Monday, December 13, 2010

Egg Nog Jog 1010

Did my third consecutive Egg Nog Jog on Sunday. I was really indecisive when it came to what I was going to wear. The temperature was hovering around freezing just like last year when I wore shorts! This time I opted for tights , long sleeve tech T, Sugoi firewall jacket and a Saucony compression hat. I also used my new Yaktrax over my Trail shoes ...Trail shoes and Yaks for a road race??????? I must admit it was a little weird running at a a sub 4:00 pace with this strange foot ware but it seemed to be OK. Headed out with Anne for the first K. We were cruising along and Anne said to me " I thought you were going to go out easy ... we are doing a 3:30 pace". Strangely enough we chatted for a bit before she stopped to tie her shoe lace .." catch up with you later..." was the last I heard of Anne until the race was over! Going out fast is the right thing to do at the Nog Jog. Logged the first 2K at an avg 3:44 and 3:54 pace just a little ahead of my 4:00 target! After peeling off a 100m or so of elevation in the first 2Ks the course flattens out for a bit , this is where I changed gears .. caught up on my o2 in preparation for the climb. Next 3K were a bit rolling with an overall elevation gain , manged them in 4:59, 4:57 and 4:54. 5K in we hit our first bit of gravel road .... and the first time the Yaktrax actually were somewhat needed! Heading up the steepest hill I really felt bogged down , legs were burning and I felt like a fish out of water ....what a great course, managed the big climb logging my slowest of the day at 6:08. I hadn't looked at my Garmin yet and I really didn't care to because I was more or less giving it all that I had. With 4K to go there was still a bit of climbing before it flattens out at the top ... managed the next 3 k in 5:20 4:56 and 4:46. With 2K to go I looked at my Garmin and realized that I wasn't going to PB last years 49:44 but I dug in a picked up the pace , 10th K was done in 4:30 on a mucky wet gravel rd ... I forgot to turn the Garmin off so I missed the time on the last 800K but it was fast as I hit my fastest pace of the day hitting a speed of 19kmh...it felt ridiculously fast with Yaktrax on dry pavement ... noisy too! Oh , did I mention that it rained the entire race!




Finished in50:59, 46th out of 502 finishers, 13th out of 66 in my 40-49 ag. It was 75 seconds slower then last year.

Splits 2010 vs 2009 and 2008



2010 Garmin Data











Next year ...sub 50 for the year I turn 50! New AG too, cant wait!

1 comment:

Marky Mark said...

Great job! We bailed as I was afraid it was snowing further north and if it was raining I figured that would be unpleasant. Hope the tee shirt was as nice as last year's towel!