BUCKSHOT RACE REPORT

Just a quick post on my recent running, including yesterday's 5 mile race. Friday I ran an easy 5 miles and my hamstring was still a little tender. Afterwards I iced it, took some ibuprofen and massaged it. Unbelieveably, I felt fine on Saturday morning - even during my warm-up there wasn't any pain.

Based on 'logic' and 'history' I figured I should run between 29 and 31 minutes.

Logically speaking, my last track workout consisted of 2 x 1 mile in 5:48 with roughly 2 minutes rest. That's 29-flat pace and it seems unreasonable that I'd be able to string together 3 more mile without any rest. Last weekend's first mile felt easy in 6:16 and I figure I could hold that for 5 miles which would put me at 31:20.

I'll have to resort to my log books when I have more time, but historically speaking, I've run this race probably 10 times with a best of around 28:20 and a worst around 32. Last year I ran 30:02, two years ago it was 29:42, I think in 2002 I ran 29:15 (a month before my marathon PR).

Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah... You're asking "What happened? How'd it go? Get on with it already."

Well what if I told you I opened up with a 5:35 mile? You'd probably say something like "Did you learn your lesson from last week?"

Yes, I learned my lesson. That's why I held back during that first mile. Granted, about half of that mile is a nice downhill. It's not so steep that you beat the crap out of your legs and struggle to maintain form.

The next 3 miles are a little rolling and I'm able to click off 5:58, 6:00 and 5:53.

Unfortunately, the race is 5 miles not 4. Just after the 4 mile mark there's a steep climb that probably last 60-90 seconds before leveling out a little, but continuing up for another 30+ seconds.

Maybe it was a mistake, maybe not, but at the top of the hill you make a sharp turn and I looked over my shoulder. There was one guy about 5 seconds back and - this is sad - I said to myself "He's not in my age-group." Of course he caught me with about 200 meters to go and I didn't respond.

Anyway, that last mile was a bitch in 6:24, but I was able to sneak in under 30 with a 29:50.

At first I was kind of luke warm over this performance. However, now that I've had a little more time to think about it, it's not that bad. McMillan converts it to a 2:55. Hell, I was prepared to step off the course at the first twinge in my hamstring.

More on the race once I get back to work and have more time to blog.

I don't have a running quote of the day, but lyrics from a song by the Gear Daddies (the best band you've never heard of), who we saw in concert last night at the Great Minnesota Get-Together (aka the state fair);

"My only real salvation...a few good friends and beer." - Martin Zellar