Zoo Run Run

I ran this race last year and enjoyed it, so I signed up for it again. Unfortunately, my knee has gone from bad to worse. It was getting to the point where I could run on it some and even got in 54 miles one week. But in one day, it went from improving, to the worse it has ever been. Both my patellar and quadriceps tendon have become pretty swollen, which isn't fun when you add in the mistracking issue. Since Tuesday, I was only able to run two miles but since I'm a cheapo and already paid $40 to race, I decided to give it a go. Besides, I've done much more stupid things than this, for far less money.

I gave myself about a 50/50 chance of starting the race and pulled out all of the stops for my knee. I took four Aleve about 1.5 before the race, watched some YouTube videos and did a botched up version of a tape job using some KT tape, put on my patellar tendon strap and for the figurative "icing on the cake", rubbed on the always minty fresh sports creme. I felt more like a yuppy runner than a blue collar one, so I decided to don some longer shorts to make me look not so ridiculous.

Normally before a race, I like to warm-up very well, especially for a 5k. Ideally, I'd run a 20 minute or so slight progression, along with a lot of fast strides to get my engine running and my legs ready to go. Too many people expect to just jog around for a few minutes and be ready to race. You can't go straight from first/second gear into fifth, so on the warm-up, you need to cover all your bases. However because of my gimpiness, I decided to just jog for a few minutes at a very slow pace. The knee didn't feel too badly and I even got in a few short, half-hearted strides. I then decided I was good to go (well, as good as I could be.)

Jacob Carrigan was there and it looked like he would be my toughest competition. He's been running pretty fast over the last few months and he put a whooping on me in a 5k a couple of years ago, so I was a little worried. I planned to put on my best poker face and bluff my way through the race, hoping he wouldn't try to battle me to the end. Unfortunately, I am usually a terrible poker player.

When the gun went off, a few kids from the homeschooler cross country team took off. Like their education, I decided to let them have a false sense of accomplishment before taking over. After about half of a mile, I was able to stay in the front until the end and ended up running a semi-controlled 16:18. I had to throw in some surges from time-to-time to stay ahead of Jacob but luckily the course had so many turns, it was easy to "hide" and appear a little farther ahead than you actually were. The knee actually wasn't too bad for the first mile or so but the last few minutes, it was on fire and the insane number of turns didn't help its cause.

I was glad I was able to finish and will rest my knee a good bit next week. Overall, I really enjoy this race. The course is very hard to run fast on but if you want to find a fast course, you have several options in the area every month. Running in the zoo is something that is unique and different, which is why I think they draw so many runners. And not to mention, they serve a pasta meal after the race and Blackstone is there serving some refreshment as well.

When I made out my original racing schedule, I had the Cedars of Lebanon Half Marathon as my next race, but I'll have to skip out on that. After that, I was going to try the Race Judicata 5k/10k double, which is probably also out of the books as well. Hopefully I can take a shot at running just the 10k there and be in semi-crappy shape at the Tom King Half Marathon in March.

Zoo Run

With an extra three weeks of training after my New Years Day race, I was feeling a little more fit. A couple of weeks before the race, I tried doing a four mile tempo at 5:30 pace, which went terribly. I couldn't understand why I had so much trouble running four miles at a pace only a little bit faster than what I ran for 26.2 miles last month. I only ran three miles of it before bagging the workout. I was debating skipping this race, but last week, I got in another four mile tempo and ran 5:25s and felt somewhat strong. I didn't know where I was at fitness wise but I was hoping to at least break 16:00.

Ted Towse ran this race a couple of years ago and told me the course is very hard to run fast on. It takes place entirely in the Nashville Zoo and he said after the first few minutes, you are constantly making short, fast turns. That worried me a bit because I'm a rhythm guy and have trouble when I am constantly changing gears.

When I was warming up, I was trying to scope out the competition. I wasn't sure if I saw anyone or not and to be honest, I was hoping to be out front alone to get some racing kinks out. The temperatures were in the low/mid 30s and I had trouble getting loose on my warm-up. When the gun went off, I waited to see if anyone would take the lead and after about a minute or so, I moved out front. Ted told me the course had 1k markers and he split right at 3:00 for the first kilometer when he ran. I didn't think I had those kind of wheels yet so I was shooting for somewhere around 3:05. I felt like I was moving and when I checked my watch at the marker, it only read 3:09.

I was pretty discouraged because that's only 15:45 pace and the first 1k was the fastest segment of the race. I really didn't want to run over 16:00, so I tried to push the pace even more. But anytime I really got rolling, I would immediately have to slow down and make a sharp turn. And what made matters worse is that since we just got over a freeze, the pavement was still wet in most parts, which made the turns even worse.

Being the severe ADD person that I am, the course gave me a major headache. I could never get in a rhythm and there were signs with arrows every few feet pointing which direction to go. One part of the course ran by a carousel and I didn't know what the sign was telling me...I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to run around the carousel or what, so I just stood there for a second with a confused look on my face and got moving again. I approached the first mile and split 5:08.

5:08 is just under 16:00 pace but without much room to spare, so I had to keep moving. The second mile continued to run in a zig-zag fashion around the zoo. I must have kept my rhythm pretty well because I split 10:17 at two mile, which gave me a 5:09 second mile. If I could keep my last mile under 5:10, I had sub 16 in the bag. But Ted told me the last mile is insanely zig-zaggy (is that a word), so I knew I really had to hammer.

I tried to push as hard as I could. I would reach a point where I was nearly in an all-out sprint pace and then I had to slam on the brakes, losing all my speed in the process, and then sprint again. With about a half mile to go, my shoe came untied. I knew that if I tied it, I'd lose close to ten seconds, so I ignored it and hoped it wouldn't fall off or that I wouldn't trip over my laces.

When I finally got out of the zoo and reached the parking lot, I knew I had sub 16:00 in the bag. I always feel like a complete dork if I'm sprinting all-out with no one around, so I just cruised it in, crossing the line in 15:51. That meant my last mile was 5:03. With all of the turns, I really don't think I ran a 15:51 5k and feel this is closer to a 16:00-16:10 performance, especially with opening up in a 3:09 first kilometer. While today wasn't the fastest time, I felt fine when I crossed the line and with all the rhythm changes, it gave me confidence that I'm around 15:30 shape. I'm racing Ryan Snellen in a couple weeks, so I really need to be firing on all cylinders soon.