I have this year to gauge from was a half marathon. Tuesday’s seemingly effortless 5-kilometer, 27:08 workout (8:46/mile pace) gave me confidence that a PR was imminent. I figured a similar pace would was feasible over 8K. The pre-race strategy was to clock a 9-minute first mile due to the crowd, climb up that hill on Observatory Drive and clock another 9-minute second mile, than try to pick up the pace to about an 8:30 with momentum from the downhill and finish at that pace. What actually happened was shocking in that I crossed the first marker in 8-minutes, and got crushed climbing observatory. I simply forgot how nasty that hill is. I averaged an 8:49 pace and finished 43:45. Just short of PRing by 2 full minutes, but I think I could have pushed harder between markers 3 and 4. I got comfortable in a slower pace.

Jamie made monolithic gains in her shin splint recovery over the weeks preceding Crazylegs, she decided to run it, and did, with little pain. Her pace was off what we know she can run, but considering the circumstances, ran really, really well.

Male winner: Codie See (24:37)
Female winner: Linsey Smith (28:51)
Celebs: Ron Dayne was the marshal, but didn’t run, and I gave high five to Joe Krabbenhoft and Keaton Nankivil at the start. I also saw Barry Alvarez hanging around.
Friends: Garrett, Kelly, Jason, Noah, and Jamie’s good friend Sara’s husband Dwight whom we understand has been training his butt off, smoked the course in 32:46. Wow. Way to go Dwight! Sorry if I missed anyone.

Next up is the Beloit Wellness Biathlon, which Jamie is doing as well.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 28th, 2008 at 8:27 am and is filed under Race Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.