The weather report for this weekend predicted the cold rain and snow. I was supposed to be in Missoula, but ended up staying in Helena, which probably is for the better. On Tuesday, I did a track workout, which always feels strange. The problem with doing Yasso 800s in Helena is that the wind was blustery, so it always felt fast heading down the track, and a battle to come back up.
This morning, it was sub-40, and there was a nice light rain coming down. I got up, threw on the Trail Gloves, dug out the Brooks Running overshirt, and wore the long sleeves from Spokane. I ended up having to grab the water bottle waist doohickey just so that I would have somewhere to put the keys and the fob. Yes, my fellow residents gladly trade liberty for the illusion of security, which really angers me when I’m busy being their physical superior. I run up to the Capitol building, run into Roberta (hurrah for knowing people), and wait for the race to start. No swag for this one, but it does support the Montana Historical Society, and has an ‘interesting and well marked course.’
We start behind the Capitol building, and head eastbound. I’m familiar with this from my time at work. I get jammed up a little bit, by one runner with an odd technique and behind a pair of kiddies. I actually start to get annoyed with the kids, since they are running side by side, and getting in my way. I end up fartleking them with some fast running and slow down, and they still keep pace. They only do it for half a mile, but I was glad to get past the kids and get on my own pace and space.
After getting away from the kids, I get to run at my natural pace, and see the runner with the strange technique ahead. I’m fairly content to be behind him, and not really in the mood to try and run too hard, since I don’t know the course. The course was interesting, including curb running, and running across fields to get to a track. We head out towards Smith school and onto the quarter mile dirt track. The only downside is that track (rocky track) is really tough on the Trail Gloves.
About halfway around the track, a guy in a black Brooks coat comes flying by me. I’m not sure where he got his second wind, since he had a lot of speed. I just kept pace heading back toward the Capitol building. Once we hit Montana, we did get a nice little elevation challenge toward the Capitol building.
I’d already decided that I didn’t have it in me to run another mile before I started this, and I felt better about that decision afterward. I probably would have another mile on a weekend with fresh legs, but this was mostly about keeping up after doing the Marathon, not about setting new records.
Overall: 23:53, middle of the pack. 5 kilometers of fun.
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