Unfamiliar Places In-Yan Teopa 10 Mile

Unfamiliar Places In-Yan Teopa 10 Mile

In-Yan Teopa was a last minute decision for me as I was not confident I was recovered enough from Superior 100 just 2 weeks before or even in the right head-space. After several friends said they would be there, I figured what the heck, I'll give it a shot and enjoy some great company! The afternoon before, I was with my friend Arielle and we were discussing how to approach the race. Should I go back to my normal and go out hard, crash and burn and hang on for dear life? Around that time, my Superior pacer Jayna text me to let me know she was going after it slow and proceed to list off her busy week day by day, with the highlight being Wednesday - "ate cake". This made me laugh! Ok, fine! I'll just enjoy some miles with all my friends who all said they were going to take it easy.

Friday night was another sleepless one for me so I got up a bit earlier and got ready and headed to Frontenac State Park. I had heard many great things about it but have never been there. I arrived plenty early, but Chris the race director would not let me help out! All he would tell me is you can have a good race! This guy is awesome! 

Friends trickled in over the next hour or so and I greeted as many as I could and before we knew it, it was time to line up. I was still undecided how I was going to go out. Chris gave his talk and sent us off on our way. It became instantly apparent how I was approaching this race. I heard that first mile tick off and could see the lead pack still off across the fields. Umm....  I think I am in trouble! That first mile I did at a 6:56 pace. It is now on! I was mostly alone at this time but shared a few miles with some new friends. I saw Jeff Miller at the aid station around mile 4 or 5 and he asked how I was feeling. I'm dead and past the crash and burn stage, moving into hanging on for dear life! 

The miles were still going by faster than they should, then around 6 miles was a decent hill that slowed my pace down. After the climb I did my best picking my pace back up but it was a struggle. Not long after I look behind me going around a bend and there is Jayna gracefully floating along the trail! I shouted at her "stay away, I see you!" This motivated me to drop the hammer and I dipped back down in the 8's to try holding her off as long as possible. 

Then came a technical down hill. Every ache and pain from Superior came flying back with a vengeance and I nearly slowed to a walk. It was agonizing and I tried my best to hold my pace. The flat came but my legs were shot by this point and it wasn't long before I had to step aside and relinquish my position to a much stronger, faster runner.  Suddenly I was faced with the hill and stairs that everyone raves about at this race. I had flashbacks to fighting my way up Moose Mountain during Superior. This dang hill was taking everything I had left. This hill was pure evil! It took so much that I hardly had anything left to finish out what was left. I'll blame my exhaustion on adding bonus miles missing course markings, or lets just say I wanted to be an overachiever! 

I highly recommend this race and will certainly be back for it again in the future! Don't forget, Chris also puts on another great race on November 4th, the Icebox 480! 

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