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Abdi, Meb, Hall... and me (Read 985 times)


ultramarathon/triathlete

    I ran the NYRR Healthy Kidney 10K this weekend.  I think it was the 8th annual, and my 5th or so at that race.  It was great, sunny weather. 

     

    I knew it was going to be a sluggish race when I was walking to the start, going up a tiny hill (more of a speed bump, really) and felt how dead my legs were.  After a high mileage weekend in 95+ degree TX, a long brick on Tuesday back in NYC, I lead back to back speedwork sessions for the two teams I coach on Wed and then Thursday and had a light run and 2 hours on the bike Friday, it was not a typical (nor advised) week leading into a race.  But it wasn't an A race, more of a "dipstick" race to check where I am, and to run on dead legs.

     

    On the start line, I was enjoying the weather, that pre-race high with "my people" all around me, thinking I'd enjoy the day and have a nice run and not think about times.  Minutes before the start of the race, Mary, the race organizer, announced we had the three US Olympic Marathon guys running with us and brought them onto the small podium, which was about 5 feet to my right. 

     

    All of a sudden, there was Abdi Abdirahman, Meb Keflezinghi and Ryan Hall.  I've seen them before and race in the same race with them, but it's always cool to see the people you see in the magazines, commercials and ads right there.  They look exactly the same.  

    Meb said something into the mic and then they lined up about 5 feet in front of me.  

     

    This race has a professional start before the local elite line.  I was on the line, with the pros in front of me separated by a thin orange tape, which was dropped about a minute before the start.  At that point the local elite bunch and the pros get mixed together. 

     

    The gun went off and I ran with the pro guys for about a quarter to half mile before I decided I'd had enough and running that fast would only make a potentially nice run turn into a miserable disaster of pain and discomfort.  Plus, the reality was two-fold:  yes my legs were dead, but even on my best, most well-rested day, I couldn't keep up with these guys on their worst, most worn-out day!  So I eased back and they shot off.  By mile one they were a good 200 or 400 meters in front of me already.  It was crazy, but it was fun.  

     

    I had a mediocre, dead leg run overall, but the start was cool and memorable. I pulled a 38:54 (6:16 pace) in hilly Central Park.  Not close to a PR but not a terrible day and I was 145 out of 8,000.  But overall the day came down to this:  great weather, got to run with some top elites = good times. 

     

     

     

     

     


     

     


    HTFU?  Why not!

    USATF Coach

    Empire Tri Club Coach
    Gatorade Endurance Team


    Why is it sideways?

      Pretty cool. Here are some pictures of the elite guys in the first 200m, maybe you see yourself? (Thought the guy on the left in white with a beard might be you, but his bib is 218--and he finished in 39:something.)

      stadjak


      Interval Junkie --Nobby

        While I will never be able to run a fast as him, I wouldn't mind looking as fast as he does.

        2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do


        A Saucy Wench

          Hall is starting to resemble Gary Busey a bit too much. 

          I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

           

          "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7


          Feeling the growl again

            Hall is starting to resemble Gary Busey a bit too much. 

             

            Very funny, I see it...

            "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

             

            I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

             

            stadjak


            Interval Junkie --Nobby

              Hall is starting to resemble Gary Busey a bit too much. 

               

              Woah.  Nailed it.

              2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                Next time you see them refer to rule #34-a: "Oh – and the coolest of all possible things, at the start of the race, is to line up at the very start, and then when you hear the gun – sprint forward as fast as you can, and scream “I’m winning!” at the top of your lungs. It’s a classic. People love that.*"

                vegefrog


                  What a neat experience!


                  A Saucy Wench

                    Next time you see them refer to rule #34-a: "Oh – and the coolest of all possible things, at the start of the race, is to line up at the very start, and then when you hear the gun – sprint forward as fast as you can, and scream “I’m winning!” at the top of your lungs. It’s a classic. People love that.*"

                     

                    That would actually be worth it in this case. 

                    I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

                     

                    "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

                    Slice


                      Oooh... You're totally right. I never saw it before.

                       

                      Hall is starting to resemble Gary Busey a bit too much. 

                      I don't half-ass anything

                       

                      "I have several close friends who have run marathons, a word that is actually derived from two Swahili words: mara, which means 'to die a horrible death' and thon, which means 'for a stupid T-shirt.' Look it up." - Celia Rivenbark, You Can't Drink All Day if You Don't Start in the Morning

                       


                      ultramarathon/triathlete

                        Next time you see them refer to rule #34-a: "Oh – and the coolest of all possible things, at the start of the race, is to line up at the very start, and then when you hear the gun – sprint forward as fast as you can, and scream “I’m winning!” at the top of your lungs. It’s a classic. People love that.*"

                         

                        I should do that, that would be worth in in a race like this one :-)

                         

                        And Hall really DOES like like Busey.  Plus, they're both kinda wacco a bit :-)

                         

                        Also, Jeff, that wasn't me with the beard.  I think I'm buried behind some taller guy, that often happens.

                         

                        (But not in this one:http://www2.nyrr.org/resources/photos/2011/japan_day/event/gallery.asp#5 the Odwalla jersey)

                        HTFU?  Why not!

                        USATF Coach

                        Empire Tri Club Coach
                        Gatorade Endurance Team

                        Julia1971


                          Hall is starting to resemble Gary Busey a bit too much. 

                           

                          Good call.