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This is probably te 5th or 6th time I've done this race. It's got some hills, and obviously the weather can be cold/windy/snowy or all of the above! Today was cold (maybe 30 degrees) and windy and the snow started around race time but wasn't bad enough to impact the running. Last year I ran well and posted 29:17 for 10th place - the goal this year was to imrove on both of those!<br><br>
As usual, I was running late so I didn't arrive as early as I wanted to in order to get a good warmup. I had enough time to register, run for maybe 10 minutes and off we went. Whenthe race started I was immediately in 5th place - one guy was WAY out ahead which was no surprise, 2 guys were about 30-40 yards ahead after a mile, and another guy was 10-15 yards ahead of me. I was feeling pretty good despite not warming up mch but the first mile felt slow and it was - 5:53 (I was hoping to take advantage of the relatively flat first mile to get closer to 5:40). No problem though since we were heading dowhill - 2nd mile was 5:34 so overall I'm happy with where I was. Shortly after the 2nd mile mark, one of the 2 guys in 2nd/3rd stopped with a stitch or something so now I moved into 4th place, and the 2nd and 3rd place guy were still fairly close to me.<br><br>
Some uphills in the 3rd mile led to a 5:50 but that was OK - I was closing in on the 2nd and 3rd place guys so now all the strategies start rolling through my head. I'm a notoriously slow kicker so I know I need to get a big lead if I want to improve my position. I know the last mile is tough so I try closing the gap before then - I catch up to both guys at once, stay behind them for a few strides, and then go by them. I slowed down to start gathering for the last mile - the 4th mile was 5:21. I still felt pretty good so I decide to wait a few minute and then go with about 4 minutes of running left. I knew there was a hill coming out of this little park - nothing you'd notice in a marathon or earlier in the race, but on a cold windy day when you're running hard, it hurts. I started pushing and took the lead for 2nd place as we headed out of the park. The gap didn't open like I'd hoped - I got maybe 3 yards on one guy, maybe 8 on the other and I knew it wasn't enough. With about 1km to go, I get passed. I tried to go with him but we were now hitting another hill and the wind was picking up and I just didn't have it. OK, 3rd place is good - hold off the guy behind me. No dice - I hear him coming, I push hard, I still hear him coming, I push harder, he goes by me and I'm hoping I'll find some kind of motivation to push even harder since the finish line was less than 200 yards away. No dice - I'm spent so I roll in to the finish in 4th place.<br><br>
I was pleased with my time - 28:36, well under the 29:00 goal I had. I'm pleased my position improved, but that's more a function of who else shows up. I'm not pleased I had no response to getting passed...it's the typical thing for me, lock in a hard pace, maybe improve a little mid-race, but hit the finish line with no gusto or kick. That gives me something to work on in 2008 - I'm a strength runner but I have got to work on my finish!<br><br>
In case you were wondering - this epic battle for 2nd-4th place would have been real exciting if the guy who'd won hadn't smoked us all by 4 minutes!
As usual, I was running late so I didn't arrive as early as I wanted to in order to get a good warmup. I had enough time to register, run for maybe 10 minutes and off we went. Whenthe race started I was immediately in 5th place - one guy was WAY out ahead which was no surprise, 2 guys were about 30-40 yards ahead after a mile, and another guy was 10-15 yards ahead of me. I was feeling pretty good despite not warming up mch but the first mile felt slow and it was - 5:53 (I was hoping to take advantage of the relatively flat first mile to get closer to 5:40). No problem though since we were heading dowhill - 2nd mile was 5:34 so overall I'm happy with where I was. Shortly after the 2nd mile mark, one of the 2 guys in 2nd/3rd stopped with a stitch or something so now I moved into 4th place, and the 2nd and 3rd place guy were still fairly close to me.<br><br>
Some uphills in the 3rd mile led to a 5:50 but that was OK - I was closing in on the 2nd and 3rd place guys so now all the strategies start rolling through my head. I'm a notoriously slow kicker so I know I need to get a big lead if I want to improve my position. I know the last mile is tough so I try closing the gap before then - I catch up to both guys at once, stay behind them for a few strides, and then go by them. I slowed down to start gathering for the last mile - the 4th mile was 5:21. I still felt pretty good so I decide to wait a few minute and then go with about 4 minutes of running left. I knew there was a hill coming out of this little park - nothing you'd notice in a marathon or earlier in the race, but on a cold windy day when you're running hard, it hurts. I started pushing and took the lead for 2nd place as we headed out of the park. The gap didn't open like I'd hoped - I got maybe 3 yards on one guy, maybe 8 on the other and I knew it wasn't enough. With about 1km to go, I get passed. I tried to go with him but we were now hitting another hill and the wind was picking up and I just didn't have it. OK, 3rd place is good - hold off the guy behind me. No dice - I hear him coming, I push hard, I still hear him coming, I push harder, he goes by me and I'm hoping I'll find some kind of motivation to push even harder since the finish line was less than 200 yards away. No dice - I'm spent so I roll in to the finish in 4th place.<br><br>
I was pleased with my time - 28:36, well under the 29:00 goal I had. I'm pleased my position improved, but that's more a function of who else shows up. I'm not pleased I had no response to getting passed...it's the typical thing for me, lock in a hard pace, maybe improve a little mid-race, but hit the finish line with no gusto or kick. That gives me something to work on in 2008 - I'm a strength runner but I have got to work on my finish!<br><br>
In case you were wondering - this epic battle for 2nd-4th place would have been real exciting if the guy who'd won hadn't smoked us all by 4 minutes!
