Wednesday Wrap Up: VERT Race Series Trail Master Killah

Things are picking up steam with respect to training: I’m on target for 56 miles this week and a record high 60 miles next week.  I’m also on pace for setting a record on the calorie consumption front, if Monday night’s picnic in Central Park is any indication.  “Two-bite brownies” are so named because you’re meant to consume two in each bite, right?  Right?!

Last week was a step back week, which I gladly accepted.

Number of Miles Run Last Week: 42, including an 8 mile GMP workout, a hilly as f*ck trail 5k (more below), and a “long” run of 13 miles, which I completed before 8:45am Sunday, which literally never happens because I need at least 90 minutes to drink coffee, go to the bathroom, and generally procrastinate and psyche myself up for running.  While I was so proud of myself and my time management skills on Sunday morning, it all came back to bite me in the ass Sunday night, when I was so tired the prospect of picking what to have for dinner brought me to tears.  Cool.

Number of Beers Consumed Last Week: 6.

Types of Beers Consumed Last Week: Beer blogger fail – I drank an IPA and what was pitched as an “IPL” from SingleCut and Gun Hill, but I don’t know which was which.  I also enjoyed a Sixpoint Sweet Action, and a Fire Island Lighthouse Ale, rounding out my New York beer sampling (#drinklocal).  Allegedly I had two Sierra Nevadas somewhere along the line, but I don’t really know when or where that was.

Now, as for that hilly as f*ck trail 5k…

On Saturday, I made good on my promise to check out Van Cortlandt Park for the inaugural VERT Race Series Trail Master Killah.  This voyage was not made easy.

On Friday, I received a travel advisory email from the VERT people, informing me that the 1 train would not be running north of 96^th Street.  

In full disclosure, if my race entry had not been comped, and had I not demanded TG shell out a race fee himself in the name of supporting me and “OMG it will be so funnnnnn!” I probably would have been deterred.  I hear the expression “free shuttle service” and I’m like “more like free time to NOT do whatever it was I was planning to do that is now inaccessible by subway.”  In the MTA’s defense, the free shuttle service is the same thing as the subway, but above ground on buses.  They make it as easy as humanly possible to not change your plans.  And yet…

But, I had indeed committed to this event, and the VERT people generously comped my registration, so I collected TG and we took the D to the A to the E to the free shuttle service to Van Cortlandt Park.  And thank goodness we did, because it turned out to be totally awesome (not necessary the free shuttle service part, though that wasn’t objectively bad either…)

Pre-Race:  The free shuttle service let us off directly outside Van Cortlandt Park.  Directions indicated that the registration would be at the Tortoise and the Hare statue in the Park, but having never been there, I had no idea where this was.  Fortunately, TG did, and also, there were people milling about with bibs on, which is generally a good sign when you're looking for a race start.  We followed the crowds and walked along a gravel track, skirting a huge field filled with cricket players, until we reached registration.  We picked up bibs and t-shirts (quick note: the shirts are AWESOME.  I'm not someone who goes all crazy about unisex versus gendered sizing, mostly because at approximately 40 feet tall, men's t-shirts fit me better anyway, but the unisex small fits really well and is super soft cotton.  The design it pretty rad too, and I'm psyched I have non-tech shirt to add to my arsenal) and dropped bags with no wait whatsoever.  I switched into trail shoes and felt a little embarrassed about doing so, but truthfully, I have so few opportunities to wear them that I wanted to take 'em out for a spin.  We hung about talking and stretching and running a few warm up laps on the aforementioned track (okay, technically I ran a few warm up steps, but other people were running laps, and in the interest of writing a thorough race report, I'm sharing that to paint a more full picture of the scene.  It's a literary technique.  I took one creative writing class in 2004.  I know what I'm doing here.).  

While we were hanging out, TG asked someone to take our picture, because he's ALWAYS taking pictures and putting them on social media and it's so annoying (just kidding; it's me who does that).  Lo and behold, the girl he asked was Pamela, and she and her husband Monojeet recognized me from this here blog!  TG was not especially impressed that I am FAMOUS on the INTERNET, but I was too busy being impressed with myself to notice.  

A couple minutes before the 11am start time, the announcer encouraged us to head to the starting area and self-seed.  TG and I hung in the back third of the pack, not entirely sure what we were up against with respect to the allegedly hilly course.  Right on time, we took off.

The race: The first half-mile or so took us around the cricket fields on the gravel track.  Not quite singletrack but not nearly a full six lanes, the track was about wide enough to handle the estimated 300-ish runners, baring a few instances I had to step to the outside grass to pass.  TG and I started out together, and I thought to myself "these people are crazy if they think this is hilly."  

Soon enough, though, we made a right off the track and into the woods, where TG and I separated.  The shade from the thick trees overhead was a welcome change at 11am in August.  The hills were not.

This course was tough!  The hill at about 1.25 miles was super steep, and from then on, it was basically uphill for a mile.  The descents were no picnic either.  The path through the woods was the same loose, small gravel that made up the track, and as I was barreling down the hills, I thought to myself "holy hell I am so glad I thought to put on these trail shoes." 

That's me in the orange, hurdling over a water bar trying not to eat it. Photo

That said, I thought the course was also super fun!  Normally I sort of dread 5ks, and speed work in general, but this was one of the first times I felt like "I can push the pace here, it's only 3.1 miles," and scrambling up and down the hills on loose footing did make me feel pretty bad ass.  Well, at least until I looked at my Garmin and saw I was only 1.5 miles in...

Miraculously, I took no tumbles and avoided the puke threshold, and found myself with less than a mile to go exiting the woods and heading back to the gravel path.  I'd been in hot pursuit of the guy in front of me for close to two miles, so when we hit the track, I tried to make a move.  This was foolish, since I'd used up any gas I might have had for making moves hauling myself up hill for the last 2.5 miles.  He held me off, and crossed a few seconds ahead of me.  I extended my congratulations and tried not to vomit on his shoes.

Photo

I grabbed a bottle of water at the finish and stood in the infield cheering on the runners and chatting with some other finishers, including a girl from Van Cordlandt Track Club, who told me I "zoomed" by her early on.  I told her she actually had the advantage, and had I known what was in store in Van Cortlandt, most certainly would have been a little more conservative.

Finish time: 24:38

Overall Place: 30

Gender Place: 5

AG Place: 3

Post race: Now on to the good stuff!

One of the selling points for this race for me, besides the opportunity to use those trail shoes, was the post-race party.  It did not disappoint.

The party was a short walk away at the Van Cortlandt Golf Course, which was a pretty venue overlooking a small pond. 

Photo

When we walked in, a fellow looked us up and down, decided what he'd call us, wrote those names on plastic cups, and handed them to us.  It was all very frat party, which naturally, I loved (my named was Shorty, because of course).

We took those cups directly to the kegs, which were provided by SingleCut and Gun Hill Brewing.  The beer was plentiful, the lines moved quickly, and best of all, the intoxicants were free.  We enjoyed a couple beers standing in the sunshine (me in my new t-shirt!) talking to Pamela and Monojeet, who were super fun and nice and also like beer and marathons, which is a deciding factor when I'm evaluating potential friendships.  You're in, guys.

While we imbibed, the DJ starting playing, and a few people hit the dance floor before the awards ceremony kicked off.  Much as I would have liked to stay long enough to consume enough beers to make me consider hitting the dance floor myself, I had a 4pm appointment in Chelsea, so TG and I took off for our voyage home.  The pics look awesome, though, so I'll make a note that for their next race, I should probably block off the whole day.

In conclusion: VERT Race Series' Trail Master Killah was a challenging but really fun course.  The number of runners was just about perfect considering the width of the trails in Van Cortlandt, and despite the subway snag, getting up there is so easy I might even return under my own volition.  The t-shirt is solid, and the post-race party was among the best, and certainly the most boozy, I've attended.  Sounds like you missed out on a solid time, eh?

As a reminder, VERT Race Series comped my entry for this race.  These opinions are my own.