The DC Road Runners held their annual 1 mile and 3K championships on July 30 this year. Last year at this event I actually knocked off 3 races-the 1 mile race walk, a 1 mile run and the 3K run. I got to the track this year just as Peter Blank was starting the 1 mile race walk. I cheered him on as he went by and he yelled over that I should be out there with him. I don't know if I would have done it anyway - I did it twice last year and they really beat up my calves. Plus, I'm sure I'm not following the official race walk criteria...I just try to walk fast.
I ran in the next event...the masters mile. I've been worried about this event for the past week. I always dreaded these track events even when I was running at my best. I always get lapped, which is embarrasing, and I worry about holding everyone up. In the past I had always run the mile in at least 8:30. This year I hadn't run faster than a 10:00 mile in practice or in a race. That would be very slow. I looked for runners I knew to be relatively slow-there were none. I would represent the slowbies today.
There was a field of 12 in my heat which meant I was close to the start line when the gun went off. But I quickly fell to the back after only a couple of strides. Initially, Peter was right in front of me. In fact, he turned and said "It looks like its you and me Rammer". But I knew better. Even though he hadn't had enough time to recover from his race walk-which he did in 9:35-I knew he would finish well in front of me. I mumbled something to that effect back to Peter and continued on.
I completed the first lap in about 2:10. I was fairly pleased with that. That went away quickly though as I began to be lapped almost immediately. First by was Ted Poulos. I never know if I should run on the inside lane or get to the outside in these situations-I have received conflicting instructions. Today I ran on the inside, actually stepping on the inside line quite a few times. I really don't think I impeded anyone.
I completed the 2nd lap in 4:20. Not bad at all I thought. Except for the fact that I was gasping for any air I could get and my heart rate was probably about 900. I had to walk. Now its one thing to take a walk break in the middle of a 5K on a road. A few runners that are close to you see you and maybe you get a jeer from an onlooker telling you to run but thats about it. It doesn't get much worse than having to walk during a track event. EVERYONE sees you. But I HAD to walk. I wouldn't have finished if I didn't walk. I only walked for about 20 yards...enough time to get a little air and to let my heart rate come down a little bit. Jay Wind passed me around here. I knew it was him before he got to me because of his heavy breathing. I rooted him on and then got back to my own run.
I got to the 3/4 pole at 6:50. Ugh...my lap was 20 seconds slower than my previous laps. And I had to walk again. At least I wasn't being passed anymore. But only because everyone was either finished or about to finish. I was dying but I pushed on, I think mostly from pride. All of the Pacer girls were there and I really didn't want to collapse in front of them. I saw the clock 100 yards ahead and thought I might be able to get there in under 9 minutes which would be a real achievement. I was cheered in but my legs felt like they were carrying weights and I finished in 9:01:6.
OK, I passed my first test. I didn't totally embarass myself in the 1 mile. But what about the 3K? I knew my pace was going to be considerably slower for the 3K. I would be lucky to break 20 minutes. Was that too slow?
I had some time to think about it. They ran the masters womens mile next. There was only 1 master woman (Patricia Zerfas) but Jim Noone arrived late for the mens master so he ran with her. They both ran close to a 6 minute mile. Great job by both.
Next was the open mile. Time for the young guys. The leaders were absolutely flying. Bert Rodriguez won with a time of 4:21:6! willy Viviani was just a second behind. I think I saw smoke coming off of their shoes.
My favorite race of the night was the womens mile. As I mentioned the Pacer girls were there in force. I happened to be next to the starting line when they lined up. There was a cute woman I had never seen before at the front of the pack in lane 1. She was joking with the race director as he lined them up and she was very relaxed. But when the gun fired she was out of there in a flash. She ran probably the most impressive race I have ever seen run by a woman. She was just cruising. She looked relaxed but purposeful. She had a nice lead on the 2nd place woman who was no slouch herself (and had probably the most defined abs I have ever seen on a woman). As I watched the splits I was thinking to myself "she might break 5 minutes". Sure enough, she came in with a time of 4:55.1! Wow! I looked up the results the next day and learned she was Kristen Henehan, last years Marine Corp winner. After a 6 year layoff after college, she took up competitive running again last year and won her first marathon. She did so well she qualified for the Olympic Trials. Runners world did a very nice video interview with her...look it up...it was very interesting. BTW- the 2nd place woman was Lindsay Wilkins, who won the Crystal City 5K just a few days before. She ran the mile in 5:09.1. If not for Kristen, I would marvelling over her race.
Anyway, back to me. I decided that in fairness to the other runners, I couldn't run the 3K. I figured I would be about 6 minutes slower than the next slowest runner. The women would be waiting for me to finish before they could run their own 3K. It would be getting dark. I would be embarrased. It just wasn't a good situation. So I ate hot dogs instead (provided by the race director for the race that was cancelled the previous week).
I left before the 3K's were run. I'm bummed about that because I see in the results that Charlie Mercer ran the first 3K. Not only did he run it, he won it! I guess he is recovered from the being hit by a car. He ran it in 11:16. Last place was Carlos Liceaga with a time of 16:28.8. That's slower than I expected but it still means I would have been out there by myself for over 3 1/2 minutes. I think I made the right decision.
The 2nd heat of the 3K combined the women with the fast men. Robert Wade, who came in a close 3rd in the mile, won this race with a time of 8:45.9. That would be good enough to usually demolish the field at the monthly tidal basin 3K. Bert Rodriguez was clearly wiped out as he ran a miserable time of only 8:59.8...good enough for 4th!Kristen led the women in with a time of 10:16 with Lindsay right behind in a time of 10:35.2.
What a night!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment