I felt pretty good heading into this race. I'm not quite recovered from the marathon, but my legs aren't trashed or anything. The speedwork has felt ok for the longer stuff, but when I try and find that extra gear for 200's or strides, it is still hidden somewhere. So - I'm healthy and fit, just not feeling super fast.
My goal heading into this was to run hard and try and be the first CSU runner to cross the line. I think I was at an advantage over Kevin and Terry going into the race - and I mean this in terms of recovery. They both had better Boston's than I did, and I think that with the tougher pounding on the legs and the longer recovery times - I had a bit more bounce in my legs. Knowing Kevin and Terry - I don't anticipate this advantage will last long, but knowing they were both still in the recovery phase I planned to push the pace wherever I could.
So I opened up the race getting out at a very solid clip. I was with the leaders for a probably too long of a time (about a quarter mile?). Perhaps ill advised, but whatever. I was trying to get ahead of the crowd and get into a rhythm and I don't think it killed me. By the half mile mark we were on South Street, and a couple of packs were forming. Knowing that there was a nice downhill during the first half of the race, and consequently an uphill on the way back - I continued the quick pace. I ran a 5:23 first mile, and I'm pretty sure it didn't phase anyone. I didn't turn to look and see where Kevin and Terry were at the time, but my goal was to try and get a little bit of a cushion so that they would have to work hard on the uphill to catch me.
I almost missed the turnaround point as a volunteer pointed to some orange paint at his feet when I was about 3 meters away from him. I wasn't especially happy about that, but hairpin turns are good for no one - so I'm sure everyone was annoyed. The second I turned around I noticed that I had very little breathing room with Kevin and Terry a step or two behind, and Paul Hammond right on my shoulder. I tried to vary the pace a little bit on the flat stretch heading out of the turnaround and was able to maintain my lead on the hard charging trio.
At the base of the long hill, I basically just put my head down and tried to bulldoze my way to the top. I could hear all three of them behind me, and my legs were f**king burning like a mother, but this was the spot that I was determined to make them work like hell for the lead ("lead" = the 7th place spot). Once we crested the hill, I was still maintaining - but that's when we started onto a false flat.
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| About 15 meters from the finish, I think |
My legs were screaming and there was about 3/4 of a mile to go, so I slowed the pace a little bit and let Paul Hammond take over. When I did this, I took a quick peak back and saw Kevin...I dunno...maybe 5 meters behind? Whatever it was, he was right there within striking distance. For the moment though, I stuck to Paul Hammond's shoulder. I would throw in some light surges over the next half mile to pass briefly, but nothing serious. My legs were still burning. Right as we turned in towards the high school parking lot, I made a much stronger surge. I put probably 5-7 meters on Paul, but my legs were just feeling totally cooked. I took a quick look to see if he was backing off from the hard move, but he wasn't. So once again I slowed and decided to hang on his shoulder.
He ended up putting about 7 meters on me before I started my final kick. Thankfully as we rounded the corner I could see the finish line was a very manageable distance away, so I dug a little deeper and was able to pass him in the final 20 meters.
Splits:
5:23
5:45
5:57
.20
Final time: 17:25, 7th place.
All an all, a pretty interesting race. I didn't PR, but man - it's really fun having four guys who are all capable of beating each other on any given day. When your brain is feeling a bit fried, you really have to focus and think about race tactics.
