February and Frozen Foot Race #2

After January's race, the weather turned for the worse, and my training was interrupted. The track was covered in snow, the temps were cold and the roads were hard to run on at times.

The week after the race I took it somewhat easy, and then went on our annual backpacking trip, which was a nice little break from my normal weekend training routine. After the backpacking trip, I began to focus on weight training and hill running to strengthen myself for the three hills on the Frozen Foot course. I also put more emphasis on longer pace runs with shorter rest intervals. Still, I felt like I was not as prepared for February's race as I was for January's.

Race day was pleasant, around 40 degrees, and there was no wind. This was a far cry from the harsh conditions of the previous month. At the horn, I went out a little slower than the previous race, but was still in the the top 20. The slower start paid off and I didn't blow up on the hills like in January. I feel the weight training helped as well. Also, I worked on shortening and quickening my stride on the hills. Nonetheless, I was feeling those hills in the last mile, and again, didn't have my usual kick at the end. When I came to the final turn, I looked at my watch. I thought I was running slower than January, but I was actually ahead of pace. Sub-19 was in my sights, but I didn't have the legs for the last 200 meters, however, I did lower my time 9 seconds to 19:05. This was good enough for an age group win. I'm not sure of my overall place, because as of this writing, results are still not posted. I have never run a race in which it takes so long to get the results posted.