Tims Ford Deer Trail 6-Miler

With an overcast sky and temperatures hovering around the freezing mark, we made our way into Tims Ford State Park in the town of Winchester on Saturday for our 3rd Tennessee State Parks Running Tour event of the season. This 6-miler would represent our longest attempted run ever. The Saturday before, I ran five miles for my long run and had since been suffering from hip flexor pain. Warming up before the race, I realized the pain was still with me and was preparing myself for a potentially dismal performance. I stretched it and ran, stretched it and ran, but the pain wouldn't subside. My daughter had not been feeling well since our last race two weeks ago and was now choosing to socialize instead of warming up. It was ~32 degrees, but she was okay, she assured me, she would "warm up" during the race. Oh, this was shaping up to be a total disaster alright.

Visiting with family in lieu of warming up prior to run

 

But something funny happened when the starting gun sounded: the pain at my hip flexor had disappeared. Completely. And my daughter sped up on ahead, leaving me back in the pack. Maybe, I thought, we would have a good run after all. Pretty soon, however, I was catching up with her and passing her by, just as I had done two weeks ago at the Bigfoot Scramble. She had struggled in that run, and I was becoming concerned this would be her fate again today.

 

Unlike Bigfoot, I was actually passing a few people early on. The cool weather seemed to agree with me. My breathing was good, my mouth stayed dry, and I didn't have any sweat dripping into my eyes. Because there were very few people around me, I was able to settle into what I believed to be a good pace and simply enjoy my jog through the woods.

 

 

Feeling no pain early in the race

 

Perhaps I was enjoying my jog a little too much because not long after completing my second mile, here come the leaders barreling down the trail in the opposite direction toward the finish line. Already in their fourth mile and appearing to be running faster than my best sprint, it was as if they had sling-shot around the turnaround cone in preparation of becoming airborne. The bicyclist serving as the pacer for the event kept looking back over his shoulder as if in disbelief at the leader. Next time he might want to consider riding a Harley-Davidson instead of a Schwinn.

 

Now around the cone and retracing my steps to the finish line, I found myself at the back of a pack of about eight runners all within perhaps a tenth of a mile. Making my way to the front of this pack would become my motivation for the remainder of the race. I'm not sure if I passed them all, but I know I passed at least six and felt satisfied with my run as I headed into the home stretch.

 

Nearing the end and feeling some pain

 

My hip flexor had not bothered me for the entire run, but my quads were now beginning to let me know they weren't happy. Not only was this my longest run to date, it was also my hilliest, and my legs were in full revolt. As soon as I crossed the finish line and stopped running, I knew walking was going to be painful for the remainder of the day. My youngest daughter and I started to circle back to the race course to cheer on her older sister running about five minutes behind me, but I instructed her to go on ahead because I simply could not keep up. One minute earlier I had been running to the finish, but now I couldn't manage a walk with my 10 year-old.

 

Official chip time: 54:11, 56th of 108 finishers

 

Official chip time: 59:40, 3rd in female 10-14 year-olds

 

I was excited for my daughter that she came in under one hour. We were all happy, too, that she finished third in her division and would be a recipient at the awards presentation (full disclosure: there were only three runners in her division). Only four minutes behind her division winner's pace, we hope she gets stronger and her time better as the Tour rolls along this winter. As for me, I was 12 out of 13 runners in the men's 40-49 year-old bracket. Not a total disaster, as I had feared, but there certainly is some, ahem, room for improvement.

 

The award: A new ornament for the Christmas tree

 

The "After" picture: never as flattering as the "Before"