Yes, I’m finally getting to this a week late, but I had so many other posts that I just couldn’t fit it in. Exactly one week ago, I ran the 19th Annual Classic at Mastick. Last Tuesday I picked up my race packet from Second Sole. The bags are great, big and have many pockets. I’m also pretty sure I have two water bottles already, but they’re a good size and you can never have enough. No more shirts though 😦

Ralphie believes he’s a runner

Mastick is a great race for the local schools to get their cross teams ready for the season. And the teams keep growing. I had a completely different mind set going in to this race. It was the first time I wasn’t nervous and didn’t have a set time I wanted to meet. The weather was also the best it’s been in a long time, and much better than it usually is for this race. As soon as the gun went off, I let the high school runners get ahead of me, there was no way I was going to finish the same time they did. The first 800 meters is around the park, so there was a ton of uneven grass. Once I got onto the dirt path, I noticed my knee was a little sore but ignored it. My first mile was at a good pace, so I tried to keep the second mile about the same pace. Unfortunately the second mile, like always was a lot slower than expected. If anyone has any tips on how to make this not happen, please let me know.

The last mile I tried to kick it in. I think it was my fastest mile, but it didn’t help much. I ended up with the time of 30:12. It seems like the more races I run, the slower I get. But I have accepted that my times will not be just like they used to be in college. I haven’t been training for 5k’s and doing no sprint workouts. But that is still no excuse, I should have better times.

I took a few too many days off this weekend, so my first run back was on Monday. I was hoping to get a few easy miles in and really focus on training for my half. But I took about 20 steps and my knee started to ache. It got worse as the run went on, and I couldn’t even go a mile. I wanted to fight through it, but I haven’t felt this bad of pain in a long time.

I’ve decided to take a few days off to hopefully let my knee recover, and get rid of some allergies. But I think I’ve run my final Mastick. The cross courses just can’t work for my knees anymore. I’m starting to rethink the Alumni race too. If 800 meters of uneven ground can keep me out a week after a race, I’m a little concerned with a mile and a half of massive hills will do. I really want to wear the buns though….

These next couple of week are crucial. I have two half marathons, the alumi race, and a marathon relay. I’m bound and determined to get my knee in better shape. But my days of running cross country courses are over. There’s nothing better than the smell of cross season, I could smell it at Mastick. Lots of memories, but plenty to look forward to.