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I had not planned on writing up a RR for my 8 K at Philly this weekend, but work is slow, and I see everyone else's reports, so what the heck. And since it was only an 8 K, I will fill it up with some fluff to make it longer.<br><br>
The Saturday dinner was tons of fun (and tons of food!!) and meeting so many people from the boards was great. (Super job by <b>Theia</b> for setting the whole thing up.) Everyone was fairly well behaved as many had races in the AM. Some were also getting a little worried about the forecast, which was getting worse and worse. By the time I rolled into bed, the forecast was calling for rain – not showers or intermittent rain, but steady rain, and temps in the upper 30's to start.<br><br>
Waking up at 4:30 AM, the weather wasn't too bad – no rain yet, and not too cold. I got dressed, packed, and hopped into the car with CoachT for the trip into the city.<br><br>
We parked about 0.5 mile from the start\finish area, and hoofed it on over. <b>CoachT</b> went to find <b>Solar</b> so they could get ready for some final pacing duties, and I met some of the other 30's as they prepped for their respective races. I checked my bag, and headed on over to the start area.<br><br>
There were 6 of us from the 30's in the 8 K – <b>me, runninginNYC, Jill, preacupia, sauconRunner,</b> and <b>Noni</b>. <b>Beeker's</b> friend Jen also joined us. Yes I am a lucky man – me and six lovely ladies! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy"> If you see the Philly Photo thread, notice the dufus grin I have going on.<br><br>
We all discussed what our plans\goals were for the race. One thing I was a little panicked about was that many of us had posted predicted times for the Philly Phantasy pool created by <b>GatorBob</b>. My predicted time was 43:00, and several people had picked me in their pool. As a point of reference, using a 5 K time from Oct 28th, McMillan predicts a 44:30 for me.<br><br>
When they announced one minute to the start, <b>runningINnyc</b> moved up in the crowd. I stayed with the rest of the crew. As the race started, I started dodging into openings to get through the crowd, and started pulling away from the others. In my head it was a real catch 22 – I wanted to run with the others, but I knew that if I wanted to hit my predicted time, I needed to hustle. As I was dodging in and out, I heard some of them cheering me on, which was a great feeling.<br><br>
The first mile was tough, because of the volume of people there – this was by far the largest event I have participated in in years. I hit the 1 M mark at 8:37 – dead on pace, and feeling pretty good. As I kept on moving, I passed up the water stop, and my 2 M split was 8:07. That is fast for me, but it was nice to know I was ahead of pace. I probably ran this mile too fast, and I would be feeling that later on.<br><br>
The course is an out-and-back layout, so I was looking for <b>runningINnyc</b>, but never did see her. (After the event, she said she was looking for me, and missed me too.) I hit the mile three marker at 8:49, and was feeling the 'fast' mile 2. At this point, I was starting to see some of the lovely ladies on the course again. A pleasant distraction indeed. (Side note – <b>praecupia</b> is a newbie runner – this was her first race. She was very nervous going in, as far as I could tell. When I passed her, she had the BIGGEST FREAKIN SMILE on her face – smiles from friends do make a race easier).<br><br>
If you know the course, it is a blind finish – you do not see it until you are on top of it. As I approached it, I heard the tailgating crew and finished as strong as I could. As I crossed the timing mat, the time on my watch was 42:57. The chip\toe tag time would match my watch exactly. I was 3 seconds off of my goal time. I also ran the last three miles at the same exact pace (8:49, 8:50, 8:35 (which is an 8:50 pace)), something I have never done. All in all, I am happy with the results.<br><br>
Of course, my day was just beginning. I grabbed something to eat and drink, and heaed to the grandstand to cheer in the rest of the 8 K'ers. Once the rest of that crew was sone, I was cold, so I stretched out and then changed into dry clothes, and re-joined in with the cheering section. Spending the next several hours cheering in our crew in their various events was a blast. I was fantastic to watch everyone else finish. <b>Keriksen</b> and <b>Theia</b> looked incredibly strong and athletic finishing, <b>BigGahoona</b> and runningINnyc's sister had the super arm pump going as they finished, and all the others were so much fun to experience.<br><br>
A wonderful day to remember. Thanks for the good times, friends.
The Saturday dinner was tons of fun (and tons of food!!) and meeting so many people from the boards was great. (Super job by <b>Theia</b> for setting the whole thing up.) Everyone was fairly well behaved as many had races in the AM. Some were also getting a little worried about the forecast, which was getting worse and worse. By the time I rolled into bed, the forecast was calling for rain – not showers or intermittent rain, but steady rain, and temps in the upper 30's to start.<br><br>
Waking up at 4:30 AM, the weather wasn't too bad – no rain yet, and not too cold. I got dressed, packed, and hopped into the car with CoachT for the trip into the city.<br><br>
We parked about 0.5 mile from the start\finish area, and hoofed it on over. <b>CoachT</b> went to find <b>Solar</b> so they could get ready for some final pacing duties, and I met some of the other 30's as they prepped for their respective races. I checked my bag, and headed on over to the start area.<br><br>
There were 6 of us from the 30's in the 8 K – <b>me, runninginNYC, Jill, preacupia, sauconRunner,</b> and <b>Noni</b>. <b>Beeker's</b> friend Jen also joined us. Yes I am a lucky man – me and six lovely ladies! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy"> If you see the Philly Photo thread, notice the dufus grin I have going on.<br><br>
We all discussed what our plans\goals were for the race. One thing I was a little panicked about was that many of us had posted predicted times for the Philly Phantasy pool created by <b>GatorBob</b>. My predicted time was 43:00, and several people had picked me in their pool. As a point of reference, using a 5 K time from Oct 28th, McMillan predicts a 44:30 for me.<br><br>
When they announced one minute to the start, <b>runningINnyc</b> moved up in the crowd. I stayed with the rest of the crew. As the race started, I started dodging into openings to get through the crowd, and started pulling away from the others. In my head it was a real catch 22 – I wanted to run with the others, but I knew that if I wanted to hit my predicted time, I needed to hustle. As I was dodging in and out, I heard some of them cheering me on, which was a great feeling.<br><br>
The first mile was tough, because of the volume of people there – this was by far the largest event I have participated in in years. I hit the 1 M mark at 8:37 – dead on pace, and feeling pretty good. As I kept on moving, I passed up the water stop, and my 2 M split was 8:07. That is fast for me, but it was nice to know I was ahead of pace. I probably ran this mile too fast, and I would be feeling that later on.<br><br>
The course is an out-and-back layout, so I was looking for <b>runningINnyc</b>, but never did see her. (After the event, she said she was looking for me, and missed me too.) I hit the mile three marker at 8:49, and was feeling the 'fast' mile 2. At this point, I was starting to see some of the lovely ladies on the course again. A pleasant distraction indeed. (Side note – <b>praecupia</b> is a newbie runner – this was her first race. She was very nervous going in, as far as I could tell. When I passed her, she had the BIGGEST FREAKIN SMILE on her face – smiles from friends do make a race easier).<br><br>
If you know the course, it is a blind finish – you do not see it until you are on top of it. As I approached it, I heard the tailgating crew and finished as strong as I could. As I crossed the timing mat, the time on my watch was 42:57. The chip\toe tag time would match my watch exactly. I was 3 seconds off of my goal time. I also ran the last three miles at the same exact pace (8:49, 8:50, 8:35 (which is an 8:50 pace)), something I have never done. All in all, I am happy with the results.<br><br>
Of course, my day was just beginning. I grabbed something to eat and drink, and heaed to the grandstand to cheer in the rest of the 8 K'ers. Once the rest of that crew was sone, I was cold, so I stretched out and then changed into dry clothes, and re-joined in with the cheering section. Spending the next several hours cheering in our crew in their various events was a blast. I was fantastic to watch everyone else finish. <b>Keriksen</b> and <b>Theia</b> looked incredibly strong and athletic finishing, <b>BigGahoona</b> and runningINnyc's sister had the super arm pump going as they finished, and all the others were so much fun to experience.<br><br>
A wonderful day to remember. Thanks for the good times, friends.
