WORD OF MOUTH

Sometimes it seems that I get so focused on marathon training that I seem to forget to have fun along the way. By the time I realize it, the year is over and I’ve only run 5-10 races. And usually they’re the same races I run every year, so they tend to cause more stress because I start comparing year-over-year times. So when I saw a new 3-mile race planned for last night – when Daniels just so happened to have an interval workout on the schedule – I jumped at the chance to sign up.

I was mainly looking forward to a low-key way to get in some VO2 work, as well as the post-race beverages. Having one local brew pub furnish the beer is cool enough – but how about two different brew pubs supplying the cold suds? I know at least one blogger that will kick himself for not coming out and enjoying the Surly and the Flat Earth. Not only are we talking quality, but we’re talking quantity too. The Flat Earth bottle alone was 1 pint 6 ounces. Sorry Kirk, no wine was served. Maybe next year.

Best of all, I got to enjoy the beer with Katie and some of the Minnesota Red folks.

Oh yeah, the race…it went pretty well. I started out in 6th place before moving up into 4th before the first mile in 5:49. I held my position during the next mile, running 6-flat. With a mile to go I passed a guy who turned out to be 38 years old and ended up putting about 10 seconds on him before the finish – running the last mile in 6:01 for a 17:50 three-mile.

I finished behind Matt, a 19-year-old (15:32) who is trying to make it onto the UM team and Megan (17:25ish) who runs for a very good Princeton program. It’s funny because when I ran my 22-mile long run a few weeks ago, only one person passed me – some gal that I’ve never seen before. It turns out it was Megan.

Anyway, hats off to the folks at ACCUA for putting on a fine event. With so many weekends full of races, I’m guessing these week night events may be the wave of the future.

In total, the day's training included 5 miles in the morning and another 10 in the evening. Today will definitely be a very easy, low-mileage day.

Quote of the day;

“I didn’t know anybody who did it for health. You became intensely aware of your body, but it wasn’t like, I want to live a long life. It was more like, What can I get out of this machine? It was very competitive.” - Peter Hessler’s dad talking about the '70s running boom, in this New Yorker article on Ryan Hall