I’m having a dilemma. Should I run the Woodminster Cross Country Race on June 17th or not? Here are the pros and cons:
Pros:
– Complete the East Bay Triple Crown series. This may be the one and only year I’ll do all 3 races.
– Cheap and easy logistically: it’s very affordable at $22 and it’s close by at Joaquin Miller Regional Park.
– I’m interested in running in Joaquin Miller/Redwood again, just to see if this time goes better than the Cinderella 10K.
– Race recap/research. There’s a dearth of information about this race online — I’d view this as a public service to run the race and recap it for future racers.
– Yet another training exercise in suffering = bank it towards marathon training.
– There’s a brunch afterwards celebrating the end of the East Bay Triple Crown.
Cons:
– The Cinderella 10K was already pretty brutal, so I can only imagine how tough 9 miles will be. (Though, to be fair, I did fall halfway through the Cinderella 10K.)
– Lack of running buddies. The Gypsy Runner is definitely skipping this one, and I haven’t heard of anyone else running it.
– I’m a little burnt out on races… but I’m planning on taking a long break anyway, so maybe I’ll just tough it out and run one more?
– I’m currently in last place in the Triple Crown standings, and there’s little hope of me moving up in the ranks. Supposedly, this is the toughest race of the series.
So, my thinking is that if I run it, I’ll probably go out and do my best (as usual), but also not push myself too hard. I know it’s a tough trail race, so I’d look at it as another learning experience.
Thoughts?
Howdy! My name is Jen and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I like to eat, run, and blog, but not usually at the same time.
Running Tangents 
Hmm. A quandary. My first inclination would be to say skip it–in the interest of avoiding getting burned out and (at least as important) not risking an injury. All these intense trail races are a lot to put your knees and ankles through!…But if you feel totally intact physically and plan not to push too hard, then it could be fun, or at least worthwhile. What would you do that day instead? If you’d be likely to do a long and/or hilly run that weekend anyway then the pros would probably outweigh the cons.
All excellent points, as usual. My body is feeling pretty good, considering all of the abuse I’ve put it through this past month. The pre-registration deadline is 6/14, and I can also register on the day of for $6 more, so I don’t have to make any decisions right now. My plan is to do a 6-7 mile hilly trail run this weekend and then assess how I’m feeling. I also need to break in the new-new running shoes (I had to exchange for a pair 1 whole size bigger!). The shoes might be the key, actually. My feet were pretty sore after the Cinderella 10K, so I definitely need more sole protection and grip than what my VFFs offer.
Just to play devil’s advocate- why push it on another trail race when your ultimate goal is a road marathon? If you can mentally take it as a simple training run, I say do it just to finish the triple crown, but if your body is suffering in any way, I would say skip it as, again, your ultimate goal this year is really CIM.
Good point. I do think I’ll be able to run it more as a training run than as an all out race. I was able to hold back for TTT, and I think I’ll be even more inclined to do it for this race. My plan right now is to run 6 miles of this course on Saturday and see how it goes. If it’s too torturous to enjoy, then I’ll skip it.