I had high expectations today. So far this year I’ve been
very happy with my training and my races. Looking over the Striders WRS I
showed up today with delusions of grandeur. I knew at least Chad, Jon, Cody,
Ben, etc. where going to be there and anyone of them could give me a run for
the money but I was feeling confident and wanted to give the win a try. In
total I had three goals, 1) break 60 min on this tough course, 2) beat the
aforementioned, and/or 3) win overall. So I came to the race with the mindset
of winning. My initial plan was to stay with the leader until mile 7 and then
give it my all to the finish. Problem was plans never work out 100%...
I started the day at 5am after only 6-hrs of sleep. I headed
over to Chad’s and he offered to drive from there. We showed up with plenty of
time to pick up our numbers, get ready, and get in a good 4+ mi warm-up, part
of it was mile 5 of the course. After saying hi to everyone at the start we
lined up. Some of the guys I hadn’t seen since TOU and it was good to see them
again. In addition to the guys I knew there was one guy whom looked like he was
ready to rock’n roll at the start. At the gun he went out and as one of my
goals was to win I didn’t want to lose touch so I stayed a few steps behind him
but went out ahead of the main pack. I was supposed to hit 6:00 for the first
mile and ended up with a 5:48 so not too bad but still out on my own more or less.
The next mile I hit exactly on, 5:21. At this point I could tell that the
leader was not going to be slowing down anytime soon but I wanted to try and
hold onto whatever minimal lead I had gained to save myself grief in the later
miles (little did I know). The third mile was supposed to be 5:52 and I hit it
in 5:50 so at this point I was sitting pretty and not feeling too bad. The 4th
mile had a bit of a climb meant to hit in 6:05 and came through in 5:57. I
started thinking that sub-59 was in the works. However, now came the pain and
suffering for the naive and uninitiated. Mile 5 started a 2.5 mile climb of
nearly 775ft of total uphill with various minor downs. But I stuck to my guns
and hit a 6:41 when all I needed was a 6:53. However, from here on out I could
tell my mind was not pushing my body as hard as it needed. In fact I caught myself
“not racing” and knew there was too much more in this race to be losing it at
this point. I knew there would be some guys behind me hungry for blood (yes
that is you Jon and Chad) and if they saw my weakness they were coming for the
kill. However, the person to get me first would be Walter. I looked back and
saw him at this point. I knew someone had been very close but not wanting to
give away my weakness I hadn’t looked back until now. Mile 6 was supposed to be
a little less painful and I was shooting for a 6:17 but only managed a 6:39
(Keep in mind I didn’t have all my projected splits memorized but I had a
little idea of what I was supposed to be shooting for). This was not what I
needed and now came the hardest hill, also at this time came Walter. The later
was actually a great help. Him catching me really motivated me to kick it back
into gear. I wanted a 7:04 up the hill and only managed a 7:16 buy I knew the next
mile was supposed to be the easiest and I figured I was in the clear for a
solid second place. However, then came the kicker. What I thought was Walter
making a return appearance turned out to be Jon and man was he looking strong.
He kicked my trash to the curb, I took one final attempt at him but he was
gone. I managed a 5:11 (was only shooting for a 5:17) but he hammered me with a
5:02. At this point I was only hoping that I wasn’t completely out of it
because I knew there were at least two more hungry wolves behind me. I really
wanted to get back to Jon to at least give him a run for his money but the
juice never came to my legs. Mile 9 was in a 5:46 and I needed a 5:34. The last
miles “minor” uphill completely demoralized me at this point and I did my best
to hold on to Jon but to no avail an abysmal 6:05, shooting for 5:32. In the end
it was a good race, but I wish I could have given Jon more of a challenge the
final two miles. (Next time buddy…) It was great getting to see a solid group
of bloggers at similar abilities really pushing each other. In all honesty I truly
believe anyone of us could have come out on top today, Jon just brought it home
(Sorry James…). I didn’t make any of my three goals but it was a good learning
experience. A real eye-opener for how much more work I have to do if I’m going
to make my marathon goals but a good experience none-the-less. After the race I
did about 4 mi with the crew and then tacked on a little less than 2 more to
give me 20-total for the day and 90-total for the week. So all and all I’m
happy with a tough effort on a tough course after a tough work and mileage
week. Good luck to the rest of the bloggers at the half it seems like it is
going to be a great race. Also, thanks to Chad for the ride and the helpful
advice on the way back. I truly value your comments and am thankful for them.
And I’m sure you’ll smash Jon in the half (just trying to add some spice to the
series) I wish I was in the long haul with you guys… Mi-20 R2 10 Avg. for race
6:03 1:00:19 3rd overall HR 183.
Asics DS-Trainer #1: 78 / / Asics
DS-Trainer #2: 75 / / Saucony
Rides #1: 66 / / Saucony
Rides #2: 69
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