My Races
Reliance Savings 5k-17:13- No splits. This race almost made me a devoutly religious church-goer. Last night, when I set my goal time for today (18:00-18:30) I also considered ranking the likelihood of me running times slower than, at, and faster than my goals. For instance, I would have ranked anything over 19:00 - Not bloody likely and a disgrace to boot. 19:00 - Bloody likely and somewhat shameful but not embarassing. 18:30 would have been - Likely and respectable. 18:00 - Possible, a pleasant surprise, but not very likely. 17:30 - Not bloody likely at all and cause for concern that someone is spiking my toothpaste with performance-enhancing drugs. Sub-17:30 - No likelihood whatsoever and to run such a time would be substantial proof that there is indeed a God because it would take a motorized vehicle or a miracle to move my body over 3.1 miles of land that quickly.
It was overcast and drizzling at the start, and early on one guy said to me, "Won't need the water stops, will we?" Rather than go into my rant about pre-race hydration and how you shouldn't need to take fluid during a race so short, I replied politely, "Yeah, just open your mouth." I was trying to breathe. Tip to all runners: Arguing takes more energy than agreeing with spmeone, both in life and in racing.
The race started out fast, or, I should say, some people in the race started out fast. About 7 or 8 people sprinted from the start at roughly 4 minute-mile pace. Even Sammy Kipketer would have backed off. As usual, about 200 meters sorted out the people who were actually racing from those intent upon getting their $15 worth of anaerobic running. I tried to go out conservatively since this was my first race in about 2 years. Based upon my time, I don't think that I did, but could not verify that during the race because no splits were given.
The two guys who went out in first and second held their places the whole way. Both of them were feeling me out pre-race, asking me about my training, my times. I downplayed it, saying I was in lousy shape (which I am, I guess), that I have only been running for about 6 months since a long injury layoff. The kid who would end up winning said that the day before he had run 14:57 on what he thought was a short course since he's only good for 16-flat on the track. I said my PR was 15:58 and was set about 3 years ago and that I didn't expect to run any faster than 2 minutes slower than that. They both seemed relieved at that point but they both took off like hunted deer from the gun. The guy who got second place had almost 20 seconds on me at about a 1/2 mile and didn't gain anything from there. 3rd was right with 2nd through halfway but at about 2 miles came back to me and the guy who would end up 5th. He was the guy of the water stop comment, and, incidentally, he did hit the water stop at the turnaround, literally, despite his earlier quip.
He and I had run together for most of the first half of the race but he slowed down a little at the water stand. All I heard behind me was a crash and the sound of spilling water. I hit halfway in 8:43 or so and at that point began seriously doubting the veracity of the course. The water must have helped 5th place though, because he caught up to me about a minute later and actually started to go past me in what appeared to be an effort to catch a fading 3rd. I went with him but thought he would drop me shortly. I was breathing hard and I couldn't even hear him. At what I guess was 2 miles, we caught 3rd and ran as a trio till about a half mile to go when I moved past both of them trying to avoid a fast kick at the end. When, with about a quarter of a mile to go, I looked at my watch and saw that I was still in the 15's, I thought... well, I couldn't really think much, I was trying to pass one guy and hold another off, but I did think: I will have to figure this out after the race is over.
There is a short downhill with about 300 meters to go and 3rd place put a surge in just as we started down it. I had been beaten by him before a couple of years ago and thought I could take him in a kick if I could stay with him until the last 100m. Instead, I surged right back and gained a few feet, but with about 150m to go I was fried from too many surges and couldn't go with him when he passed me. I managed to hold of the water stop guy and was pretty shocked at my time. I considered measuring the course but I don't want to disappoint myself if it's short. What harm could higher standards do me anyway?
As far as my re-birth as a religious person, all I can say is that I didn't put anything in writing.
Roaring Spring Liberty Days 5k- 17:36- 5:49, 11:55, ?
My expectations of what I might run in this race were low. Browse my training log of the 6 weeks prior and you'll see why. After my first race in 2 years in early June I couldn't seem to put together one good week of training. My pulse was sky high on every run, even at 8 minute pace. I was concerned for awhile that I might be anemic which prompted me to start eating more red meat and chicken than normal, but it still didn't seem to improve how I felt. Even when I was not running I didn't feel well. Of course, my enthusiasm started to wane and I started to take days off just because the idea of suffering through another crappy run was depressing. Then, about two weeks before this race I decided to just run through it. Maybe the problem was that I had lost my meager base and what I needed to do was more mileage. Usually, such an approach to fatigue is precisely the wrong thing to do, but in this case it seemed to do the trick. Although I only ran 34 miles the week of the race it was in 5 days. The week after the race I put in 49 miles. I was aiming for 50, but I miscounted and so, had to log the week with a bittersweet pen.
But, back to the race.
This was the first race that Mia would attend outside of the womb. It starts at 9AM and in the middle of July, so when the gun goes off (actually, someone just says 'Go!') the temperature is often in the 70's or 80's. Such was the case this day. Fortunately, it wasn't humid. The summer before my freshman year of college I ran the 5 mile event in 90 degree temperature and near 100% humidity. My time was a pathetic 32 minutes and change.
On the line I happened to be standing next to a waif who I would later find out runs for Penn State and who would finish about 20 seconds behind me. At the gun she was sprinting ahead of me and had a good 40 meters after 1/2 a mile. Thinking back on the misery that was June I wondered what I had gotten myself into. As far as I know, I have never finshed behind the first female in any race. I mention this not as a point of pride, but as an indicator of what my fitness once was. Generally, in this area, if you can be competitive among the male racers, beating the females is not an issue. We don't have any Deena Drossin's or Tegla Lorupes. But this time, I feared I was going to suffer that supposedly embarassing fate of 'finishing after the first woman.' It was clear from the start that I would not be vying for first place.
The course starts on a small road that is sandwiched between a building and the spring for which the town is named. I heard no roar. In fact, it looks more like a pond. There were several hundred people along its border being instructed on how to fish by a man with a megaphone who doubled as the race director. "Don't lean over the line with your rod! Runners, there will be three commands! Do not cast your line at the ducks!"
After almost 10 years of running, I am still amazed at how many people, for apparently no reason, start a 3.1 mile race like it's an 800m. Before we even made it to the first turn, which is about 100 meters away from the starting line, I was in 50th or so in a race of roughly 100 people. While this can be an effective strategy in some cross country races where the course narrows after a wide start, it is completely useless in road race this small. You will never reach a bottleneck or have to weave in and out to pass people. This is not Boston, New York, or London. And I can't figure out if the mass idiocy is the result of a common line of thought ("I'll just put lots of distance on people at the start and then they won't be able to catch me.") or lack thereof. Are these people just ignorant of their own limitations? Do people who end up running 20 or more minutes expect to run sub-15 pace the whole way or think that doing so at the very beginning will somehow lower their overall time? Oh well. This is a mystery that will probably never be fully solved.
I passed the first female at 3/4 mile or so and didn't see her again. I hit the mile in 5:49, and given that the first mile only has a slight elevation gain, whereas from one to two is almost all uphill, I was bummed. I had hoped to break 18 minutes and the chances of me speeding up looked slim since nearly every component of racing well - aerobic fitness, anerobic threshold, top speed - had been diminished in the previous month. All except for being well rested. That, I was.
I don't remember my split at the turn around, which is at the top of a hill that marks the beginning of the downhill part of the race, but I reached two miles in 11:55, another blow to my ego - I had slowed to a 6:15 second mile. Although it was entirely downhill from there, what were the chances that I would run any faster for the last 1.1? Good, evidently. 4th and 5th were about 50 meters ahead and didn't seem to be speeding up. In fact, when I started counting the seconds between us at several telephone poles, I learned that I was actually cutting their lead pretty quickly, but I was running out of time. With what I estimated to be about a half mile to go, I picked it up against the wishes of the consensus of my body. Pretty soon, 4th and 5th were about 10 meters ahead. Then, in an unprecedent twist, I saw that they had actually laid down a 3 mile marker which, for people trying to be competetive who don't quite know how far they have to go, should be called the "Oh shit" marker, as in "Oh shit, I'll never catch this guy in a tenth of a mile." I tried. The finish line comes about 30 meters after an abrupt, 90 degree right hand turn. You have to watch you don't break your ankle on the set of railroad tracks you have to cross. There is also a slight dip in the road. All of these seem coordinated to either destroy speed, prevent sprint finishes, or to make them absurd looking. I was in near full sprint when I hit the turn and had to slow way, way down as a result, then I tried to get on my toes and have another go at 5th when I hit the dip in the road and nearly fell on my face (I think Suzy got a picture of it). By then you've got about 30 ft. It was too late. 5th, who, coincidentally, outsprinted me at the Reliance Savings 5k, was about a second in front of me.
The race was won in 15:20 by a kid just out of high school seemingly just to remind me that that's how fast I want to be running next year.