Training Log Archive: Wyatt

Event: Hudson Highlander
 

Planned to hang with Will H. as long as I could. Managed to keep him in sight until just after ~3. Upon leaving 3 I could see Jon T., who plunged into the marsh, which seemed likely bad after so much rain with my old loose O' shoes, so I kept right, fought green and popped out, seeing Ken & Neil nearby then leading our pack of 4 (a cadet appeared from somewhere) into 4 & 5. Ken thankfully led that long leg to 6. I led to 7 and partway to 8 but overshot a bit. I fell back slightly on the way to 9, passed Jon T. on the way down to the road and stayed in 6th to the first exchange.

Was surprised to learn the super fast cadet in our pack was Jordan - apparently a slimmer, even faster version - even more impressed to see his 2nd place overall.

I was slow at the exchange waiting then giving up on the gatorade they hadn't mixed yet, and left the exchange just behind Jon T., now out of sight behind Ken, Neil & Jordan. Decided to press on somewhat hard during the trail run, and managed to pull ahead of Jon T., which was surprising enough for me to know he was suffering in some way.

But as I pushed through the trail run, trying in vain to catch KenNeilJordan, I was thinking:
- that my feet were hurting oddly (twinges of the bad day-after-the-US Champs thing a few years ago),
- that I was now running alone, between packs, and
- that if I bailed, I could skip the grueling 2nd half of the Highlander and get to my daughter's birthday party in plenty of time to help, with more energy to enjoy it

So bailing was chosen. Apparently in 6th at the time, 3 minutes behind the pack in front. Looks like I might've been able to pull up to 5th if I'd continued and not faded as badly as Neil's splits suggest he did, but that's just mind games, as it looks like I was somewhere behind 70-something folks with my DNF. Nice field.

With Oriana, who, to my amazement, pulled out a 2 mile run non-stop to earn a $50 birthday gift from me. Quite slow, but not a single walking step - impressive given her recent struggles to run even 1 mile non-stop during our track workouts.