Race Report: ATC Cross Country 5K

How awesome is this shirt?

This was my last race of 2010.  What a year this has been!  I’ll have to do a round-up post of this year’s running sometime soon.  I ran the Polar Bear 5K in late January after completing Couch To 5K.  This was my return to running race and I completed it in 37:18.  In late October, I ran the ATC Cross Country Haunted Hustle 5K and completed that in 26:04.  Big improvement right?  I ran Saturday’s 5K in 29:13.  No need to cue the “Whomp Whomp” music in your head because this race took me 3 minutes longer to finish.  This was actually a great fun race for me.

Saturday’s race was the first time I’ve planned to do a trail type race.  The Haunted Hustle race took place on grass and dirt paths but it wasn’t really wooded so to speak.  It was more like running at the park (sort of like the Chattahoochee River running area but less scenic).  This race was straight up running in the woods, running on gravel, running over little bridges and running in the leaves.  It wasn’t a hard-core trail race though (technical I believe they call it) because we didn’t have to run in the river or in the mud or scramble up any hills while holding onto tree roots.

The temperature was perfect for running – overcast and 40′s.  Why is the weather always great when it isn’t half-marathon time?!? We started with little fanfare in the middle of the soccer field.  I had no idea what I was in for with the course.  I heard a woman tell another guy that “This course has got it all” which could be good or bad.  Knowing that this was a more trail-ish run, I didn’t come in with any performance goals other than to not twist my ankle.  In fact, I committed a cardinal race day sin and wore my new Asics GT-2150 trail shoes (which I got a great deal on).

The race started with a beast of a hill.  I ran it on tiptoes – it was that steep.  The course was very tight at the start and we were basically jogging in single file when the race began.  Performance goal or not, it kind of sucks to not be able to run free because you are stuck behind people you can’t pass.  The pack thinned out after a while but the inability to pass people dogged me at several points in the race.  It was just too tight out there in the woods to make moves very often.

The course looped through the woods over gravel (very unstable and not too fun to run on) and leaves.  There were quite a few hills that forced me to really dig in going up and then watch my feet fly on the downhill.  The hills were a good chance to pass folks who decided to walk so I took that opportunity when I could.  I forced myself to run the hills since I’ve been sucking so bad at dealing with them in races lately.

These were the good kind of hills for me…that means not the rolling kind.  I have no problem digging in when there is an end in sight and a downhill reward.  I have problems when a hill takes a leisurely incline over 1/2 a mile.  Those are the kinds of hills that sneak up on you.  It sucks because you don’t really notice you are on an incline until you realize how freaking tired you are.  Then you are pissed because you would have toned it down a bit had you realized you were running a hill!

Since I was wearing new running shoes, I forgot to transfer the accelerometer from my regular shoes to the new pair so I don’t have “official” split times.  That’s one thing that sucks about having a Polar running watch vs having a Garmin.  You have to wear a little sensor on your shoe to get pace information.  This isn’t usually a problem because I wear the same shoes 99% of the time.  On the other hand, with the thick tree cover, I doubt the Garmin GPS would have picked up a signal.  There are pros and cons to everything.

I remember the guy saying 9:40 something on the first lap and 18 something on the next.  I must have really slowed down on the last lap even though it didn’t feel that way.  I call some small shenanigans again on the course measurement.  I hit the 3 mile marker and it took me like 2 minutes to finish!  I can run a whole .25 miles in 2 minutes so I know that wasn’t .10 miles.  I remember thinking where is the freaking finish line ‘cuz I’m sprinting and feeling like I’m about to vomit.  That wasn’t a .10 mile sprint – just saying.

My official time was 29:13 and I was totally happy with my time.  This was a challenging course on challenging terrain.  I worked very hard and had a lot of fun too.  Most importantly, I didn’t twist my ankle!  One runner did because I saw a lady get hauled away in an ambulance.  I also discovered that I just might be able to like this trail running thing.  That’s a good thing considering that I’m doing the Red Top Rumble in February.  It felt great to be more focused on handling the terrain than worrying about maintaining a certain pace.

Slight measurement issues aside, I have to close this report by stating my love of the Atlanta Track Club.  I don’t use many of the benefits that come with membership.  I don’t know any of the other runners except for a passing “Good Race!” after a run.  Maybe one day I’ll become more active in the group and utilize my membership more fully. For now, I’ll continue to enjoy all of the well-organized low-key races that I get to run for free. I paid $20 for membership and I’ve done 4 races this year!

I appreciate that these races start on time, have interesting and varied routes, and are staffed with great volunteers.  I like that most of the members are runners and I don’t have to dodge folks walking arm-in-arm in packs of 3 straight across on the course.  I don’t have to stress out about parking.  I can pre-register in advance and pick up my number on race day.  I don’t have to arrive an hour early to pick up said number.  I love that I can roll up 30 minutes before the race starts and have time to park, get my number, use the bathroom and warmup.  Who needs yet another crappy T-Shirt when I can get the experience without the cost and stress?  If your city has a track club, I seriously encourage you to look into membership.