ROCHESTER HALF RACE REPORT

The good news is that the 6:16 first mile felt really easy. The bad news is I was trying to hold 6:30-6:40 pace. You can guess where things went from there. Downhill.

You can save yourself some time and stop reading now if you’re looking for a report that refers to a PR or even a solid MP workout. If you want to know what random thoughts went through my head during this race, continue reading.

During the first mile: Okay the lead women are in front of me. There’s Evan, who wants to run 6:20 pace, just up ahead. There’s Tim, who ran a 40-minute 10k last week. Jim, who’ll probably run 1:28ish, is right next me. That’s good, nice and controlled. This should be around 6:30 pace. Here’s comes the first mile. They have a digital clock at the marker. That’s cool. What’s that? 6:0X? Slow down, slow down (like slowing in the last 25 meters is going to make a difference)! 6:16!! Shit!!!

Mile 2 in 6:40. Alright, that’s much better.

Mile 3 in 6:39. Okay, I can do this.

Mile 4 in 6:4-something. Is that a 1 or a 7. Damn, it’s a 7. That felt too hard to be a 6:47 mile.

Heading down a gradual hill. Now I’m moving. Hey, maybe mile 4 was a gradual uphill and that’s why it was slow. Mile 5 in 6:43. What? Again, that’s way too hard to be MP.

Alright, back off the pace, go by effort and stop looking at your splits.

Dang here comes the leader. I guess this is an out-and-back course. Hmm, maybe I’ll be at 6 by the time he gets to 8. I wish I were fast.

Damn, she’s (gal along the side of the road) really cute. I really like gals in baseball caps for some reason.

Oh “yay” here’s a gravel road. Here comes the gal that only beat me by a minute at the 20k in April. At least she’s still running well.

Here’s the turn-around point – finally!

I wonder if Marisa is running. If I knew what she looked like I’d look for her.

Where’s mile 7? Where’s mile 7? Where’s mile 7? There’s 8.

There’s that cute girl again.

If I hold this pace till 10 maybe I can “kick” it in.

Okay, I think I have my entire blog entry written now.

Here comes a water stop. I’ll take Gatorade this time. At least I can practice that.

Here comes a windy stretch. Jump behind this guy and draft. At least I can practice that.

Mile 10, okay pick it up a little.

That didn’t last long.

Okay, just maintain your position.

Damn, here comes someone. It’s probably the guy I just pulled away from. Nope, it’s Naz (the guy who convinced me to run this race). “Thanks” Naz.

This (other) guy in front of me keeps picking it up and then slowing down. I should just blow by him.

Hey there’s that cute girl, again.

I go by him. That will impress her.

He’s still there.

Push the downhill.

He’s still there.

I hear “go daddy – yay” cheers and they’re not for me. That’s not fair.

He passes me.

Screw it.

1:29:43.

Wow, I can’t believe I broke 1:30.

Post race analysis:

For someone that prides themselves on pacing, that first mile was a huge disappointment. But still, given that I should be able to run 6:16 pace for 10 miles, I should have been able to hold 6:40 pace after backing off.

It’s better to have this happen now than in October.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a BFD. I got in a long run at a solid effort – whether or not the pace was what I wanted. But I’d prefer to have a confidence boosting result at this point in training.

I always seem say something like “I’m never going do another race when the dew point is over 60 degrees.” Yet I always seem to forget that statement.

Finally, just to spice things up, I’ll end with my real excuse. Simply put, sex the night before a race is bad. The good news is that now I won’t have to worry about trying to “get some” the night before Chicago with my kids and mother-in-law in the room.

So what happens now? “Bad race” means “train harder” right? Well, sort of. My first order of business is to make this a cutback week, partially to 1) help me recover from the half, 2) help heal my aching legs and 3) provide a mini-taper leading into this Saturday’s alumni race.

After that I’m going to get back into higher mileage weeks because 1) that’s what worked for me leading up to that 20k in April and 2) Chicago is just another stepping stone along the road to being a better runner – a road which will need more than 65 mpw to pave.

Evan ended up with a nice MP workout, finishing in 1:25. Jim held on to win is age-group in 1:28:52. His arch-rival Norm was between the 2 of us, which means I would have placed 3rd in the 60-64 age group. Now if I just don't slow down in the next 23 years, I'll be set.

Quote of the day;

“Talk to me not of time and place; I owe I'm happy in the chase." - Shakespeare