ENDURrun Sport Stage 2: 7.5km Time Trial

Stage 2 is a 7.5km time trial race. This means that runners are started individually on the course in 30 second intervals, starting with the slowest runner. The objective is to see how long before you get passed by the faster people. Based on my ranking in yesterday’s race, I was starting third.

The course started at Riverbluffs Park in Cambridge, a town to the south of Kitchener/Waterloo. It’s basically an out and back along the Grand River trail. According to the elevation map, there are some elevation changes, and the path is a combination of pavement, gravel, and some dirt. The course is also an out and back, like Stage 1.

Original map located here

I arrived at the race about an hour ahead of time. I like to get to races early, so I can have time to get myself ready, do a proper warm up, and also socialize with everyone else. The drive to the start was along the river and was beautiful. The start line was all set up, and a few runners had already arrived and were milling around. Temperatures were not bad, but the humidity was still quite high. I knew this was going to be a factor.

Another choice I had to make was whether to bring water/Gatorade with me or rely on the course water station. I didn’t really want to be weighed down with the water on the time trial, and there was a water station at the 3km mark, which I would hit twice (the benefits of out and back courses). But in yesterday’s stage, I brought the water, and needed it. After some deliberation, I decided to leave the liquids and just run with the belt (and bib since they were attached).

At 5:50pm Lloyd, the race director assembled us at the start. Pretty soon it was my turn to go. With a “GO!” from the timer, I started. I started off strong, feeling pretty good. The plan was to try and maintain 6:00min/km pace, but go down to 6:15 once I started to hurt. Watch said I was going around 5:50, which was too fast, but I felt good, so I went with it. I finally got lapped by the faster person just after the 2km mark in the race. Not bad. I continued to push the pace, but by the 3km mark I was feeling it. I started to take some walk breaks at this point. Now I was really being lapped. I started up again, trying to take it slower, but my pace would creep up again. The course is mostly covered as you are running in the woods, and the humidity was starting to really take it’s toll on me. I walked through the water station, got to the turnaround, did a small walk there, then it became a run/walk from there to the end. My legs were feeling Stage 1 big-time. Once I got past the 6km mark, the course more or less flattened out a bit, so I again pushed the pace up. When I hit 7km, I found an extra gear; I wanted to finish strong, even though the latter half of the race was slow. I hit the finish in 0:47:55, slower than what I wanted, but really I’m happy that I was able to complete much of the course at the pace I set out.

• Officla Time: 0:47:52
• Cumulative time: 1:51:35 after 2 stages and 17.5km