Today's race was the final race in the 2011-2012 season of the Bucks County Road Runners Winter Series! The series ended with the 4.6 Mile Staggered Run – a race where the slower runners start earlier and the fastest runners start later. The staggered start times are based on your individual handicap which is calculated based on your previous finish times in the series - a very clever idea. My staggered start time was 22:14 after the first runner crossed the starting line. I finished 55th with a running time of 35:40 – that is a 7:46 mile!
Without realizing it beforehand, this type of race forced me to use a totally different psychology. At the start, I am so used to a congested group of runners that I usually use the first several minutes just getting adjusted to the flow of the 'pack'. With this run, I started with a very small number of other runners (4-5) and I wasn't used to so much free space! I found that I started off too quickly and the first mile was more of a struggle for me than usual. But, the end result was very satisfying for me. I'll take a sub-8 minute mile finish any day!
The other interesting part of this race was the last half-mile when you could hear the pack of the faster runners quickly approaching – another interesting twist that played into sheer motivation and determination to not let too many of them pass me and leave me in their dust!
All in all, the series was great and I feel quite a sense of accomplishment tackling the hills in Tyler State Park just about every Sunday for the last 11 or 12 weeks.
Next series up is the Bucks (County) 5K Series with its first race on Sunday, March 25, Central Bucks YMCA Family Fun Run!
Happy and Safe Running,
John
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