Last year I foolishly skipped this race because I wasn't sure how to get there. I have not lived in these parts since I got out of college and didn't feel like fumbling around in the dark early AM looking for the place. Yeah...should have taken the Garmin and fumbled. I actually had confused Lake Forest Academy with the college. The college was in our conference when I competed for Beloit College 92-96. Anyhow, this time I figured it out and it only took me 30 min to find...w/o traffic of course!DUH! My brother was right- the area was really pretty and the campus was beautiful too. Lake Forest Academy puts this one on and the course meanders around campus. This is by NO MEANS a FAST course as it's off/on road which makes proper shoe selection difficult. Road flats suck on the gravel and mud sections but waffles suck on too much pavement. Spikes were out since it was not all off road. This is the first speedwork I've done since Gzhel 2 weeks ago. Back to work now and I need to get speed up before the end of the month. I'm leaning toward doing the 50k instead of 50 mi because if I can get my speed up I have a real shot at the course record.....knock on wood. 6:53 is the 50 mi record and I'm not sure I could make it under 7 but who knows my 100k split had me just over 7.
So this course started on pavement then we hit some gravel/grass around the lake then back on pavement til 3k . From 3to just over 4k was mud/gravel mix with some minor hills. Leonid finished 2nd overall but NOT A FAST COURSE -he eeked in barely under 19 min -2 min slower than he ran in NYC 6 weeks ago in steaming heat but on the track. I was just over 20 -also needs to be noted that the course was 100m long-strange in my races in the US this rarely happens as I've run most races here and they are accurate to within a couple few meters. Ah well! I finished first among the women and I believe there were 4 guys ahead of me. Will check results when they come out. I was over a min off of where I was when I ran Luzhniki just before the 100k. On a flat paved course as Luzhniki was I'd be much closer to that performance from early Sept. I actually ran pretty even today despite the funky terrain.
The race was very well organized and there were students on each turn to keep folks like us from getting lost! I got a gift certificate to the running shop(will put that to good use this week:)) Legs had more pep today than a week ago. Yeah I suspect the strain from the flight over did indeed play more of a role than not being fully recovered from the 100k when I ran the marathon a week ago. Next yr,I won't be a dork and miss this one.
This woman is ranked 21st in the world in stair climbing(yup where you race to the top of skyscrapers)
So this course started on pavement then we hit some gravel/grass around the lake then back on pavement til 3k . From 3to just over 4k was mud/gravel mix with some minor hills. Leonid finished 2nd overall but NOT A FAST COURSE -he eeked in barely under 19 min -2 min slower than he ran in NYC 6 weeks ago in steaming heat but on the track. I was just over 20 -also needs to be noted that the course was 100m long-strange in my races in the US this rarely happens as I've run most races here and they are accurate to within a couple few meters. Ah well! I finished first among the women and I believe there were 4 guys ahead of me. Will check results when they come out. I was over a min off of where I was when I ran Luzhniki just before the 100k. On a flat paved course as Luzhniki was I'd be much closer to that performance from early Sept. I actually ran pretty even today despite the funky terrain.
The race was very well organized and there were students on each turn to keep folks like us from getting lost! I got a gift certificate to the running shop(will put that to good use this week:)) Legs had more pep today than a week ago. Yeah I suspect the strain from the flight over did indeed play more of a role than not being fully recovered from the 100k when I ran the marathon a week ago. Next yr,I won't be a dork and miss this one.
