After yesterday's fiasco, I woke up not sure (a) whether it actually in fact was Sunday, September 21, 2008 and (b) whether the 5th Avenue Mile was really going to take place today. It was very Groundhog Day-esque, except that I have more hair than Bill Murray and my wife rather than Andie Macdowell was in my bed. All the pre-race stuff was pretty much exactly the same as yesterday, except that I felt more tired, more sore, and less motivated. On the train I was lucky enough to sit next to another Tarrytown runner, Jay, also on his way to the race. He is a grizzled veteran and gave me a few tips on the course: 2nd quarter is uphill; don't kick too early because the finish line is farther away than it looks (optical illusion); and never, ever feed your Gremlin a Gu after midnight, or it will throw it back up. Got off at 125th St station again today and jogged down to 5th Avenue. As I neared 80th St I was elated to see evidence of the existence of a road race. From then till the start, everything went very smoothly. The conditions were very good, around 70 degrees with no wind, and sunny.
The race is done in heats and the men's 30-34 heat was at 10:15. Just in that tiny slice of demographics, there were 330 entrants. Having just turned 30 2 weeks ago, I was certainly one of the youngest. Looking around at the starting line, no one stuck out as looking particularly speedy. Honestly, most of the other dudes looked old, fat, and hairy, and very few were wearing racing flats. The gun went off and 2 guys shot to the front, one at least 6'4" and the other definitely south of 5'2". The first quarter was slightly downhill and I came through around 65. That was faster than I had planned but I thought I felt OK. I was in 8th place or so. The 2nd quarter was indeed noticeably uphill. Right away everyone in front starting melting away. At the half mile (2:19) I found myself in a situation I never thought I'd be in: running down 5th Avenue, in the lead by half a stride, with NYPD motorcycles beside me and the timing truck with the big digital clock and a camera crew right in front of me. It was terrifying. Well, luckily another dude made sure the sensation was short-lived as he moved decisively ahead of me in the 3rd quarter. It was downhill and he really took off. From my high school and college miling days I should have known to push the 3rd quarter, but I didn't or couldn't go with him. (To add insult to injury, he was from Central Park Track Club, which is kind of like the Yankees of the New York-area running club league: big, deep, rich, and successful.) By 1200 he had a gap of about 5 seconds on me. I think I came through in 3:29, which would be a 70-second quarter, way too slow since it was downhill. I can't remember much of the last quarter except that it went by fast and was not downhill. The clock said 4:38 when I hit the line. The heat winner was 5 seconds ahead and 3rd place in the heat was maybe 5 seconds back, so I was all by myself. The official results said 4:40. Everyone was saying that official results were 2 seconds slower than what they thought they ran, so it wasn't just me. There were 2 chip mats, and the finish line was at the first one, but some people said the official times must have been taken from the 2nd mat. If that's true, it's retarded. So I was 19th overall (across all age groups, and not counting the local pros and national elites, who were in separate classifications) and 2nd in 30-34. For some reason, 30-34 turned out to be a super-weak group, but that's OK because it allowed me to get an NYRR trophy and get my name read over the loudspeaker. But to keep myself humble, I'll note that there was a 52-year-old with a 4:40 and something like 6 guys over 40 ahead of me. (In fact, the overall amateur winner was 42 with a time of 4:17 - sick.) As a competitive effort, it was mixed. I was initially elated with the time and place. After all, I have done literally ZERO mile-focused speedwork, little 5k-focused speedwork, my last month of training has been a wreck, and I ran the thing half injured. On the other hand, I realized later I could have pushed a lot harder since I wasn't collapsing at the finish line. I need to re-learn how to go totally balls-to-the-wall. Also, I should have pushed the 3rd quarter and should not have let the heat winner get away so easily. Afterwards caught up with the coach and other runners from Westchester Track Club, which I just joined. Watched the elite races from a vantage point about 200m from the finish. Lagat, Symmonds, Sullivan, Lukezic, Rankin, and Leer all jogged by on their warm-ups. Also Erin Donohue. Didn't see Nick Willis, Rowbury, or Sara Hall warming up. Right after the women's race, Ryan Hall ran right past. I thought he looked the same as always, but someone from the club said she thought he looked "heavy."
Later in the day, lifted weights at the Y (lower body/abs).
Triax: 107
Adistar: 63
Cumulus: 306.2 Glycerin: 45 NB 826: 9
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