Tims Ford Deer Trail 6-Mile Run

We rolled into Winchester on Saturday to compete in our third race of the 2014-2015 Tennessee State Parks Running Tour. The rain which had pushed through during the overnight and morning hours was gone, and we were left with cool and cloudy conditions for the event. We checked in at the lodge upon our arrival to grab our bibs and use the facilities. The park's maintenance men had been beckoned because there were pools of water on the restroom floors, not enough heat in the lodge, and too much heat in the restrooms. As a fellow maintenance guy, I felt their pain. I was glad to be lacing up my running shoes instead of buckling my tool belt.

The crowd gathers in the moments leading up to the start

 

The race began with us heading down and to the right. I started on the left side of the road, but worked my way over to the right-hand side before turning right on a road which took us around and behind the lodge. Working my way past other runners, the road soon gave way to a paved pedestrian trail. I was a little slower here than I wanted to be, but I couldn't find a good opportunity to eclipse the runner in front of me. Fortunately, we were back on the road in short order, and I was able to pass him up and establish my pace before turning onto another pedestrian trail 0.6 mile into the race.

 

On the road, before turning onto the pedestrian trail

 

We would take the pedestrian trail to the turn-around point three miles away and retrace our steps to the start/finish line. The race was largely uneventful for me along the pedestrian trail. As I neared the three-mile mark, I decided to count the runners as they passed by me, now headed in the opposite direction toward the finish line. After concluding I was in the top 40, I made it my goal to stay there for the remaining three miles. This was a hilly and winding trail, and, as I began to feel its effects on the return trip, I contemplated the tenuousness of my position.

 

My daughter on the same stretch of road

 

Not long after reaching the five-mile mark, I could hear the commotion at the finish line. That was music to my ears. How I wished I was there now. Instead, I was fighting to maintain 38th place. A runner had overtaken my position earlier, before I passed him back as he paused at the water station. But he was now in front of me again and running good. Coming down a switchback, I took a quick glance around at the trail behind me and saw no one. My position seemed secure. Shortly after turning onto the road again for the final 0.6 mile of the race, I observed a young female runner doubled over in a coughing fit at the top of the hill. Passing on her side, a weird and inexplicable mix of sympathy and envy overtook me. I felt bad for her and yet coveted her non-running status. And similar to how yawns are oftentimes passed around among people in close proximity to one another, I felt as if I, too, could have become sick had I stuck around.

 

Turning onto the road for the final 0.6 mile

 

I was now in 37th place and noticed I was quickly gaining on two others. They were downhill from me, and I knew I had only a small window of opportunity before the road leveled and began to climb again. I pushed it downhill, afraid that perhaps I was going too hard, and eclipsed the two runners. I kept pushing, trying to put as much distance between them and me before the road turned uphill for the final time. Ascending the hill, I could not outrun the sound of feet behind me. I was running out of gas, but I didn't want to give up the position for which I'd fought so hard. Ahead of me was the fellow who had passed me twice earlier in the race. He seemed to still be moving along fine, though I had shortened the gap by a considerable distance. I couldn't believe my eyes when he suddenly stopped running with the finish line in sight. I remembered having done the exact same thing last year at the Over the River 8-mile race. I lost a position over that, but I was so exhausted, I didn't care. I imagined this was how this man was feeling now. As I passed him by, I continued running hard up the hill, determined to stay at least a step ahead of the runner behind me.

 

Gun time was 50:00; official chip time was 49:52

 

I did maintain the 34th overall position to the finish and crossed the line at just under fifty minutes, one second ahead of the runner behind me. Being 34th out of 115 finishers sounds respectable, but I was way in the back of the pack, 7th out of 8 finishers, in the men's 40-44 category (incidentally, the man nipping at my heels down the finish placed 2nd in the 30-39 year-old division). I had run hard and never let up, while giving it all I could at the finish, so I felt good about that. And my time of 49:52 was 4:19 quicker than last year, another cause for celebration. My daughter would pull in about eight minutes later and take 3rd place in her division, just as she had last year. Upon her finish, we headed into the lodge for complimentary Taco Bell burritos prior to the awards ceremony. It felt great to sit down and reflect on our day at Tims Ford. This was, as we've come to expect, another successful and well-orchestrated state parks run!

 

Faster than last year by 1:32

 

After the race, food awaits in the lodge behind us

 

       

 

     

 

 

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"