I'm also curious to know how Phil's running went.

Not that well.  I got a 1000 meters (2.5 laps) then decided to stop because my hamstring was bothering me.  It was better than it was 2 days ago when I only lasted a couple mintues, but 9 days into the injury without any running over 2.5 laps, I disappointed with the progress I am making.

If you continue being smart and using caution, I'm sure you'll get over this sooner than you'd expect. Just think:  on 03/17/12 I could barely limp a whole mile --- and then on 04/05/12 I did 3 X sub-5:18 1600s (that Achilles injury limping seems like it was all just a bad dream at this point).

Thats true but you accomplished that by pushing the injury a little bit.  My last full run was 9 days ago (Monday).  Its tough to not be able to run.  You feel like you are losing fitness, its hard to stay disciplined on your diet, and its just tough mentally.

We ought to say something next week about "do not step inside lane 1", because at least two kids did that -- and we want to make them aware or remind them that they should not be doing that. Feel invited to remind me.

My time should be 18:34. So either it was a) written down incorrectly or b) they had a timing error and just put down what they thought made sense. I remember after the race hearing a few people say Perry finished 2nd, which would add evidence to perhaps there being some confusion over my finish. I don't know. I do know I ran closer to 18:34.

Very nice of you to still come out and support the events. And something tells me that, if healthy and running in the race yesterday, you would've been right up there amidst Joe and Perry. Or, perhaps, you would've gone out like you did at Young Life, staying hot on my heels during my fast 5:22 opening mile before ultimately burning out in the 3rd mile (in which case you likely would've fought German for 4th place).

As I mentioned to Joe upon exiting Chipotle last night, I doubt I'll have much of an epic race report for Leapin' Lizards. Nonetheless I don't have time to write any such thing today --- but hopefully tomorrow I'll have a chance to share deeper reflections (just as I hope Joe and Perry will). Meantime I'll note that the guy behind the counter at Chipotle was severely suspicious of my Crofton Kiwanis prize:  that "free burrito dinner for two" gift certificate. He even took it back into the kitchen to authenticate it with a manager, I presume, and even after that he still regarded the transaction resentfully. As though I were getting away with robbing them blind. Ah, but if only he'd had even half an inkling over what I'd gone through to achieve those dos burriotos (I gave Joe the extra drink and chips as reward for so significantly closing the gap on me --- from 1:54 in Crofton to 0:17 in Lancaster!). Would that Chipotle cashier have even been capable of comprehending the fact that I had to take 80 seconds off my 10k PR and vanquish, nay, rip Rohan Meredith himself to score that gift certificate?

A succinct summation of my experience at Liza's Leapin' Lizards 5k held in Lancaster Park of Lexington Park.

Pre:  I arrived incredibly early, right around 4:15 p.m., for this 6 p.m. event. Despite a nearby rambunctious group of kids present on some sort of summer camp outing, Lancaster Park was still mostly deserted. The heat-radiating pavement and the dry, crunchy grass alike baked silently under the searing sun that remained high in the sky. I did descry Liza way over yonder setting up cones, yet rather than getting roped into volunteer work so early I elected to take a hot, familiarizing walk around the paved park perimeter path (it was, after all, my first time there). I'll admit that, whilst walking, I had a curiously bemused outlook on the impending race. Aside from the fact that I'd never hitherto set foot in Lancaster, everything about this Leapin' Lizards enterprise seemed so strangely apart from my more familiar racing experiences --- namely that it was a Thursday late afternoon rather than a Saturday morning, and that the burning temperature was so high above anything I'd consider remotely conducive to racing. Would I be able to get into a real, focused racing mode of mind, or was I doomed to end up strolling through the race in no particular hurry while taking in all the curious sights, sounds, and other sensations?

Start(ing): seeing a surprisingly strong turnout --- including both esteemed veterans like Stick and rising stars like Strickland --- steeled my racing resolve. I knew that the stakes were either win the race or go home empty handed, and the hell if I was going to let someone like German JessicaAlbaJenniferLopez or track series corner-cutter Matt Sebacher snatch that open/overall winner's gold medal. Thus, while goals relating to finish time were vague and tentative at best, winning the race would assure at least some takeaway of accomplishment. So despite the odd setting, time, and temperature, I blasted out like usual following the G command.

The Ghetto Golf Course: a nightmarish mixture of cracked concrete and rocky pavement, the so-called golf course section presented some of the most frightful footing I've ever run upon before (kudos to Crystal for steering her bike safely through!). Nonetheless I managed to stomp through that early portion of the course not only sans tripping but with a pace to match my best 5k beginnings, perhaps even pushing 2:30 for the opening half-mile. Almost the very moment I made that U-turn, however, it all started catching up to me fast --- just as Joe and Perry were. Very shortly into the race I'd made the determination that no high school whipper snappers or rogue race robbers were going to challenge me for an early lead, and this gave me the false sense of security that I was on my way to an easy "walk off" win. Joe had earlier indicated indecision between treating Leapin' Lizards as a Rampant Race or as just a Testing Tempo, and Perry's level of commitment to the event remained unknown. Yet wouldn't you know, even though I ended up blazing the opening mile in 5:22 they were still both hanging on barely 20 seconds back. I should've never for one moment counted them out of contention.

Park Loop #1:  though that 5:22 was my 2nd fastest ever opening mile in a 5k (behind only the 5:18 I began Young Life with), my pace had in truth been deteriorating ever since the U-turn. And while I'd had high hopes that my pace would pick back up once I switched to the smooth surface of the park perimeter path, I was soon struggling to keep the instantaneous pace reading sub-6:00/mi --- and that would set the tone for the remainder of the race. I think Crystal would agree that I'd kept her bike rolling back along the golf course, but once on the park trail it seemed as though she had to occasionally pause for me to catch up. The thing was, though it was truthfully a 90-degree summer evening in Lexington Park, MD, I might as well have been trudging into the depths of the Gobi Desert. It was like a pace-weakening inferno to me, for sure. Meanwhile after cutting through the first bathroom crossing I looked back, assuming that Joe and Perry would've fallen back --- yet there they were, seemingly closer than ever. If they'd both simultaneously surged they could've caught me right then and there and made it any man's race. My lead was in a perilous place, indeed.

Park Loop #2:  it was oh so important that I make the most of my 2nd pass by the water station, as I was already parched beyond belief. But I botched it, only managing to get a few drops to my mouth, and then it was as though my lips curled inside out and turned into sandpaper. The wind was just so DRY. Anyway, rarely have I payed so little attention to time progress/splits during a race. But after having beeped off 5:54 for a 11:17 time at mile 2 I became apathetic over finish time. All that mattered was just surviving to the finish --- with no one between me and the line. And without going up in smoke before getting there (I felt like I was on the verge of combustion!). Now, at one point I'd been running more scared than I had at any other point. That was when I'd looked back and beheld Joe holding a clear edge over Perry (when beforehand they'd always been running more or less abreast). This indicated that Joe had made "a move" --- and that he, looking confident, evidently had the strength to launch another. Would I have been able to put up any defense? Alas, by the time I exited the wooded section and took up the sidewalk along the entrance of the park (where my Forerunner read 2.83 miles despite the finish still being a long way off), I could no longer feel the presence of Joe or Perry anywhere near my rear. So I would escape unchallenged after all.

The End and After: the closing moments of the race are a bit bleary in my retrospection. I just knew that the finish was nigh and that I was safe. Yet nary a closing kick was launched, and my pace graph indicates that I might've even slowed up in the very last steps (passing between a couple wooden posts comprises an odd finish line). None of that giddy glory I'd felt coming down the final stretch in Crofton less than three weeks before --- just relief. And as I promptly informed race supporter Phil, I'd pretty much never felt worse after a race (though that's been said before and will surely be said again). It was as though every drop of moisture in me had been sucked out and replaced with pure heat. Rampant Race? Nay, Raspy Race. All the same I "Licked Lancaster", fulfilling my main objective, and improved my 2012 race winning record to 4-2 (and of course I was 2OA in both of those losses). Ah, and 6-4 in regard to winning overall in my last 10 races. Furthermore, though I thought I'd left 18:00 + 5ks behind for good, 90-degree heat + 3.2-mile Forerunner course measurement = 18:17 does not constitute a complete failure. 

I was on the fence about how seriously to take the run until people started to show up who wouldn't know whether I had tried or not and would just assume they had beaten me. In particular, the presence of Sebacher steeled my resolve to not let him beat me under any circumstance. Beating JessicaAlbaJenniferLopez was also something I wanted to do, though based on his finishing time I'm not sure if he tempoed it or raced it, which is precisely the question I didn't want people asking about me.