I had to do something this morning, so I joined 1400 other friends and ran a flat, fast, chilly 5K. The best part was that my two older kids were good sports and came along to cheer for me, which is a bigger deal for an 08:00 starting race than usual.
I was debating on BF vs VFF and the 33F temp swung me over to the Min side. The gravel I saw on the parking lots had a part to play in the decision, too.
It was a brilliant morning and not too windy. The course turned out to be pretty BORING, almost entirely on the high school's parking lots and driveways, with what I think were too many zig and zags. It wasn't really too bad, but I've had some really nice trail runs lately and I'm spoiled a bit.
The amenities were superior, with warm indoor johns, hot coffee and bagels before the race and cookies and bananas after.
In retrospect, I could have done fine with BF on this course, but I think the decision to stay a bit warmer was not a bad one. There were no other BF runners and only 2 other VFF wearers. I don't think the big shoe companies have much to fear just yet.
In the end, I ran a PR* coming in at 21:50 (7:02 m/m) or so clock time, and somewhat faster than that by chip time, but they haven't posted results yet.
(* This phase of my running life.)
Sunday's a 15K Trail Race, with an 11:00 (civilized) starting time.
I was debating on BF vs VFF and the 33F temp swung me over to the Min side. The gravel I saw on the parking lots had a part to play in the decision, too.
It was a brilliant morning and not too windy. The course turned out to be pretty BORING, almost entirely on the high school's parking lots and driveways, with what I think were too many zig and zags. It wasn't really too bad, but I've had some really nice trail runs lately and I'm spoiled a bit.
The amenities were superior, with warm indoor johns, hot coffee and bagels before the race and cookies and bananas after.
In retrospect, I could have done fine with BF on this course, but I think the decision to stay a bit warmer was not a bad one. There were no other BF runners and only 2 other VFF wearers. I don't think the big shoe companies have much to fear just yet.
In the end, I ran a PR* coming in at 21:50 (7:02 m/m) or so clock time, and somewhat faster than that by chip time, but they haven't posted results yet.
(* This phase of my running life.)
Sunday's a 15K Trail Race, with an 11:00 (civilized) starting time.