Slow poke

Ugh. Bad race today.....

Bromka and I left the apt. at about 6:45 to head over to the World Trade Center (which happens to be my morning commute to work). The half marathon, which Bromka was running, started at 8:15, and the 5 miler was at 8:30. Fortunately we were able to use my office at Foley as a sort of home base. The bathroom lines on the 12th floor were considerably shorter than the port-o-johns right by the start. Bromka and I headed out for a quick warmup. My stomach was feeling a little funny, which I think was due to the fact that I had eaten breakfast relatively recently. This would prove to be a problem later in the day. After the warmup I went back up to the office, changed into my racing gear, and got ready to race 5 miles. The weather was perfect for racing. It was about 47, cloudy, and perfectly calm.

When the gun went off, I immediately noticed 2 things. First, there was a pack of Kenyans (and Ben Schmeckpepper) who were flying off the start line. There were also 3 Kenyan women who were already kicking my butt. I figured I would catch the women pretty soon, as they were going really really hard right from the gun. Joel Anderson (Bates '05) and I settled in about a quarter mile in, and I was feeling pretty good. As we approached the mile mark, I figured we'd be somewhere around 5 flat, since we were rolling pretty well. I went through in 4:52. At this point things started to go downhill. First, the 3 Kenyan women I had past flew by me like I was standing still (and I had gone through in 4:52!! Unreal....). Second, my stomach started to hurt. When this happens in a race, it's pretty bad. You start to focus on the fact that you have a cramp, and not on the race. Needless to say, my next mile sucked, and I ran 5:24 to bring me through 2 miles in 10:16. Joel, his pack, and the Kenyans had gapped me at this point and I was running down Charles Street in no-man's land. My next 2 miles proceeded to suck even worse, as I split 5:36 and 5:33. Totally pathetic. This was the pace I ran my half marathon at, you'd expect that I'd be able run faster than this for a race that's less than half the distance. Oh well. At the 4 mile mark I told myself to stop being such a baby and to actually start racing. I got it going a little bit, and ran 5:14 to finish in 26:45. (ugly).

Overall, this is a dissapointment. I figured I was in good enough shape to get close to 26:00. The combination of a cramp, a 4:52 opening mile, and a lack of competitive spirit added up to a pretty poor performance. Oh well.

2 other things about the race. First, the guys up front were absolutely nasty. 23:00 for 5 miles is pretty ridiculous. That's going through 5k well under 14:35. Wow. Also, the women who ran the race were amazing too. Who runs 26:18?!?! Impressive.

I cooled down a little bit, and watched Bromka finish up the half. He actually ran pretty well... right around 1:14.

In terms of training... this week I'll probably run 1 workout this week, and then do a good long run on Sunday. I'm going to try to go at least 20, and try taking GU packets/drink water along the way....