- 2005 Run Shadyside 5K - My First Race :)
- 2005 Great Race - My First 10K! :)
- 2005 Chamber Classic 5K
- 2005 Pittsylvania XC Challenge 6K
- 2005 Harry C. Holland Gutbuster 4mi
I ran the 7th Annual Pittsylvania XC Challenge 6K, which was hosted by the Western Pennsylvania Track Club. I've joined WPTC and I ran as part of their 5-man 20-29 team (I placed 4th). Unfortunately, there weren't any other teams in that bracket, we were only eligible to win the open (LOL).
I didn't run as well as I'd hoped, which could be due to how hard I pushed myself on Wednesday for a fitness evaluation which included a 12-minute all-out treadmill V02-max test (I ran 1.6 miles in that time, by the way.). I finished in 80th place with a time of 36:24 (a 9:47 pace). This was my first race after purchasing a Polar F6 heartrate monitor
Looking at this race along side the others I've run this year, I see that I still have a lot of work ahead of me. Hopefully, WPTC will help me become a better runner.
The course was beautiful, by the way. It was in Frick Park, mostly on Tranquil Trail. Speaking of which, would it kill the parks association to publish decent maps of the trails? Why do runners and bikers have to make their own? Anyhow, the race was in a part of the park I haven't been in much. I'd think about training on that side, but it's not easy to get to from my apartment. In the summer, however, WPTC hosts the Gutbuster 8K in my neck of the woods. I can definitely train every inch of that race course. Running up that beastly hill will do me some good, too.
Though the setup was simpler, I thought the atmosphere was far more professional than the Chamber Classic 5K. I'll definitely run it again next year and I'm glad I'll be running in other WPTC events as well. BTW, if anyone knows of any good cross-country runs in the Pittsburgh area, please let me know.
Update 10/03/06: The city has finally made a decent map of the parks available. Consequently, the map link in this post has been updated.
Funky Dung
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