High-Octane

I wasn't sure I was going to like running in a relay race at first but this turned out to be really fun!

I was invited to be on the team by a guy named Mike Vordenbaum whom I met at the High Shool Track (probably a year ago). I had given him my phone number and we loosely agreed we would get together and run sometime. He is a few years older than me but I quickly recognized him as a seasoned and knowledable runner. Out of the blue a few weeks ago Mike called me and said he was looking for somone to run with his team at the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay. After talking to him about the race I offered to run the longest and hardest leg of the relay that being the last leg. It is 4.9 miles and later in the day so the temperature us the hottest then. As it turned out the weather was really pretty nice compared to what it could have been and usually is.

Going into the race I was not really sure how I would do. I was afraid I had not really fully recovered from Boston and also I haven't done any speed work for months and months. (After I broke my colar bone and finally got back to running it was a chore just to get the miles in and I never really could get up the energy to do any speed work. Now looking back it seems odd because I really like the speed work.)

I took it pretty easy the days before the race and at racetime I felt pretty good. Mike, and his team had run this race many times so they had a complete gameplan on how to race, pass the baton, transportation, etc. Every detail was thought out. It was a little intimidating to me and I told them several times that I hoped I didn't let them down. :-) I hung out with my family near the 6th Leg Handoff up until it was time for them to drive to the finish line. We were getting updates from Mike regarding the team's progress so I knew with about 10 minutes when I would be running my leg.

When I took the baton the field was spread out pretty much. There was one young teenager who passed me in the first quarter mile of my first leg. He was running a little faster than I felt comfortable so I let him go out about 50 yards in front of me but could see that he wasn't going to continue on that pace. I started to reel him in before the 1st mile marker and passed him. I did not stop for water during the first mile but every mile after that I would walk at the water station and get a drink. I felt really good running the first mile and was very happy to see the 6:14 pop up on my Garmin. Mile 2 felt good but with the short walk I dropped to a 6:26 pace. I was hoping to stay closer to 6:15 on the third mile but I was getting pretty winded and knew it was not possible. Mile 3 came in at 6:37 and I was beginning to feel the pain. On mile 4 I started to loose my drive and started thinking things like "this is not really a competative race...I don't really have to run this hard...I'll still have a decent time if slow down a little". I ended up running a 6:44 on this mile and now looking back I'm a little disappointed I didn't give this mile a little more effort. I think I walked twice on this mile too. The last .9 mile finally started catching up with a few more runners and ended up passing 5 in this stretch of the race. They were still pretty spread out but I had a good kick and was able to reel them all in. In all I passed 8 runners and had no one pass me. 

My overall pace was 6:27:33, about 10 seconds slower than I wanted to run but still a good effort for me based on my HR. I don't think I am in 18:xx 5K condition yet but I will be working on that this summer and trying to get to that goal!

I think all of my team members were in their 50's except for one guy who was 78 years old. He ran the 5th leg and handed off the baton to me. I'm not sure what he ran but I believe his pace was in the 7's. I was very impressed with his ability at that age! Our overall time was 3:06:23 (7:07 pace) and good for 4th in our catagory (Senior Masters) and 51st overall with about 2500 teams.

I would actually go back and do this again if invited...it was fun!

I'm on the left (we're missing one team member). The 78 yr old is on the right.

Proverbs 16:31 

Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.