Brandywine Valley Association Trail Run

Dear Reader,

My name is Fatmarc Vanderbacon. I am not a runner.

Strangely, I have found myself in a few trail runs this year. Weird, I know.

I do consider myself a racer. Today I raced. It was fun. I will admit, I killed myself, and although I had no expectations of my effort, I was bummed with the final result.

Mother Daughter Kit? Very awesome for my niece...

Here's why:

One of the golden rules of racing is to know the course. There have been plenty of times when I haven't been able to ride a course, but I still know to check out the start, check out the finish. I also try to find were the tough climbs of a loop are, and know where I am in the race.

Today, I didn't follow any of these rules.

The start was good, I started fast not going with the fast real life runners, but cruising comfortably in the second group.  It was fun. I felt pretty good. Heck, I felt rock star...

Up the first little climb I saw one of the dudes from the Lums pond race. He's Matthew McConaughey hot. He did well at the 10k at Lums, so I figured I'd try to hang with him as long as I could. We passed through a few other groups and into the final mile or so of the course. We started up the first of two final climbs. Matthew McConaughey hot guy gapped me.

He was gone. One climb down, one to go. I kept a steady pace, as I could see the next climb coming and while not as steep it was much longer. I knew there was a guy right on me. I ran steady, but I won't lie, I run uphill worse than I climb on a bike. I was deep in the hurt in the box.

The dude passes me and kicks it up a little. He's putting in a solid surge.  I can see the top of the hill and it opens up to a field. I am also hurting, and thinking there's still a bit to go, so I don't counter for fear of totally blowing myself up. Stay steady, finish the hill.

Once I get to the top of the hill and into the clearing, I can see the finish 500 yards away. I pick up my pace trying to get back on terms with the dude who just passed me. He's got too much space. He takes me. I trot in 10 yards back. Damn I just fcuked that up.

With the trail run and 12hr races at Granogue this year, it's possible these two could meet. That much hotness in one place could be radioactive.

I was happy with my run, but hate giving up a spot at the end.  Insult to injury in the 40-49 class, I missed the podium when I lost that last spot. In the world of knowing how to prepare for a race, you know like checking out the last 1/2 mile of the course or so, I blew it.

But you know, I gotta call the day a win. That course was wicked hard, and really fun. I'm already looking at the next in the series.... While the bike is where it's at, these races have been really good.

Saturday, we had a nice group of us out for a ride.

these are the butts of Kurtee, Nancy, Mike K, Monkey and CONsorto.

We picked up Juan. Juan is from Columbia. He is 22 and is at the University. He asked if he could follow us on our loop. At first he didn't know how to integrate into the group, but the end of the ride he had figured it out. Nice kid. Juan was a natural climber, "that's because I'm little!" he told Monkey. Cool stuff. I'm not sure that at 22 I would have had the ability to just join a ride on the road, in a strange country, riding where I have no idea that I am. It was really cool. A nice surprise.

anyway, MGT610 studying awaits...

thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc vanderbacon