Last weekend I traveled for the USATF masters 8K cross country championships in Lubbock, TX. I find racing in December or January to be difficult. I’m usually sort of burned out in December from the previous 8 or 9 months of training and racing and January is too early to have enough base behind you to feel that competitive. And forget about feeling sharp.
Our team has not traveled much in recent years. In fact we went for almost a year and a half, from June 2023 to November 2024, without fielding a full team. Injuries, burnout, lack of interest, and maybe personality differences all played into this.
But to Lubbock we went, with an age group team of four runners. Travel this past weekend was dicey and many athletes and clubs were not able to make it. Only about half of the entrants actually lined up to race. Although the fields were small, there was good competition in both the open and masters races.
We made it. Men’s team ventured to Lubbock for the masters championships. Many teams were snowed out.
It was windy on race day, 45 degrees F with sustained winds averaging nearly 20 mph, with stronger gusts. The wind was out of the west, which meant we would have a cross wind most of the way, with some short stretches of tailwind and about a km total of direct headwind on the 2.5 loop course.
Wicked winds whipping from the west.
The route was two and a half loops on a mostly flat former golf course that has been converted into a college cross country course. There were a couple of small rollers each loop and couple short steep bunker-type hills. It was real cross country and the wind added an extra challenge.
Course layout for 8K masters championship race in Lubbock, TX.
As we lined up the officials yelled at us like we were in middle school, “no more run outs! Line up behind the boxes!” And then “What don’t you understand about behind the boxes!!!?” And we were off, I sprinted about 70 meters before settling in.
Crazy hair day! (photo by USATF)
I run by feel in xc and don’t look at my splits much, but ran hoping to run about 6:15 for the first mile and see what I had. On the first loop (just under 1 mile) I felt better than expected and ran with a third pack (with the leaders way out in front at 5:00 pace, and a second pack of about 5-6 runners only 10-15 seconds ahead of us). I did check my watch that one time and it had 6:12.
Into the subsequent 2 mile loops I worried a bit that my early pace had been too hot. Our pack started breaking up by 1.5 miles and the second pack was still up by 5 or 6 seconds. Dan, my main age group competitor had just pulled ahead of that pack.
Decision time, hold steady and hang on, or surge to catch that pack.
I did the latter throwing in my fastest little stretch of the day, hitting sub 6 pace for a bit. I was a little gassed by the time I caught them, but that was just when we turned into the wind for a grinding 400 m stretch straight into it. We slowed way down, and I stutter-stepped a few times, biding my time and trying to catch my breath. We turned north and with a favorable cross-wind picked up the pace again.
I stayed with this group for the next two miles. Dan was only 15-20 seconds up in no-man’s land but I didn’t have the desire or grit to chase him down. On the windy stretch just after 4 miles, we slowed way down again as the wind tore at us. As we rounded turn over a bunker I took off an one of the runners from a different age group went with me. He went off in a sprint. I picked it up gradually over the last km and sprinted home. 15th place and 2nd in my age group. I got 2nd in age grading, and our team won by default because our rivals could not make the trip.
Age group winners, a bit squinty.
It was a good weekend and feeling so much better after feeling off for a few weeks was a pleasant surprise.
My next big race will be in late March, another 8K xc event (world masters) but I will do some xc ski races along the way (more casually than running) and probably a 5k-8K tune up road race in Feb or March. I’m not 100 percent certain, because I have done it two years in a row, but I think I’ll do the masters grand prix (best 5 races in the 8 race series) again.
Postscript: Controversy from Letsrun
You expect nothing but garbage and controversy on the website LetsRun.com and they rarely if ever disappoint. There is currently a thread on the site decrying the lack of participation at this championship. Indeed, it may have been the least attended ever. Only 156 runners (101 men, 55 women) in three divisions for each (Under 20, Open, and Masters) lined up and participated in the event. Last year there were 447 participating in Richmond, VA. Last year was a qualifying race for the World Cross Country Championships and World Junior Championships. So that was a big difference. Nevertheless, recall that half the field did not make the trip due to weather cancellations. So instead of the numbers down by 2/3, it’s closer to 1/3. That’s still a big hit, but factor in the remote location of Lubbock compared to Richmond, VA, and the fact that there is no championship qualification this year the difference is understandable.
Tell that to Letsrun! Those apes will moan, bitch, and caterwaul over anything and everything. Morons.
rrunnin234 