Mounds DINO: A friendly fierce competition

 March 30, 2013

We went to the DINO race up in Anderson today at Mounds State Park. Just a bit about the park by the state park service:

    "Mounds state park features 10 unique "earthworks" built by a group of prehistoric Indians known as the Adena-Hopewell people. The largest earthwork "The Great Mound" is believed to have been built around 160 B.C. Archeological studies seem to suggest they were used for religious ceremonies"

The morning sun as we were driving up to Mounds. I must have took about 10 pictures of it trying to capture how beautiful it was. Just a great big brilliant orange ball. It seemed close enough to drive to it. I was a bit obsessed for awhile. We got up there about 8 am and I signed up. For the first time I signed up at the race. I also got one of the cool t-shirts there. They were nice! I decided to wear mine. While I was waiting to go into the bathroom I saw a nice woman I had seen at the last DINO. She said "hey how are you?" and we talked for a bit. I told her I bet it will be warm by next race and she said "That's what you said at the last race!" and laughed. so we took our pre-race pictures and prepped to run the race. It was nice. The sun was coming out, there was no wind. A bit chilly at the beginning but I have found that is actually better because once you get going you warm up pretty quickly.

Christy and I at the start of the race. Lovely morning! The race started and I decided to chance starting at the front...relatively. It was actually a good move. Although I had to work very, very hard at the beginning I was able, suprisingly, to keep that pace up pretty much the whole race. I had my heart rate monitor on but was not paying attention to it today. At first it just started beeping continuously which started a brief exchange between another runner and I about heart rate training and how I was totally ignoring it right now. He joked "people can hear you coming" because it wouldn't shut up. I was probably at 150 to 160 the whole race! I finally found the silence button but kept the heart rate thing going so I could check in on it. 80% pretty much the entire time. But I will go back to the training this week. I have decided to give myself a break for DINO races. The thought of walking and having people pass me is unacceptable. The lady at the beginning by the bathroom was my "competition" practically the whole race. We briefly talked here and there....bitching about the stairs, I told her once when she was going down a particularly rooty hill she looked like she was skiing! I would run a bit past her then she would catch up and so on. I got some
Go for it! As I raced past some of the younger guys. I caught up and passed someone I dearly wanted to and that was awesome. I must have pulled a sub-8 sprint to get past them and stay past them. The stairs were a bit limiting. I don't always do stairs well.

So the lady I had been "battling with" the entire race beat me by 30 seconds and placed 1st to my 2nd. Brian said it was possibly the closest race so far. A photo finish! When we passed each other at the awards ceremony we slapped hands high five. I like a good competitor and a good sport! Perhaps next time I will be ahead. And then after the DINO of course we had to have Qdoba. They didn't have any there so we went on our own and got a very good, Metabolic Efficiency approved, meal. YUM! and coffee...and a shower when I came home.

Good stuff!