USATF-NJ Open and Master 8K XC Team Championship, Natirar Park, Peapack NJ 10/26

Thank you Mark Nyhan for sharing your Race Photos :)

I was not planning to run this race, but Anthony let me know that the more teams we enter the more points our team scores. I am still not sure I fully understand this, but if just showing up and getting through the course would help the team then I wanted to do it.  The race was only $15, so that made it an easy decision to give it shot.

Ben also went out of his way to make sure I had a team singlet.  This is quite the joke since I don't actually wear singlet often in races.  But I wanted to have one for team photos.
Thank you Ben!

I ran a 50 miler last weekend. I needed to make sure I could actually run the race injury free.  If anything was hurting me, I would not run.  I would not even walk.  It makes no sense to not heal if I am hurting.  But I was lucky, nothing hurt so I decided to run.

I wanted also wanted Anthony know that I didn't anticipate running my best time.  Not that I thought he thought I would. I just felt better knowing that he knew I was going to be sluggish.  I told him he could expect me to come in somewhere between 35-40 minutes. I am so glad I was able to do that.

This was a new XC course for the Championship 8k. I really like this course.  Natirar park is very pretty and the course is very challenging.  The course is, for the most part, a two loops course with two major hills per loop.

My legs were exhausted from the gun and running through the grass felt like quick sand.  As we reached the hills, I could immediately feel how tired my climbing muscle still are even though it has been 7 days of recovery.  It didn't help that it was also incredibly windy.

I think the entire race was a slow fade in pace that I simply could not control.  I tried to dig on the uphills to not lose too much ground, but I just felt like my body could not move any faster. I hoped to be able to open up my stride in the downhills but I just didn't have much speed there when I needed it.

I simply relaxed, recognized I was not fully recovered and had as much fun as I could running along side some very nice people.

At the end of the second loop, I was so very happy to learn we did not have to complete the entire loop, but were directed through the field to the finish.  I was ready to be done.  Once I looked at my Garmin, I was surprise to see it measured almost a tenth short.  Now this could be due to the rolling terrain, the Garmin losing signals in the woodsy parts, or the course was measure short.  

Overall, I don't think I did too bad of job. The course was slower than road. The hills were tough on my body and the wind made it more challenging than it needed to be.  Many runners who I usually can run alongside beat me, but it wasn't too bad.  But I was glad to be a part of a team race and hoped my presence helped.

Splits:
M1 7:10,
M2 7:28,
M3 7:34,
M4 7:40,
Last .87  6:03

Stats:
Time: 35:58
Place:  130
Gender place: 20