Notes
Temp 67 Wind 12 mph.
(5/2/2010 Update -- Official results posted...they gave me 9 seconds?? Exactly 200 runners. Still 9th OA. 17 runners in my AG, wow. Professor actually 13th. 25-YO me and A-Wad passed late in first mile and Ghisallo's Anthony B. in between him and Schmiz.)
Nice turnout. May be close to 200 this year. Starting line a few meters behind last year. Finish line a ways down the road. Previously certified course, lapsed, re-certified for 2010. Appears to have grown?? Take my place on row two next to Schmiz. Look around, will have a couple of people to get around out of the gate, but don't see any walkers or pre-teens, so looks good. Notice Steve L. back on row four and offer to let him get in front of me. Says he's good.
We're off and its a little crowded until we come out of the first S curve just under 0.25 miles in. Things shake out over the next 100 meters or so. We have two front running packs. Hammer, Del, Adam L., Coach K., Steve L., and a couple of 20 year olds. I'm in a group of four 40 year olds, myself, A-Wad, Schmiz, and Joe W. We comment about how quick it sorted out. Schmiz wonders out loud what the conversation is up there. I volunteer Joe W. to run up there, find out, and report back. He declines.
Expected A-Wad to move up with the first group, but we end up moving together to the front of our pack. Garmin set to alert every 5:00. First one goes off a ways shy of where we need to be for 18:00 flat. On up the road, and race official calls our mile split @ 5:59. (I got a 5:57.) A-Wad has ran a 6:00 first mile and I hear him huffing and puffing already. This looks promising at this point.
We have a straight flat 0.47 coming up before the next turn. Me and A-Wad take turns tugging on each other the whole way. I feel strong and smooth. Two 20 year olds have fallen from the front pack and one is coming back to us hard. 10-minute alert goes off about two blocks from bank; which is where we need to be for 18:00. I've slowed, but so has A-Wad. We both go by the kid and are now running 7th and 8th.
Tug on each other all the way down Main, past the two mile split (we get a "12:30", but he was at the turn, not the mile mark. Was actually at 12:14 after a 6:17 second mile). Turn onto East Byrd and head on into wind. A-Wad has had every line on me and this one is no different. I lose a step and I'm thinking about falling directly behind him and drafting. Out of corner of my eye see someone else pull right up into that spot. Thinking the kid has hung on to us, so pull back up side to side with A-Wad. (Other runner turned out to be Joe W.)
Turn onto Virginia is 2.36 miles into race. We've slowed, I'm still right with A-Wad, and I still feel fine. Again he had the line, so I decide to slide over behind him and take his right shoulder to set up to hit the jut in the road straight-on and set up for the line on the last turn.
About a block before last turn, Joe W. surges past both of us inside of A-Wad. He attempts to go with him, I follow. Garmin graph shows we actually dropped the pace to 5:24 going into turn. First sign of trouble for me was stitch emerging on upper left quadrant. We take turn and I slip ground big time. Go to call on legs and they're not there. O2 debt comes due and slip to near 7:00 m/m pace over next minute of race. This is a full fledged bonk. In shock, this was a slow race and my fitness is better than this?? By the time I recover, JW and A-Wad are gone. Stitch feels like its about the size of softball. Legs are not responding. Feel like enough cardio has returned to keep from losing much more ground.
Able to get pace back to mid-6s long enough to run a 6:26 mile split. Finish it off in agony in 0.40. Final time is 19:20. 9th OA, 2nd AG to A-Wad in 45-49 Division.
Adam L wins OA in 17:25. Props to the kid, he ran a FM seven days ago, then turned around and did a 1 / 4x400 / 1 speed workout on Wednesday. Coach K second. Del edges Steve L. at line for 3rd. Hammer is 5th with second 17:50 in as many weeks. 20-year kid hangs on for 6th. Joe W. goes sub 19:00 for first time since HS/NCAA for 7th. A-Wad 8th, ten seconds ahead of me. Schmiz, who also ran a FM one week ago is on my heels in 10th. The Professor set a PR with his first sub-20 for 11th. Happy for him, he's been chasing that for years. He was funny after race, asked me who all is 45 now and realized he was 4th AG. Told him he'd have to settle for PR. Said happy to do so, we can have all the medals as long as he gets to keep his sub-20 PR.
In a big field, eight of top eleven masters. Seven of top ten SplitMaster/Ghisallo runners. Del should be happy. Myself, I got some work to do to get this going back in the other direction. Still 1:23 better than last year, even with the extra distance. Jumped from 16th to 9th OA. Once again 2nd to A-Wad in AG.