Bagpipes and Other Neato Stuff

First race of 2011 is in the bag! I went down to Wazee Street for the Running of the Green 7k last Sunday in the hopes of tracking down my long-lost Mojo, and guess what? I found him! Yes, I found my Mojo in LoDo. The rust has been busted and hopefully that was a taste of is to come this year.

So a breakdown of the race. On the start line I was scoping out the competition out of the corner of my eye, and I saw a studly looking gal in Asics stuff about whom I thought, "Welp, she looks really fit, and she looks like a wily veteran. I'll just stay with her for a couple miles then lay down the hammer like BAM!" Unbeknowest to me at the time, she was Fiona Docherty and let's just say my little plan went out the window in the first 800 meters. My bad. But I didn't really fret much about it, I really thought I'd catch up on the hills since running uphill is one of the few things in life that I do effectively. That didn't happen either though and she wasn't coming back, so I hung on for second, picked people off, and finished in 25:36, which I didn't think was shabby for a doozy of a hilly 7k. The course was very different from 2 years ago, so there were lots of surprises but it was a great race.


The only drawback to the entire race however was my failure to conquer my arch-nemesis. I've met him at several races over the years, and even in some workouts here in Springs. He can often be seen roaming the Santa Fe Trail in the early hours of the morning with a languid, loping stride like some kind of giraffe. You'd know him if you saw him, he's an absurdly tall fellow with a nasty finishing kick. We'll call him Tall Kid. I was shadowed by this cagey opponent of mine for the duration of the race. Stalking me like a praying mantis stalks a butterfly. He sat about a foot off my shoulder the entire way as though trying to draft. Who drafts off of someone two feet shorter than themselves? In any case, he employed my least favorite tactic of all: the Sit-N'-Kick. A dirty way to race. He took off with 400 to go and I didn't stand a chance. All three or four of my fast-twitch muscle fibers were in over-drive, but it was like slow motion as I helplessly watched his shadow loom larger and larger and saw him pull away. It was like trying to outrun a wall of molten magma flowing from the very bowels of Mt.Vesuvius....but no matter. Now I understand my weakness and it must be honed to the finest edge....nobody uses the Sit-N'-Kick on me without eventually suffering serious repurcussions. The gauntlet has fallen: Tall Kid may have won the battle, but I will win the war!

So yeah it was a good race but I'm getting a little bit too much into some overly-dramatic detail. Next up? The Carlsbad 5k if I can swing it, but if not then probably something shorter on the track before going to Mt.Sac to race the 10k. Great job to all at Gate River and Happy St. Patrick's day!