Pop the Cork!

This weekend saw the start of my fall racing season with the 49th Annual Bottle and Cork 10-miler. Last time I ran this race, back in 2019, I ran solo en route to a 51:40 course record finish. This year wouldn’t be quite the same story!

Per my usual, I got to the venue early, worked on getting my gear all set up and getting into the mindset of the race ahead. About 45 minutes before gun-time I set off on the warmup: a few drills to get my legs loosened up, then the running… 10 minutes easy into two sets of 1-minute picked up and 2-minutes easy again. Some plyometric drills afterward and heading over to the starting line. I changed my shoes and quickly came to the realization that I got my act together a little too efficiently! I think I spend about 20-25 minutes dilly-dallying around the start — a little longer than I’d like.

Nonetheless, the masses found their way over and the race directors corralled everyone up to the line for the start.

I wasn’t anticipating much in lieu of competition going in, if I’ll be honest. It was rather humid and blustery after a pleasant stretch of fall-like weather, so my main goal was (obviously) to bring home the Win, but I also wanted to work on my cup-grabbing as I won’t be permitted bottles out for the Myrtle Beach Mini next month. PLOT TWIST! As the horn sounded, another runner took off ahead of the field as I trailed behind slightly. He pulled ahead about 2-3 seconds as we sprinted north from Dewey Beach towards Rehoboth and the boardwalk, but I kept him within that arm’s reach along the way up along Silver Lake.

Rounding a few quick turns, we gapped the field as third place straggled behind. First water station was camped out in this narrow stretch of the boardwalk so we had to weave around beachgoers in this short portion of the course. Grabbed the cup. Promptly lost ALL the water! Tossed it angrily in the can about 10 meters up the boards. Pressed on from there keeping my pacer within striking distance.

When we came off the boardwalk, the path ahead was far clearer; the road has a slight rise around a turn then, after another right, there’s a quick drop, denoting the 3-mile mark. Continuing to barrel north towards Cape Henlopen State Park, I found myself overtaking first place. Aside from the excited start, we were holding a consistent pace for the first half of the race. I also found myself settling into the rhythm; the effort was strong, legs burned, but I found myself over the hump. No longer in the early mental rut of getting over the pain, I knew I had the strength in my legs to take it. So I did.

Rounding the U-turn, I believe I turned my 2-3 second lag into a 2-3 second lead.

25:24 at the turnaround.

We had some protection thanks to the trees that line the trail, though some small stretches along Gordon’s Pond left us exposed to the wind. It was only getting more harsh as time rolled along; the humidity wasn’t doing any favors, nor the wind as the gusts picked up (and it certainly wasn’t cutting the thick air either). I found myself really getting into a racing mindset today; once in the lead, I was taking regular looks back. How large was the gap? Had I cushioned my lead enough? No. Must keep pushing; foot stays on the gas. The pace definitely slowed down but the effort wasn’t going to let up.

Notice the lack of talking about my second goal for the race? Yeah, after the first water station, I just gave up on that whole thing. Let’s focus on the race, shall we? Cool, back to that!

Back off the cinders to the road. Now’s when the wind would really become a factor. Around 6-miles my lead hadn’t extended much, if at all, but I the gap growing more over this long straight-away out of the park. I’d check my watch fairly regular in an attempt to keep the pacing around the same spot; this worked but would only get me so far in the end. Reversing the course, I passed the 3-mile (now 7-mile) marker and crested the incline, then back onto the boards. It had gotten more crowded compared to the outbound trip down the boardwalk, but I still didn’t have to do much weaving. Everyone seemed aware that there was a race going on despite the event being based about two miles down the road (and I’ll note that there was a noticeable lack of signage in and around the Rehoboth/boardwalk area). The lead bike did a solid job in keeping bystanders at bay.

My one BIG mistake in this last little bit, I think, was at that 8-mile mark. I told myself I could reign it in. The effort largely stayed but in backing off the push, I think I let a better time get away from me. Just a learning experience!

That said, these last two miles were absolute slogs. Gusts got stronger (I don’t think I can emphasize this enough. It was really windy along the course with 10-15mph sustained winds and 20-25mph gusts from the South/Southwest), the sun just making the heat another killer. I recall calling out to someone watching how much of a gap I had made. “I don’t even see him!” they called back. I didn’t believe them and kept stealing looks back whilst clipping through the neighborhood turns back along Silver Lake. I took one last “significant” check back when I passed the first intersection back onto the main drag in Dewey without any sight on second place. Still nervous that I somehow lost sight and he’d steal the Win, I kept telling myself to stay on the gas… stay on the gas… keep pressing. Only about a half mile left, one last left turn, no shadow from him. I had it locked down.

52:27 for the official finish.

Once all was said and done, we went on a cooldown together. I challenged a traffic cone to a game of chicken… and lost. So that made a good little laugh during the cooldown, but I had to rush off to work to shower off and clean up the bloody mess I’d made, then make sure the shop was ready for any bike rentals or folks that might stroll in looking to upgrade for the new school year.

All in all, I’m happy with how the race went! Like I mentioned at the start, I didn’t anticipate much, if any, competition. The fast lead out changed that instantly! That got me excited and in the racing mindset, which I find I struggle with oftentimes at local races. Despite the noticeably slower second half, I stayed mostly in the mindset and think this kept me in the “enjoy the suffering” headspace. I’m stronger than I give myself credit for; there’s that early mental hump to get over first is all. There’s enjoyment in the pain— let’s go find it, and some PB’s along the way!