Mézières 2012

I was unfamiliar with this weeks leg of the Tour du pays de Vaud in Mézières, so I read about the course here. Yet I still wasn't prepared for the race to be as hard as it was. Besides the challenging terrain, it was very hot and muggy. I was sweating just standing at the starting line with the other 900 runners. I doubt anyone had followed the advice on the Tour website suggesting runners who don't handle the heat well take this week off. I started near the front to get ahead of the bottleneck that was sure to form as we entered the woods, but so many people passed me over the first mile that I had to slow to a walk on the first steep, single-file climb. Husband, who had started farther back, caught up with me when we got to the fields. We dodged gopher holes and cow patties together until I told him to go on at his own pace. By the time I got back to the paved road I didn't care who else passed me. My goal was to make it up the last hill before the finish line without walking. At least I did managed that.

We have to skip next week's race, so by the time Saint-Prex rolls around we should be enjoying cooler weather. If not, at least there we can jump in the lake!

Gotta run...

Genolier 2012

Since I have trouble finding people in a crowd, I told my friends, "You can't miss me, I'll be wearing my florescent orange running shirt to this week's leg of the Tour du pays de Vaud." It worked; everyone found me, even the sponsor who had given me the shirt. He said, "Come by my booth, I have something for you." I went over and he handed me a pair of fancy running socks to thank me for "advertising" for him! I was a winner before the race even started!

As for the 8.5K itself, the course was just the opposite of last week's; downhill on the first half and uphill on the second. Not my cup of tea. At least most of the runners passing me seemed to be younger than I am. Even though I ran a minute slower than two years ago in Genolier, my rank didn't change; so I choose to be satisfied.

On to Mézières.

Gotta run...

Penthaz 2012

This year’s Tour du Pays de Vaud (a series of five 8.5K races held on consecutive Wednesday evenings) started off in Penthaz. I had shin splints last summer and had to forgo the Tour, so the Penthaz leg, added last year, was new to me. From the elevation profile and Husband’s description of the course, I knew the first half would be the hardest. As soon as we started running I knew the heat would slow me down too. Even though I pushed as hard as I could, I was getting steadily passed. I let up some on the flat and downhill stretches to avoid passing out. When I made the last sharp turn less than a kilometer from the finish line, I was rewarded with a magnificent view of Mont Blanc in the distance. I could also see the last steep hill to climb. I had saved just enough energy to power up it and pass a few runners. Since I had no reference time, I didn’t know whether to be satisfied with my time or not, but I was quite pleased with my rank in my age group.

On to Genolier!

Gotta run…