New England Champion

Well, I had a pretty good week. On Saturday, thanks in large part to the ACC meet being this weekend and Riley Masters chasing a fast mile time in New York, I was able to win the New England title in the mile over a still pretty darn good field (just not quite as excellent as it might have been had Masters and Tim Ritchie from BC been there). Still, though- you can only race the people who show up.

The race was a pretty good competitive effort- I tucked in and just tried to stay out of trouble. The pace wasn't anything particularly hot- 63.8, 2:07.0, 3:08.8, 4:08.57- a .04 PR and my second little shave of the season. I had to make one defensive move in lane 2 just after 800 to tuck into a good spot, then waited until about 150 to go to kick for home. I ended up winning by a handful yards, about .6 up on Pat Fullerton, who hopefully got his mark for DII nationals with his 4:09.19.

I watched the race on flotrack afterward, and the commentators mentioned this blog. It's nice to know I'm not just shouting into cyberspace :p It was a relief to finally win a damn race-- I was 3rd in the NE mile two years in a row. Besides, after a season of running backwards in the last half of the race, it was satisfying to run a significant negative split PR (2:07.0-2:01.5). Next week is the IC4A mile, and I'm hoping to PR again- maybe even by more than fractions of an eyeblink!

Unfortunately, non-running stuff isn't going quite as well. My easy fall semester has reared its karmic fangs and bit me firmly where my butt would be if I didn't run as much as I did. I swear, too, that professors plan to make their papers and projects due on the same day. Bah, who am I kidding- I procrastinate like I work for the government. Right now I have a paper on Plato's philosophy of learning I need to write for 9am tomorrow. What am I doing? Writing this blog and watching Family Guy.

I guess it goes to show you can't take a college kid's complaint at face value. Well, screw it. I didn't do any homework this week, but I got to win a race, set a PR, and my mom and siblings got to see it!

Here's the race:

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236628/310046

Here's the interview flotrack did after the race:

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236628/310053-craig-macpherson-1st-mile-new-enland-championships

Log-

Monday- Noon- 4mi solo shakeout in between classes, right hamstring pretty sore, decided not to double.

Tuesday- 10mi easy with Ken, big group for the first 3mi, Eric for 7. Felt much better today.

Wednesday- 7:30PM- Busy day student teaching and afternoon class. Downpoured all day. 30 minute walks to and from class sucked. 25min up, 3-2-1, 1-2-3 with 300 jog rest, then 6min jog, and 4x150.

300 45 (target 45)
200 30 (target 29)
100 14 (target 14)
100 14 (target 14)
200 29 (target 29)
300 43.3 (target 45)

4x150- 20.2-20.9 (target 21)

3mi down. Felt good, ran with James, who also had class.

Thursday- 3:30PM- 9mi easy in a cold, windy downpour with Ken and some of the freshmen. Not the funnest run I've had in a while. 9:30PM- 30min solo shakeout indoors. Sick of being perpetually damp all day.

Friday- 11AM- 5 miles, some with Erin, strides, two miles with Peter and Andrea. 7 tot. Watched my self-appointed press secretary, Kevin Gilmore (Peter's twin brother) ran an 8 second PR in the 5k- 15:20 with a 29.x last lap. Then he hacked my dyestat account. Then he spilled maple syrup all over his pants like an ass. Who gets in the way of maple syrup? It spills in slow motion!

Saturday- All Division New England Championships- 3mi up, mile race 4:08.57 PR, win, 4mi down with Ken. Later that afternoon- 4mi shakeout with Ellie, who lied and ran fast.

Sunday- 7 easy with Ken before work. I thought about going longer, but my season has one more week, then I'm getting back into mileage. I think at this point staying fresh and sharp is the name of the game.

Tot- 63 miles.

Thank you to everyone who reads this! Hope everyone has a great end to their season!