Egg Nog Jog

Egg Nog Jog, December 13, 2009

Today was one of those good running days when it just sort of all comes together without giving it a whole lot of thought. The past week has been kinda crazy with the winter weather. The last run I did was Wednesday in very similar conditions to the weather I ran in today. Not running for 3 days was something that I haven't done in awhile and I wondered how the break would affect me. Thurs/Fri we had nearly a meter of snow , got stuck Thursday leaving work at midnight. Hiked several Ks in a Blizzard back to work and spent the night there. Friday Eve my wife had to ditch the same 4X4 to avoid running into to another vehicle. Thur/Fri/Sat I go my share of Snow removal.... good work out but not running!

The Egg Nog Jog was scheduled to start at 10:30 am. Left home at 07:30 am , Rain and -1C. The road were slushy but surprisingly not too slippery. Arrived at Terra Cotta at 9:15 to rain and 0C. The race kit included an great " EGG NOG JOG" Towel! Good thing because I forgot to bring one. The race was slightly delayed starting at 10:36 , the rain had stopped and it was just above freezing! I decided to wear shorts today and was 110% comfortable through the entire race.

The Egg Nog Jog is a 10.8km country road race. This is one race that its OK to go out way too fast! The course takes you down a steep hill for the first 2K , you climb for the next 5K then it flattens out for 3K before very fast downhill to finish line. Didn't have much in the way of a strategy today. I wanted to beat last years 53:33 , the stretch goal getting in under 50 minutes. Just like last year I did the first 2Ks in 4:03 ( due to traffic at the start) and 3:54. The 3rd K was the first incline , did it in a conservative 5:08. I knew that I would be more or less climbing for the next 4K and was feeling pretty good so I pushed trying to keep the climb as close to a 5:00 or less pace as I could. The 4th and 5th K were done in 4:51 and 4:41. At the 5K point I knew I was going to have a good run. I was feeling strong and was about to face the biggest climb of race. The 6th K was done in 5:41 and I had a really good burn in the legs at the top of the "Big One". The first half of the 7th K was a gradual decline and I was able to recover before the last big climb. 7.5-8K was a steady climb but I was feeling good and started my push to the finish. 7th K was done in 5:05. The next 3.8K was flat to declined and a small roller with a real step drop the last 500 or so meters. The 8th , 9th and 10th Ks were done in 4:45, 4:28, 4:26. Throughout the race I watched my Avg Pace and Current Pace but never looked at the elapsed time or distance. I knew I would be very close to getting in under 50 minutes so I flew down the last 700 meters at a 3:50 pace. The clock came into view with around 200m to go it was 49:15 ... I knew I had my Sub 50:00!

Chip time said I finished the 10.8K in 49:44. I finished 59th out of 490 participants, 52nd out of252 males and 17th out of 77 males 40-49. I also shaved 3:49 off last years Nog Jog.

Egg Nog Jog , Dec 14 2008

127 Ronald IRWIN Durham ON 105 M 29/77 M40-49 53:33 4:58

A pretty good day , I award myself a Silver for a 53:33 finish. Originally I was thinking around 55:00 then as the day got closer I was in for a just maybe break 50 but......

The morning started a bit latter then the usual race day. Start time was 10:30 and I figured it would only take a couple of hours to get there! Stopped at Tims for a Bagel / OJ and Coffee ....my secret race food! Arrived in Tara Cotta at 09:15. There were quiet a few folks directing traffic , looked like a very well organized event. There were two heated tents where I picked up my race kit. There was a bit of heat but it wasn't quiet enough. I went back to the car , checked out the cool swag . There was a Metal Water Bottle which was kinda neat but the thing I really liked was the Running Calender .... Canadian yet, very well done! I had about 30 minutes to kill after I was ready to go . I found a warm place where there was change rooms , flush toilets, heat and a view of the start finish. Waited there until the mass of humanity started to make their way to the start!

I lined up about 100 folks back from the start, figured that this would about where I would finish. There was a fellow with a megaphone talking but even with 400 folks behind me I couldn't hear a word that he said. The race start was somewhat uneventfully, I knew we were off when everyone in front started to move! In spite of where I started I was held up for the first 200 meters , once we were out on the road it opened up a bit but it wasn't until 400 meters that I was able to really open up. First 2K was a blast down a fairly steep paved road! This i s one of few races that it a good idea to blast off. I held a 4:04 pace for the first 2K and then things flattened out for a few hundred meters , I geared down here in preparation for the climb ahead. The hill wasn't too steep but my legs were reminding me of the quick start , nothing too serious just a "what was that you just did " feeling. Plan for the next 5K was 5:00 or less , I knew that this would be tough o meet but that was my goal. The 3rd km was done in 5:25 , a little slower then I wanted but it may have had something to do with the first 2Ks , total time was 13:33 after 3k! 3-4K wasn't too bad 5:17 , passed 4K at 18:50. Found some consistency to the pace , 4-5K was done at a 5:18! I was starting to feel allot of heat coming on , I was wearing a semi fitted winter tech shirt and a shell as well as a cap in case to rain . I removed the hat and unzipped the shell l but I was already suffering. Passed 5K at 24:08 , things flattened out for a few hundred meters before the big one. At 5.3 K we started a 60 metre climb over about a half K , this was a major O2 hill! 5-6k was not so quick , slowed to a 6:27 pace but I did manage to run up the big one but man was I out of breath! 6-7K was still a climb , picked it up a bit for a 5:30 pace. After 7K I was sitting at 36:05 , this was a full minute over where I wanted to be ... I had some making up to do!!!!! With 3.8K to go I hustled to pick up the pace , there were some rolling hills between 7k and 8k but things did start to flatten out a bit , the pace was 5:05 ... still not there ... had to really pick it up in the last 2.8K ! The next km was more rolling then I had anticipated but I managed a 4:54 pace , not quiet enough , I was running out of race course! Passed 9K at 46:04 , I was so not going to break the 50 min mark but I knew that breaking 55 was a given but by how much? 9-10K was not the downhill I had anticipated , 15meters of down and 6 meters of up a total drop of 9 meters , I was pushing hard here and this K was done at a 4:48 pace , OK but not good enough! The last 800 meters was great , real steep downhill to the finish... a real fast blast! Picked it up to a 3:54 pace and crossed the finish at 53:33!

I look forward to doing this one again , I would approach it with the same strategy but try to pick it up a bit on the 2K-7K climb as well as the last few K's.