Oh boy. I don't know where to begin. To summarize: I lied my way into the meet, lost my shoe 600m in, pr'd by 14 seconds, and will be cross training the next two weeks while the skin on my foot grows back. And I don't think I've ever had so much fun at a race in my life. My older brother is finishing up his residency in Seattle and still competes in the pole vault. He placed 5th at state in high school and has kept at it ever since. And still kicks butt. So I stayed at his place and we went over to the meet together. Which was going to be awesome, except that I had messed up my registration and wasn't actually entered in the meet. And the meet director wouldn't give me the time of day despite my begging and pleading. I even offered to help clean up after the meet. And then bribed him. So I had to lie. Yes, my name is Todd and I competed in the pole vault this morning and I'm going to win the slow heat of the 3k this evening, so please let me in okay? Yes? Great. It worked. So in the morning I went out for an easy 7 since I needed the miles... Wow, Seattle is fun to run through. I hopped onto the Gilman Burke trail or whatever it's called by UW and ran down to Fremont and back. It was foggy, wet, and I loved every minute of it. My cold was still lingering and I had some tightness in my chest, but I thought I could still run sub-8:50 if I got in. I watched the early heights of the pole vault and then spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around my bro's apartment. There was a scratch in the first heat of the 3k and they were kind enough to let Todd the pole vaulter take his place. 30 guys in the slow heat, which is absolutely horrific on a 5-lane indoor track. The runner who scratched was kind enough to leave me a seed time that placed me on the inside of the first of two rows and the other runners were kind enough to go out slow enough to let me squeeze into the top 5 and stay clear of the main pack. Things were looking good. Except that the pace was too slow and I was tucked right against the rail with bodies on all sides of me. We reached the quarter in 72 and I knew I had to get out or get left behind when the pace picked up. There was a small gap on my right shoulder, and I tried to pull Bernard Lagat's move from World's last year and jumped the gap into lane three. Except I wasn't as smooth as he was and I caught a spike on my foot that pulled my heel free of my own shoe. Maybe a little aggressive of a move, but I had 3 runners who were going to move up on my outside while the leaders got away. Anyone conditioned to Utah driving would have done the same. Shoe was still on but slipping. I tried to stamp it back in but no luck. I thought of trying trying to stop and put it back on. But there were so many people on the track I knew I'd get lost in the crowd and never make up the ground. So when it finally came off at 600m I kept going. The track actually felt pretty good to my foot right at first. The pace really picked up then and I went through the mile in 4:38. I think I was 2nd or 3rd at that point. It felt fast but my body felt awesome and I knew I was going to win my heat. 1st place had moved up about 10m and I closed the gap and drafted on him for a lap. With 2 laps to go I made a move and grabbed the lead. I knew the win was mine, I could feel the strength left in my legs and was sure no one could stay with me. That's when the blister on my foot must have ruptured and all the skin around it slid off my foot. I was suddenly in agony. I had opened about a 5m gap but all at once I couldn't accelerate and the pack ganged back up on me. And then with a lap to go went around me. One by one until I was in 4th. I tried to accelerate but I could do nothing. The winner put 7 seconds on me in 300m. I looked down at the finish and saw the bloody footprints I was leaving on the track. I don't know how long I'll have to cross train, but I can't run right now on this thing. Which sucks, but I'd make the same choice if I had to do it again. I pr'd by 14 seconds on one shoe. That feels pretty awesome. There's a video of the race here: http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&member_id=1067&video_id=18957 I'm in a white top and red shorts. You see the shoe fly off at 1:33. | 