This past weekend I was able to run “The CBRC (Cornbelt Running Club) Chili Chase”, which is a four
mile race held every February in Davenport, Iowa in Duck Creek Park. This is my third year running this event and
it’s become sort of a staple on the DRC Calendar as it’s really a fun and pretty
unique race. The Chili Chase gives out
sweet white logoed gloves and chili pepper embroidered socks instead of your standard
race t-shirt. Now I don’t know about you
but I’ve got literally hundreds of race t-shirts stacked up in boxes so getting
anything else is a great change! I also
really like the race route… it starts and finishes
on the largest hill on the course winding through Duck Creek Park before
exiting into the surrounding neighborhood.
After touring the residential streets for a mile or so, the route dives back
into the park on a paved trail system that leads back towards the finish. The final hill is tough but there is
great crowd support that makes the accent go by fairly quick and before
you know it the hill is crested and finish line is staring you down. Admittedly this was my first year running the
true course as it had to be changed last minute in 2015 and 2014 due to ice on
the route but the basis of the route was the same.
To fit this race into my training schedule I flip flopped my
weekend running workouts doing the 10 mile run w/ hills on Saturday and
replacing a 5 mile pace run with the 4 mile race on Sunday. It worked out great and even though my legs
felt the after effects of the hills a bit it wasn’t enough to have significant
impact on my overall performance. My
plan going into the race was to take the first mile out at somewhere between my
5K/10K pace and if I felt too labored or if my HR read too high on the first
incline I’d cut back and run closer to my marathon pace. Luckily I felt fine so I pushed the first
couple miles pretty hard until I secured my place then flipped on cruise
control until it was time to tackle the final accent. I ended up finishing the race with a time of
24:29 averaging right around 6 minute mile average and felt very refreshed not
drained so it was a big mission accomplished for the day! Post-race
I enjoyed some delicious chili and an equally delicious beer as I caught up
with friends and reviewed my data before hopping back in the Corymobile and cruising
home feeling good about where this year is heading!
So the next race on the schedule is the Gaelic Gallop 8K on March
12 in Dyersville, Iowa which is a fun St. Patty's day themed event where I’m planning my debut race wearing a kilt... if anyone has suggestions on where to find or how to make a good running kilt please hit me up! Until next time… Happy Running!
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