10 Mile Road Race

Hi, everybody. First off, congratulations to my teammate Eric for his 24:22 victory at the Marathon Sports 5miler in Weston, MA. He's had (in his own words, not mine) a rough time with training the last couple weeks and was very gratified to run as solidly as he did. Eric's victory makes the 2nd Flying Jackalope W in July and extends the Club's winning streak to two (a streak I would, sadly, end the very next day). I had a pretty good week myself (albeit very busy, but that's normal for me now). I'm almost looking forward to when school starts, as 20 hrs/week of class and maybe 5-8 hours a week of homework sound wonderful compared to 40 hours a week of work. Anyway, here's the log and an analysis of my first-ever race over 5miles:

Monday- AM- 4 regeneration, 31:33 Tough to convince myself to run that slow but I'm hoping it pays off. PM- 10 easy with Geoff, 70min, last 5 barefoot.

Tuesday- AM- The daycare went to the NE Aquarium today. My morning run consisted of dashing around the aquarium trying to track down my wandering little pukes. They weren't too bad, actually- just unruly hooligans, which is to be expected for young kids around wildlife. PM- 4mi warmup, 5xK on the track at medium effort, 3:06 avg, 400jog rest (untimed). I kept my trainers on to feel clunky on purpose- transitioning from barefoot on the grass to racing flats on the roads has always been a recipe for blisters and feeling crappy for me. Workout was very easy, even factoring in the wind/rain. 3+ mile c/d.

Wednesday- Overslept accidentally; I must have needed the rest. PM- 10 easy in my new Streaks, 66:07, + 4x150m buildups on the grass after.

Thursday- AM- 4 solo before work, 28:36 (out in 14:40). PM- Worked til 4:30, took a bus to South Station, took the T to BU, walked to Ashford, then ran with James in the dark/rain after he got home. 52:38, running in the dark is always faster than in the light.

Friday- Noon- 3mi shakeout with Petah, Kevin, and James.
5pm: Blessing of the Fleet 10mi Road Race in Narraganset, RI. 3 miles up, 10-mile race in 53:27, 2 mile b/f on the beach. More summary/analysis below.

Saturday- Noon- 4 easy with Petah and James from Ashford, 28:56, hot out. PM- 8 easy solo, last 4 barefoot, 60min- felt tired and tried to run slow on purpose (it wasn't that hard, haha!).

Sunday- 4pm- 12 easy, hilly course, 82:46, didn't feel too awful but didn't feel too great either- I'm a huge sissy when it comes to heat/humidity and today had both. Give me 10 below zero any day.

Tot- 91.

Race: Well, the race didn't go as fast as I had hoped, but it was a solid competitive effort. My problem with 5milers has always been that I get to 2.5 mi and my body goes "oh, ok, we have like 800 to go, right? Right?" and then I start with the shit-eating and end up just trying to struggle into the finish. I was apprehensive about a race over twice the distance, but tried to just stay relaxed and compete well. There was a pretty big group through 4 miles and I was never really alone for a significant period of the race. I got my doors blown in in the last 400, but managed to rally ok and pass someone at the line for 5th. Here are my splits:

5:18
10:45 (5:27)
15:52 (5:07) Note: we're all pretty sure the 4mi mark was accurate, but the 3mi mark was probably 15ish seconds short)
21:30 (5:38) (the two-mile split from 2-4 makes sense, but not the 3mi)
26:50 (5:20)
32:19 (5:29)
37:42 (5:23)
43:06 (5:24)
48:22 (5:16)
53:27 (5:05).

I had a pretty rough patch from about 6.5-7.5 and considered just trying to shuffle in at 5:30 pace, but decided against it and ended up running a fairly gutsy race in the last 3mi. The Providence trio of McLaren, Yeats, and Barao blew my doors in hardcore but its July and I'm not too angry with my condition right now. If I had broken 53 I would have been very happy, but it's not too vital. My next race will probably be the Falmouth Road Race on August 9th. Unfortunately, my 5th place showing ended the Jackalopes' winning streak, but it was still awesome to compete in the uniform the first time, even if I didn't fuck as much shit up with my baller horns as I would have liked. It was great to run with a teammate for a good portion of the way too, as Petah Gilmore had his own self a very solid race as well, placing 7th with a 53:50.

This week will be another busy one for me- I'm piling on (temporarily) a third job with a stint as a counselor for the Derry Running Camp, a developmental camp for middle-schoolers that goes from about 8-noon this week. I also have my BU orientation on Thursday and Friday where I'll pick my classes, have my class-standing evaluated, figure out my loan situation, and hopefully find an on-campus job for next year. While I'm there I'd like to hop in a workout with Eric and I'll probably take a day off to make this a bit of a down week. I'm certainly not complaining about having two jobs in this economy, but a big part of me will be glad when all I have to do is run, go to class, and study! (and cause trouble with my new teammates, heh heh).

Have a great week, everybody-
oh, and btw, check hulu.com for a full, free version of the film "The Spirit of the Marathon." It was pretty interesting, I thought, though I have to admit I share many of Parker's ideas about the 5-hour-marathon being more a sign of improper preparation than the indomitable human spirit.