A shameless shout-out and a 2009 PR!

May 20 - DCRRC Tidal Basin 3K

May 20th brought the end to a DC institution, of sorts. This race marked the last time that the DCRRC would be associated with the monthly Tidal Basin 3K. Challenges with the US Park Service forced the DC Road Runners to reconsider their involvement in the race and potentially put other races in jeopardy. While a bit angry with the club at first for "cutting us loose", after taking some time to get the history behind the decision, I now understand and support the move.

Before the race, Shirley Sameshima gently admonished me for being so behind on my posts. I need commenst like that to remind me that a couple of people do actually read this and its not just a diary of my running antics. I need to make sure I keep this clean!! Anyway, Shirley also asked if I could give her a big shout out when I wrote about this race. So here it is Shirley. Shirley Sameshima! Shirley Sameshima! Shirley Sameshima! Shirley finished this race with a time of 15:32. Shirley has also cut back on her races this year, running about 1 per week compared to the 3 per week she ran the last couple of years. My guess is the quality of her races will begin to improve with less wear and tear.

Now back to the race. It was a so-so turnout with 40 runners finishing the race. As usual, I pushed myself way too hard at the beginning of the race. I had to take a walk break after only 5 minutes (just after crossing the bridge) as my heart rate was already at 150. I walked for over 90 seconds, which allowed my heart rate to drop to 132. I probably should have only walked for 60 seconds. Then I ran again until my heart rate reached 146. This walk break was a little shorter and I began running again when I again reached 132 bpm. I did this process 2 more times...with very similar numbers. I stopped running when my heart rate got to 146 and 150. I felt comfortable running again when my heart rate dropped to 131 and 135. Good information to know.

As we came off of the last bridge an older gentleman(60) I now know was Miguel Gomez-Verdun had the audacity to pass me :) We stayed close and I pushed hard to the finish but he just had more than me at the end. He finished 20 seconds in front of me and I crossed the line in 20:10 (20:13 officially). Sad to say but thats my best 3K since August of last year. But its an improvement over what I've been doing so I'm pretty happy with it.