Dinosaur Dash, East Lansing Michigan
It was going to be about 75 degrees at racetime but I wasn?t that concerned with the heat. I was more concerned that I had only managed to run 63 miles the previous 3 weeks. I was hoping to run a time of around 20:30 today on this flat fast course.
I pulled my car into the parking lot with my brother-in-law Derek who was attempting to break his PR of 28:49 today. I went to register and then back to the car. By then there was only about 25 minutes to racetime and I had to pin on my chip and bib. I only had time to run a few minutes but it was hot and this would be an experiment for future races. I probably ran about ¼ warmup that?s all.
I did a quick warm up 5 minutes before the race and realized I had forgotten to leave my baseball cap in the car and was still wearing it. Oh well maybe it will help keep my head cool. I turned it backwards to make myself more aerodynamic. I heard the call ?3 minutes to race? so I had to quickly get up to the line and was about 10 rows back from the front. There were about 850 runners today so a pretty big race for me.
MILE ONE
I crossed the starting mat and took off at an easy gait around the circle drive which would take us to the half mile point. A lot of slow runners around me made this too slow but I didn?t feel like attacking as my confidence was waning today. After about 90 seconds I saw a familiar runner named Vlad pass me. I said ?Good job Vlad? and he turned and said something like ?go for a good time today?. I usually beat Vlad by about 15 seconds so my reaction was to get in behind Vlad to pace. I stuck with him for about a minute but then he began to pull ahead. After what seemed like about 5 minutes I glanced at my watch and saw 3:20. I was surprised since this meant I had only ran ½ mile. A lot of runners were around helping to keep me going and we went passed the MSU practice football field. The mile mark approached and I hit it in 6:48.
MILE TWO
Yes that is slow for me but I wasn?t giving up. Vlad was about 10 seconds ahead now and I still thought I could catch him. I thought I felt okay still so I attempted to pick up the pace some and passed a couple guys and looked for some new pacers. About the halfway point in the race we came to a bikepath and I caught a tall 13 year old who usually runs sub 20. We ran stride for stride for awhile but he merged ahead. Then a bearded guy loped past me. I took caution not to get discouraged when getting passed this race. As he passed me I looked ahead and saw a 25 year old girl slowing and focused on her. I am learning you must give ample time to pass runners. She was about 20 feet ahead so I gave myself 200 meters to catch her. Nice and easy no acceleration passes. I passed her and filled in behind another pacer?a bald guy with a yellow shirt. Now we were at the 2 mile mark and my time was 13:55. I was happy to see sub 14 after mile one.
MILE THREE
Now we came down a nice short hill. I was tiring now for the 1st time. Just run minute by minute I said. I could still see Vlad in his red shirt about 10 seconds ahead. I ran for about half mile then looked at my watch which was at 17:30. A little more than half mile to go. That?s not that far. I thought of 2 laps on the track. I still cannot open up the speed though. I looked ahead. Vlad was struggling. I was starting to reel him in. I caught him at the 19:00 mark. I hoped he would run with me but he gasped ?nice going? or something as I caught him. He was really struggling I could see. I had no choice but to leave him behind. Two and a half minutes left I said and pushed ahead in an attempt to put Vlad and other runners in the rear view mirror. Now we were back to the circle drive. Yellow shirt was about 10 feet ahead and I knew I was beating him today. Bearded guy was about 25 feet ahead and he was in my cross-hairs as well. Watch said 20:30 now?ok only a minute I can run hard for 30 seconds then sprint with everything I have left for 30 more seconds. I couldn?t see the finish line but I knew we had about 600 feet left so I took off and caught yellow shirt. I glided past him with faith that the finish was near. I was closing in on bearded guy as the finish line appeared still far off in the distance some 300 feet away. I started to gun it and its funny how you try to run as hard as you can but you don?t really speed up that fast. Anyhow bearded guy was pretty tough but I managed to outkick him. I crossed the line in 21:30.
I guess the motivation wasn?t really there today. There is a race series where the top 5 finishers in each age group earn points and get to attend awards ceremony at end of year. I already had 3rd place in my age group 30-34 wrapped up before this race. This race was to be an attempt at sub 20 but with the heat and the low mileage totals I wasn?t in any mood to accomplish that today.
SPLITS
6:48
7:07
6:57
0:38 last tenth.
8th of 38 age group
79th of 865 overall
I am thinking about taking it easy for a month or two (12-15 miles a week on 4-5 runs) before starting a bigger base building program for the 2008 year.
Vlad finished in 21:41.
Derek finished in 29:32.
It was going to be about 75 degrees at racetime but I wasn?t that concerned with the heat. I was more concerned that I had only managed to run 63 miles the previous 3 weeks. I was hoping to run a time of around 20:30 today on this flat fast course.
I pulled my car into the parking lot with my brother-in-law Derek who was attempting to break his PR of 28:49 today. I went to register and then back to the car. By then there was only about 25 minutes to racetime and I had to pin on my chip and bib. I only had time to run a few minutes but it was hot and this would be an experiment for future races. I probably ran about ¼ warmup that?s all.
I did a quick warm up 5 minutes before the race and realized I had forgotten to leave my baseball cap in the car and was still wearing it. Oh well maybe it will help keep my head cool. I turned it backwards to make myself more aerodynamic. I heard the call ?3 minutes to race? so I had to quickly get up to the line and was about 10 rows back from the front. There were about 850 runners today so a pretty big race for me.
MILE ONE
I crossed the starting mat and took off at an easy gait around the circle drive which would take us to the half mile point. A lot of slow runners around me made this too slow but I didn?t feel like attacking as my confidence was waning today. After about 90 seconds I saw a familiar runner named Vlad pass me. I said ?Good job Vlad? and he turned and said something like ?go for a good time today?. I usually beat Vlad by about 15 seconds so my reaction was to get in behind Vlad to pace. I stuck with him for about a minute but then he began to pull ahead. After what seemed like about 5 minutes I glanced at my watch and saw 3:20. I was surprised since this meant I had only ran ½ mile. A lot of runners were around helping to keep me going and we went passed the MSU practice football field. The mile mark approached and I hit it in 6:48.
MILE TWO
Yes that is slow for me but I wasn?t giving up. Vlad was about 10 seconds ahead now and I still thought I could catch him. I thought I felt okay still so I attempted to pick up the pace some and passed a couple guys and looked for some new pacers. About the halfway point in the race we came to a bikepath and I caught a tall 13 year old who usually runs sub 20. We ran stride for stride for awhile but he merged ahead. Then a bearded guy loped past me. I took caution not to get discouraged when getting passed this race. As he passed me I looked ahead and saw a 25 year old girl slowing and focused on her. I am learning you must give ample time to pass runners. She was about 20 feet ahead so I gave myself 200 meters to catch her. Nice and easy no acceleration passes. I passed her and filled in behind another pacer?a bald guy with a yellow shirt. Now we were at the 2 mile mark and my time was 13:55. I was happy to see sub 14 after mile one.
MILE THREE
Now we came down a nice short hill. I was tiring now for the 1st time. Just run minute by minute I said. I could still see Vlad in his red shirt about 10 seconds ahead. I ran for about half mile then looked at my watch which was at 17:30. A little more than half mile to go. That?s not that far. I thought of 2 laps on the track. I still cannot open up the speed though. I looked ahead. Vlad was struggling. I was starting to reel him in. I caught him at the 19:00 mark. I hoped he would run with me but he gasped ?nice going? or something as I caught him. He was really struggling I could see. I had no choice but to leave him behind. Two and a half minutes left I said and pushed ahead in an attempt to put Vlad and other runners in the rear view mirror. Now we were back to the circle drive. Yellow shirt was about 10 feet ahead and I knew I was beating him today. Bearded guy was about 25 feet ahead and he was in my cross-hairs as well. Watch said 20:30 now?ok only a minute I can run hard for 30 seconds then sprint with everything I have left for 30 more seconds. I couldn?t see the finish line but I knew we had about 600 feet left so I took off and caught yellow shirt. I glided past him with faith that the finish was near. I was closing in on bearded guy as the finish line appeared still far off in the distance some 300 feet away. I started to gun it and its funny how you try to run as hard as you can but you don?t really speed up that fast. Anyhow bearded guy was pretty tough but I managed to outkick him. I crossed the line in 21:30.
I guess the motivation wasn?t really there today. There is a race series where the top 5 finishers in each age group earn points and get to attend awards ceremony at end of year. I already had 3rd place in my age group 30-34 wrapped up before this race. This race was to be an attempt at sub 20 but with the heat and the low mileage totals I wasn?t in any mood to accomplish that today.
SPLITS
6:48
7:07
6:57
0:38 last tenth.
8th of 38 age group
79th of 865 overall
I am thinking about taking it easy for a month or two (12-15 miles a week on 4-5 runs) before starting a bigger base building program for the 2008 year.
Vlad finished in 21:41.
Derek finished in 29:32.