Race Reports: Liam McGuire ~5m, Reggae Ramble, and Corrib 5k

Liam McGuire's Almost 5-Miler

Just over two weeks after Boston, Elizabeth and I went to Falmouth for the 2nd race in the New England Runner Pub Series.  Liam's is an interesting course in that it is purposefully just under 5 miles, and I would say it's a fair course with some small rollers, but nothing too bad.  I was not nearly recovered for this race, so I had to take a couple ibuprofen to deal with some aches and pains.  That took care of those issues, but my legs still had no pop and my pre-race strides felt pathetic.

All that being considered, I was pretty happy to bust out a 5:21 for the first mile.  I was doing my best to keep things under control, and this felt very easy - so that was encouraging.  Entering the second mile, Pickleseimer caught up to me and we ran together for a little bit and were even able to chat and have a quick laugh for the NERunner camera crew.  Pickle would soon pull away though, and I was left a little bit in no man's land.

Throughout the middle miles I kept the effort right, and closed the gap on two runner's ahead of me.  Brendan Meehan runs for GBTC, and I caught up to him along the coast - he too was recovering from Boston.  And I then kept an eye on Pickleseimer and another runner who he was battling with.  After we turned back inland, Pickleseimer had overtaken the youngin' and was well ahead.  I made a quick surge to close that gap and remained there for about 20 seconds before making a hard move.  I wondered briefly if I could catch up to Pickle, but my mental math told me there simply wasn't enough real estate.

I finished in 27:12, averaging 5:32/mile - good for 6th place and I was actually happy with that considering how beat up I've been.

Splits:
5:21
5:27
5:41
5:30
5:12 (5:26/mile pace)

Results
Strava

Great CSU contingent for this race as usual, and the post-run hangout was fantastic.


Reggae Ramble

I've always been interested in these Thursday night races along the Charles.  I'll be commuting home and see the race getting setup, and on some evenings I'll get home a little late and see the post race party going on.  On this night, I got home from my commute and made a last minute decision to just go ahead and sign up.

By the time I lined up to race, I already had 16+ miles in my legs from the morning & evening commutes.  I also remained banged up having to cut any recent track workouts short.  So...I wasn't super confident, but I needed to get out and run hard for my mental health.

I went out very relaxed, and the leader and Mike Quintal went out quick for the first half mile and built up a 7-10s lead.  I settled in, and at that point the gap stayed roughly the same.  I tried to pick up the pace for the final mile, hoping the leader went out too hard, but he looked comfortable.  If I caught him, I'm sure he would've had plenty in the tank.  I was pleased with the effort though, and can't complain about the time or the place.

Splits:
5:18
5:26
5:21
32s

Results
Strava

Very fun post race event on the Charles, and the band was fantastic!

Corrib Pub 5k

Well, this one was kind of a stinker.  On one hand, I shouldn't complain because I've been treading water while battling injuries...on the other...it's worse than last year and that's very frustrating since it was such a nice day compared to last year's sufferfest of heat & humidity.

I've really been struggling with feeling good as of late, so once again I took it out conservatively.  Last year my opening mile was 5:10, compared to 5:21 this year.  I was quickly in a bit of no man's land, with plenty of people ahead of me.  Mile two is a bit uphill, and though I haven't been feeling fast I have been feeling like I have plenty of stamina.  So I worked the hills on the course pretty good, and that's where I made up most of the ground on the runners that went out quicker for the first mile.

Mile two is a good climb and that was run in 5:33.  During the third mile, I was doing my best to close the gap on Pickleseimer, who seems to be just out of reach as of late - and I just didn't have it.  My effort remained where I think it needs to be, and I ran 5:21 for the third mile.  The final part of the course is very downhill, which wasn't a good thing for me on this day, since that puts a pounding on my right knee.  Since I wasn't catching anyone nor being caught, I tried to stay smooth with a high turnover.  I finished in 7th place in a time of 17:01 (long course).

Splits:
5:21
5:33
5:21
46s

Results
Strava

Elizabeth ran 20:44, and had an excellent race.  On a slightly flatter and certified course, and I think she can break 20min.  All she needs is to decide to do some training!