As 850+ of us lined up at the foothills of the Ciccone Winery in Suttons Bay, ready to tackle the 5K or 7 Miler, we saw the rain get eaten alive by sunlight and rainbows. The rain did leave some extremely muddy trails, especially at the start! Both races lined up together and would be together for the first 1.25 miles or so, so all 850 of us dodging wine vines, grapes, mud, puddles and each other eventually working our way up a little hill and into a flat where we could finally spread out.
Fun trivia (That some of you, especially the obsessed may know)...Madonna aka Madge ya know? This is her dad's winery. So while my mom and I were sweating up hills and mud my dad was schmoozing it up with Mr Madge getting wine tips.
Back to the race....the first 2 miles felt like forever. Maybe because I missed the mile 1 sign? I don't know. Let me just say this here. I live and train in southeastern Michigan. It is FLAT...this race was up north near Traverse City in Suttons Bay. Sutton's Bay is know for its' wineries. What makes wineries successful? HILLS! This course was hilly, and by hilly I mean uphills that would go up rapidly, wind, go up some more and then some more. BUT because I have been training this little ass off I nailed the hills. While most people that I saw were walking up the hills I just put my head down, shortened my stance and powered up those babies. At times yes it was hilarious because I was barely moving, but I was not walking. Talk about a good feeling.
Miles 4-5 were again, hilarious. They really make you feel like you are climbing Mt. Everest to get to the 4 mile mark. At the top of that hill was a little sign that said LOOK with in arrow pointing left. Of course I looked and to my left was an incredible view of the bay (I think) from way up high. Definitely worth that little neon sign. Winding up to mile 5 there were more... wait for it, hills. We ran through Black Star Farms, rows of grape vines and then back down toward Ciccone.
Of course at mile 6 the unexpected happened...rain...oh and some cross winds. Of course! It started as a cool drizzle and eventually a grew into a downpour. What do you do when that happens though? Laugh and keep on running. I wound my way back toward the finish area, which is where the start was and knew that a few last hills were in the cards. Head down I rolled up those little guys and ran down a row of vines to the Finish....where I had a failed attempt at grape stomping. My parents were there and my dad even managed to snap a shot of me coming down the hill.
1 hour and 12 minutes was my time and was actually about 7-8 minutes faster than I had planned/hoped. I was using this race for training and that was it. Holding back and just coasting along was my goal and it seemed to work. Next year I'll try to race it and see what happens but I have too many hours of healthy training in for this 1/2 iron man in to push it too far and get injured.
We ended the morning with a dry shirt, hot coffee and breakfast at the Omlette Shop in Traverse City. This issue of Runner's World is all about pancakes so I could not resist. I went for the whole grain pancakes that had sunflower seeds and walnuts in them...and of course some of my mom's omlette and potatoes.
4 hour ride and 20 minute run tomorrow!
Em
P.S. I must point out now that my 62 year old mom also ran yesterday. She has been running for a few years now but again, FLAT runs/races. The Harvest 5K yesterday was by far her hilliest run ever but she did great! I am super proud of her and am happy to hear she will be back next year to shave some minutes off her time..now that we know what we are in for.
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