Nice chilly morning for the annual Dirt Monster benefiting the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation of Western PA (OCFWPA). The family has volunteered for the last 4 years and I've run it twice now, I think. It benefits a great foundation and is always well organized and fun. Summary: A little slower than last year. The course measured slightly short on the Garmin, but that could be the result of the tree cover through 95% of the course. Overall, a great training run and fun time for the whole family. LWD (Long-Winded Details): We had to be there by 8am (race starts at 9:30) to get the family in place to help direct the runners on the course. Since they took the car to the parking area, there wasn't anywhere for me to stay out of the wind/cold so I just did some slow jogging to stay warm - definitely over a mile. I don't usually do much warm up jogging since I try to not expend too much energy before races, then just use the first mile to get warmed up. Today, it worked out well since I felt pretty limber, stretched out pretty well, and so I wasn't as worried about pulling something going up the hills in the first mile. There were some course changes due to Hurricane Sandy and some downed trees that hadn't been removed by the park yet. One cut off and caused part of the typical course to be washed out too much, so a change had to be made for that. Another laid across the course, so if you were over 5' tall you had to duck under it. There were some mud slogs and leaves covered the course completely. Not enough could be said for having good trail shoes for this race! As usual, the gun went off right on time. I had my Garmin set to last years course so I could watch how I was doing against my "ghost." Didn't work real well when I went "off course" so I wasn't sure how I was faring against last year's results - but it was a different course so it really didn't matter and I could tell I was slower.
Update: Comparing last year's course and this one on the map, there only appears to be a very slight modification between 2012 and 2011. I'm wondering if since I had loaded the course into my Garmin and set it to run the course if it just tracked my distance and isn't showing the actual GPS points or something. Because it seemed there were definitely deviations from what I remembered from last year. At the start, I mentally decided to just do as well as I could, with finishing strong & without injury my primary goals. But then I saw THEM...the 3 guys I did not want to lose to. They were wearing kilts for some reason. Getting chicked is one thing. I can deal with that - heck, happens all the time, but getting semi-chicked by a dude? That was going to be tough! I kept my primary goal, but beating those three was a very close second! First mile is fairly tough with some pretty good hills. The course is all single track after the first 200m so I just got in behind some other runners and chugged along, passing (and being passed) when possible. The first 1.5mi, I was feeling just OK. Passing the first kilt in the first mile and the second toward the end of the 2nd mile did help, though. As always, I was wearing a doorag with skulls & crossbones on it. At the lone aid station at about 2.5mi, the volunteer commented on how she liked my "Halloween hat" and that it was cool I was festive. No time to explain...I had a kilt to find...a quick thanks and I kept chugging. My family was at about the 3.2mi mark and I asked how far ahead he was..."not far" was the response. Gee, thanks! haha Finally, I saw him on the switchback at about 4mi...walking up the hill. YES! By this time, I was into a groove and was feeling good. I had passed a few other runners in the last mile as the course flattened out, so I was feeling strong for the hill. Cruised on up and passed him. I smiled and said "good job, keep it up!" I passed a few more runners, including the teen with a "RUNNING - cheaper than plastic surgery" shirt. The last 1/4 mi is a steep downhill to the finish. Not sure why they have it finishing like that because it's incredibly rocky, full of roots and ruts, and seems just plain dangerous for the end of a race when you're tired and your form is deteriorating. At least mine was. I decided to stay in control and take it easy or I'd be needing plastic surgery due to running. Finished strong and felt good about the race. We didn't stick around for the awards or anything this year. The family was cold and tired and ready for a nap, as was I. Results won't be posted for several days, so I'm not sure where I placed. With the 10 year age groups, I'm sure I wasn't in the top 3 so no need to stick around. Besides, I had beat the kilts...
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