Topo Trail series #5 Caesar Creek....A taste of spring with winter left over

The week has been busy, messy, and I just had few hours for training and a short friday night....buttoday was the Race#5 of the winter trail series at Caesar Creek Park. 

I already ran this 12 miles course (6 miles back and fork) last year, in a fresh snow and it had been the toughest run of 2014. As last year, we got some snow during the week and the trails were still covered by a thin layer of white powder but nothing compare to the previous year. 

Bunch of runners were here, probably because of the warmer temperature!! It was really great to not freeze waiting the start. The temperature has something of spring today and it’s really nice to be outside with sunshine.After a short warm-up, we all align for the start and begin the race at 10pm... Runners are up for 6 miles or 12 miles course. 

Due to the last year experience, the strategy was to get a decent 1st km to escape and not be stuck once on the trail and then going for a comfortable pace checking the damage of the crappy week. A quick look in front of me, a group of 10 runners are taking the lead, with 6 and 12 milers and a quick look over my shoulder confirmed that we already made a gap we the main group and I then got into my pace focusing on not twisting my ankle. 

After the first mile, the leader of the long distance series was walking back and told me that he twisted his ankle...end of the race for him. 

Approaching Miles 3, I met the leaders of the 6 miles on the way back to the finish line, 4 guys, meaning that I should be behind 4 or 5 guys still racing for the 12 miles.

After Miles 5, I keep on looking in front of me as the leaders should now shortly cross my way after turning back on miles 6 and I will soon know my position. The leader appears, looking easy and confident. A good 30 seconds after him, a group of 3 runners cross also my way shortly followed by another guy....well I'm 6th , not too bad with the too short sleep from last night. 

Miles 6, time to turn back and run to the finish line. I check the time to know the gap between me and the 7th runner...40 seconds and as expected it's the guy who passed me in the last km in the previous race and with whom we are fighting since the beginning of the series...but today he looks  tired and my strategy is working pretty well as my legs are still fine!! Let's try to speed up a bit the pace to increase the gap as I know this guy is a good finisher. I'm crossing now lot of 12 milers, some jump aside the trails with a "good job man", others look pretty tired and I am running most of the time off the trail to not make their run more difficult.

Miles 10, here I have a great view of what's going on behind as the trail is running on the lower part of a hill from where I can see the trail on the top. No sign of other 12 milers , which gives me a good 2 minutes gap. After 2 last miles, trying to keep a decent pace, the finish line is there with Brian from Topo Trail recording the time of finisher

18.3km on the Garmin - 1h36min - 6th, 23min less than the crazy snowy run last year!!! Finally better than anticipated. 

A 'run' down the memory lane

Amidst all the accomplished posts, a few words about the joys of sport for a beginner. I never learned how to swim as a child, and yesterday I swam 25yards for the first time ever. And that got me thinking back to a few years ago when I could never have imagined that I would ever run long distances or how much I would grow to love and yearn to run. Growing up in the urban jungle that was my hometown, running was something one did on a treadmill, for only 15minutes at a time. My gym had many members and not enough treadmills and if we didn’t set some time limits, other people would never get a chance :)

Coming to Cincinnati, after my initial adjustment to the relatively cleaner air, the significant decrease in vehicular traffic, and the ridiculous system of temperature units, I saw the wonderful wide sidewalks and in them, an opportunity. I was also fortunate to have some excellent friends, all new to Cincinnati, all very social, and wanting to get outside in the open air – Maria, Rosalia, Mathieu to name a few.

Starting as someone who could run perhaps 2miles at a decent clip, the hills of Clifton trained me to appreciate the view from the top and that it is worth the back-breaking climb. Through several pairs of shoes, numerous knee injuries, a few thousand miles, and I have seen cities and countries like never before.

The first time I ran 13miles, preparing for my first half marathon, my father shouted incredulously down the telephone – ‘20k?? Why would you run 20k? Why would anyone run 20k?’ It only took him two phone calls, and he was back to being the person who trained me through years of competitive skating, when I called him after the race – ‘So how fast did you run? What was your time? What was the winner’s time?’

My favorite part of running has been the cities I run through. I pack my shoes, if there is even a slight chance that I will sneak out for a few quick miles. It has been such a great way to see a new place, feel the pulse of the people, how they greet and make way or grunt and frown (yes, I confess I judge and grudge and yes, I have some favorites :P), feel the ebb and flow of traffic, the different neighborhoods, the university campuses and the young out and about, all under the gorgeous sun. Well, sunny for the most, haha! So far, my favorite runs have been through Forest Park in St Louis, beautiful in its icy splendor in winters and resplendent in the bright hues of summer. And also, a recent crush - a run along Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. More stories from my runs for fun in different cities in coming posts!

Forest Park, Jan 2014

Forest Park, Sept 2014

Sunday run or the simple pleasure of being outside

Both Marc and I were seated at our places, waiting for the Sunday inspiration to jump on the trainer and it’s happened!!! Finally the temperature was just nice for a run outside. The training plan said 75’ run, so we decided to run the loop around Marc’s place

A pretty flat 9k loop of 35-40min depending on the legs. Talking about the the legs, they are not fine at all, a bit sore, but we kept up a nice easy pace for two loops to finish the almost 18k in 1h23min. It’s so much enjoyable to train outside!!!

Winter is not over yet but were getting closer