We stayed with Nate and Nichole's friend Finn in Madison Thursday night. He has a studio apartment, so sleeping 4 people there was a cozy fit. It worked out great though, and he was an excellent host. So much about his room reminded me of my own college days. There was an old PS2 hooked up to a crappy tv, random bikes and bike parts strewn about the place (ok so while I was in college it was more likely to be computer parts at our place, but when I moved back to the granny shack with Jeff after my Co-op there were bike parts everywhere). A collection of computer games that very closely mirrored what I was playing at the time (Morrowind, Neverwinter Nights, Diablo II). A collection of scifi/fantasy books that I am quite familiar with. Random running gear, medals, ect. scattered about. It really was a fun walk back in time.
The drive out was mostly uneventful. Nichole got "A Thousand Splendid Suns" book on tape and we listened to that most of the way down. It was not the most uplifting story, so once Nichole fell asleep Nate and I switched to Ultrarunner Podcasts in anticipation of our weekend of running. When we got to Sharon's Friday afternoon it was 68 degrees out. Running was absolutely wonderful (minus the fact we had just been in a car for 5 hours). I even ran without a shirt for a while, and it felt great.
Race morning started early, especially for those of us getting used to a new time zone. We drove down to Carmel, about an hour south of West Lafayette for the race. There was a church with a nice, big, warm area for us to hang out after picking up our race packets. It was above freezing, so Nate and I both opted for shorts. Our group also debuted the hot pink Brooks arm warmers that Nichole ordered for her TNC Endurance athletes. They worked perfectly for this weather.
Rocking the Pink Arm Warmers - Photo: David Scovel
We started a bit far back and so were forced into a nice relaxed first mile. After that we picked it up to race pace (6:52 mile pace for a target sub 1:30 half) and settled in. For the next three or four miles we were picking people off pretty regularly, sticking together, and just running smart. After mile 5 the race turned into a pretty stiff headwind, so Nate and I made sure to stay in front and let Sharon tuck in for a bit of relief. These miles were all right on pace, but it was a bit of work up until mile 9. We also picked off a couple other women runners through these miles, putting Sharon in 5th place for women. After mile 9 we got out of the open countryside and back into some twisty residential neighborhoods. I know how hard it can be to keep up a fast race pace when you are constantly turning, this was a struggle for me at Mankato last year, so I did my best to run steady at target pace. Sharon was running very well going into this section and keeping up with the pace just fine.
Sharon racing hard! - Photo: David Scovel
About mile 10 I could tell Sharon and Nate were both starting to hurt, but were both pushing through very well and only lost a couple seconds on goal pace. Miles 12 and 13 were painful though, the pace dropped considerably. There was a lot of tight corners, and a long gradual climb up towards the finish in the last mile. These two miles ultimately cost Sharon her sub 1:30 target. She finished in 1:30:57, good for 5th place and only about 5 minutes ahead of the winning woman's time. I know she was a bit disappointed not to hit her goal time, but she still set a new PR and moved up a place in her age group compared to last year, which I would call a successful day.
Nice weather for running - Photo: David Scovel
We also got a nice tour of the Purdue campus. I hadn't been there before, it was fun to get to explore, and the first time I've wandered around a college campus since I went to visit my sister in Logan, UT last summer. The campus was gorgeous, although there was not a lot of variety since the college founder stipulated that all buildings had to be constructed with red brick as much as possible. They are all about their astronauts at this school, since Neil Armstrong is an Alum. There is a statue of him and a to scale replica of the footsteps he took on the moon. I was able to walk in those footsteps, but when he jumped it was way beyond what I could match. I also got to go check out Sharon's lab setup while Nate and Nichole took a nap after the race. She is a PhD student studying Non-Newtonian fluids WITH LASERS! Although her setup did not have a laser when I saw it because another grad student was borrowing it for one of their experiments.
A fun campus tour
Sharon, Nate, and Nichole
Neil Armstong's footsteps
For supper post race we made spaghetti squash "pizza" that turned out amazing, and was really easy to prepare. Pretty much just roast a spaghetti squash, mix it up with some tomato sauce and spices right in the rind, add your pizza toppings of choice, and cook for a few more minutes until the cheese is all melty. We got a nice jog in Sunday morning before piling back in the car for the long haul back to Minnesota. It was fun to go somewhere new and do a low key race after a couple months of ski racing where I put quite a bit more pressure on myself.
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