overtaking haynes

Today was pretty awesome. I was sort of on the fence about whether this race was a good idea in preparation of the mile on wed but I simply love trail racing too much, especially when I predicted that the competition wouldn't be as stiff as most of the other races in the grand tree trail racing series. I was hoping for top 5 today and ended up 2nd. Haynes admittedly raced today and I still beat him by 3+ minutes which was sweet. He did scare me though running with me and actually catching up to me and perhaps even taking a 1/3 stride lead around the 15 minute mark. He was dropped on a steep uphill in which walking was required. Little did I know but the two guys who are way better than me got lost and I was actually leading at mile 8 or 9. One of them caught up to me and passed me like I was nothing but I rather that happen than get passed by someone else. I was running with a guy for almost the entire race and I was worried about him. He let me lead and was nice and offered me cliff blocks but I was nervous he would outkick me. Especially after what Haynes did to me in our last 5 mile race in the last 100m. I started feeling good for some reason, maybe the expired cliff shot I took but more likely the nuun I was drinking and was able to pull away on a downhill. I always feel better when i sense weakness in my opponents. I wonder if that is natural and other people feel the same way. I felt good cause I felt like I could keep pushing the entire race today despite burning in my calf muscles after the first 40 min. With only about 1.5 miles to go I took a horrible fall on some rocks. Cut up both knees, one of them swelled up to the size of a golf ball (below the knee) but doesn't really hurt. The most annoying thing was my hand. It was oozing for a couple hours in the car and is still full of dirt I couldn't get out but has stopped bleeding. It was all totally worth it though for the cool rock trophy I got! The food was awesome at the end of the race too and they had veggie burgers. I ate 3.

I also wanted to say good job to Haynes who did really well today! Without his coaching I would still completely suck instead of be respectable. There are now like 6 2nd place finishes...will I ever win one?

I can't wait for the 5 min mile to be behind me. I really hope I don't have to wait another week and can do it this wed.

legs hurt from where i fell. nothing too tight or not moving right though. feel like wed should be good for the mile attempt.
 

Ran easy today 8:05 min/mile in prep for mile tomorrow. Weather may bring rain. Not sure if that makes much difference on a track. I'll just stay with Haynes until the last lap and stay as close to him as possible...hopefully he's planning on a 4:53-4:54 which I'm sure he's capable of.

 Hopefully the motivation of never having to do this again will inspire me to dig deep!


 

Today could very easily have started one of the worst days of my life although for some reason i didn't really care. The story doesn't matter but unjustly and unexpectedly my ex-boss forced me to leave the lab and turn in my computer with my life and data and everything on it. As you can imagine that was pretty upsetting and having to deal with what is going to go down is not going to be all that nice. All of this occurred without warning only 1 hr before Haynes and I were planning on leaving for the mile race up in Boston (~1hr+) away. 

 There had been some chance of rain the day before according to weather.com so i was nervous that it would slow down my time. Haynes said he thought rain was 4 sec in a mile but i disagree. The sky was a clean blue on the drive up there. About 20 min before the race, the rain started pouring, getting my racing flats soaked, and not only that gusts of 40mph winds started. Keep in mind that my primary running goal since h.s. until i had all but given up was to break the 5 min mile. I knew I was properly trained for it, but could the elements prevent me from doing it. Haynes and I just drove 1.5hrs up here for this? Luckily the rain and wind stopped minutes before the race. The track was completely soaked though. 

 I was going to go through with this...

The meet was immediately sketchy as we started on the wrong side of the track with no mile marker. The race directors just kind of guessed but that was too sketchy and I wanted there to be no doubt that i could break a 5 min mile. We luckily found a measuring tape and measured out the extra 9 meters.

The gun went off with no warning and before i expected. We were off. I was purposely in pole position. No one looked all that fast at the meet so I led, knowing that if Haynes led, the speed would be much too fast. I felt nervous the entire first lap. Went through the 409meters in 74.7, about a 73 sec 400. No pain, surprised I wasn't challenged. The second lap I still felt nervous...the track was soaked and i was splattering Haynes who was behind me, I didn't know who else but I noticed one less pair of feet behind me as I went through the first 200 of the second lap. I came through the half way point in 2:28, still felt fine, and nervous but by the start of the 3rd lap, i began to lose the nerves, i think due to fatigue. I kept thinking, when is Haynes going to pass me. He is using me for drafting...just like last time in the 5 mile race. Haynes made a surge with about 600meters to go. This was welcomed as I now had something to focus on. I thought maybe I can hang on with him. This wouldn't be the case. Although Haynes claimed that the pace was lagging, it was not. My first 3 laps were quite consistent and lap 3 was 73.4 sec. I came through with 1 lap to go in 3:41! All I kept thinking was how much slower I could go and make my goal. Haynes was at that point 1 or 2 sec ahead of me. It was weird the uncomfortable feeling and anxiousness. I began feeling the lactic acid in my arms for the first time when Haynes passed me but it came and went. Why the arms? 

I felt like I was tanking it the last lap and was concerned that somehow i would lock up  and fail. I wasn't that pleased with my effort although could I have gone faster, who knows? Last lap was a 76+ and I came through in 4:57, 5 sec behind Haynes.

 I noticed a previous comment in his blog about how he was getting good at beating me...I did beat him by 3 min and 20 sec in the 14.4 mile trail race on sunday! In 3 trail races I have about 20 min on him while he has about 1 minute on me in 6 road races. Oh well! I guess he has a more loyal fan base than me. He's a great guy and deserves it.  

 I wonder how fast we both could have gone in ideal conditions. I think my fitness would max me out at 4:54 if everything was perfect. Tapering especially. racing the 3rd day after a 2hr trail race is surely not ideal. Nor were wet feet.  

I had a picture taken of me immediately before and after the mile. Wish i had a computer to look at it. I wish i had a video so I could see what it looked like to break the 5 min mile. I have no idea how pathetic or not pathetic my running form looks. Maybe i'll run it again but if i don't stop here, when will it stop? 

Easy 2hrs and 8 min trail run. I am now on a paid vacation till the end of June and am wishing I was already at more than 62 miles per week in my training so I could just go out and run 100 miles a week to have something to do. I started reading the Daniels' book in which Haynes gets his mad coaching skills. It was kind of depressing having it be so clear how no training can overcome talent. That I can train three times as hard as someone with more talent and not ever run as fast. That idea was what originally led me to ultra running and the idea that i could be super competitive just due to hard work and ridiculous mileage. Not many people have "the talent" to want to run a 50 mile trail race over mountains. Running goals are kind of anticlimactic after they're achieved and the goal doesn't seem like it was really that amazing after and 5 months of training for 6 sec in a mile seems absurd looking back, although i would have done it every time. For me, doing as well as i can do in a race was a sense of self worth and achievement. And when a goal that took me 10 years to conquer like the 5 min mile is done and over it is a weird feeling and i can't help wondering whether i have worse than average talent or better? 

Another easy trail run 1 hr 41 min at arcadia management area in RI. I kind of like it here slightly more than gilbert hills in Foxboro, MA. It is more wild and more options (40,000 acres) and there are a few old cemeteries. I'm still psyched i haven't seen any snakes yet this year! I like pretending they are all dead. The narrow trails were kind of disgusting as i was covered in spider webs and had 2 inch worms on me when i got back to the car. Haynes and I are going to go up to the white mtns in NH tomorrow for a 2 day trip although i kind of just want to go home after the horrendous week at work and do nothing.

Although he doesn't know it yet, I've picked out what I hope will be a pretty exciting and fun two days. Day 1 will be across the street from mt washington, we'll be getting a late start so just ~8.5 miles out and back with 5, 4000ft peaks. The next day will be across the street going up mt washington on the alleged most difficult hiking trail in the white mtns. I'm terrified of a lot of things and heights are one of them. I'm predicting the huntington ravine trail will be cake and not exposed or dangerous. Then we'll summit and take a side tour to mt isolation. maybe 15-20 miles total. I should probably check the weather...kind of hate camping, hope i can find a reasonably priced hotel nearby. 

Got up to Mt Washington, NH and started hiking around 4pm. Kind of cold as we ascended
2000+ vertical feet in under 2 miles. Got to the top of wildcat mtn and summited the other 5 wildcat summits. Had to negotiate an annoying 2 feet of snow trail which was at least solidified. Unbelievable how only 250 miles away there could still be that much snow. A fun highlight was running down wildcat mtn on the ski slopes from the very top. Blues were too steep, greens were just right. The next day we would most likely change our plans of summiting washington due to snow and ice.