Chapel 2 Church Race Review, Saturday, 2/3/2018

Packet Pick Up

Yesterday, I almost forgot that I needed to pick up my packet.  I remembered at the last minute, and I had to turn off dinner to drive down to the St. Luis de Monfort to get the the packet.  There was no reminder email which evidently I needed.  The packet pickup process as quick and easy.  The packet consisted of a t-shirt, number, sticker and lunch ticket.  I likea cotton shirt, but I have no interest in unisex t-shirts.  I wear them once, as close to the race as possible (for good-luck), and then hand them off to one of my kids or husband.

Cascade Skirt Sports

Breakfast was the usual:  bagel, banana and coffee.  My last glass of water was at 6:15, but I drank coffee until about 6:30.  I decided to just take my small handheld with 10z of tailwind and a goo at 6 miles.

I really wanted to carry my monstrosity of a phone, but I really dislike carrying anything. I almost didn't take the handheld.  I kept going back and forth about it until I decided to try carrying it in the side leg pocket of my new cascade running skirt.  I broke a cardinal rule which is never to race in anything new, but I've worn enough skirt sports to have reasonable confidence that I'd be fine with the skirt.  I wasn't completely sure about running with the phone, but I decided to bring a safety pin and pin the top of the pocket to make it a little more snug.

The logistics for this race were tricky.  It was a point to point race. I assumed my husband would give me a ride, but he had training with the kids at exactly the same time as the race.  He was able to give me a lift, but I had to get to race start earlier than I would have liked.  On the way there, we saw a lot of racers running.  The runners were supposed to start at 9:00 and the walkers at 8:00.  My husband thought that I must have gotten it wrong, but it turned out that the walkers were running. If walkers are going to run part of a race, they need to sign up as runners.  I know several competitive walkers and it really annoys them when walkers run.  It is cheating.  Some walkers don't know that, but I think most know, but just don't care.

The race started at San Ramon Church in Sisquoc.  The temp was mild, but it was slated to get hot. I had plenty of time, so I took some pics and chatted.  One gal that I was chatting with told me that I looked familiar, and we figured out that I was her high school teacher about 10 years ago.  Here are some pics at the start.

This race is uncommonly beautiful, and today was no exception, but it is difficult.  I mean so difficult that it just comes down to survival.  The hills never seem to stop and there is no recovery.  When you finally have a substantial downhill, you are too pooped to take advantage.  The walkers mostly had no clue or desire to make passing them easier, but the walkers made the race more fun.  Even though they made you run an outlandish distance to get around them, they would say something nice to you as you passed which was invigorating.

Elevation Chart

I assumed there were some women out in front of me, but there was only one.  I ended up basically racing by myself.  At some point a guy that I race with frequently passed me on a hill.  I thought I might catch him on a downhill, but he was long gone.  I was concentrating on a guy in orange far ahead of me.  I'd get a little bit close, but he'd pull away.  I'm sure he was unaware that I was stalking him.

At the end of the race, a woman who I perceived to possible be in my age group ran right up next to me.  There was no way in heck that after all that pain that I was going to let her get in front of me. I looked at her and said, "OK, it's a race," and I took off.  My husband thinks that I was rude, but I disagree.  That woman had probably been stalking me for half the race just like I was stalking the guy in orange.  This was a race, and she pulled up right next to me with 1/2 mile to go. In my mind, her intent was clear.  I was just having fun.  I had never seen the woman before.  She could have just as easily been the one to come out on top.

I ended up with second female and first AG.  After the race, I did see the woman, and she didn't seem to mind at all.  We talked for quite a bit.  She is a race director for a race that I have run several times.

People were annoyed with a few things about the race that didn't bother me at all.  The race was actually about 13.4 not 13.1.  I don't care if a race is long, as long as I'm not trying to PR. Nobody could possibly have thought that they were going to get a PR out there.  (I do care if a race is short, but that is another story). It was very hot and there weren't enough water stations. We knew it was going to be hot, and we knew the number of water stations. As long as you are given clear info, you can plan accordingly.  To me the problem is when you expect water, and it isn't there, or you're told that there will be a porta pottie, but there is none.

I think Chapel 2 Church is a great race.  It started on-time.  My chip worked, and it actually looked like Hawaii in some parts.  We ran in paradise.

Here is a pic of my medal and AG goodies.

Awards & Medal

Relive 'Morning Feb 3rd'