RIT Indoor Open Meet #1

Sunday was the first indoor track meet of the series, and Mike and I entered the 3000 meter race.  We were joined at the meet by Ryan who wasn’t racing but served as coach and photographer.  Last year I ran the 3000 at the first meet of the series with a time of 9:35 (5:08 pace) this year  was shooting for sub 9:20 (5:00 pace).  Mike had the same goal and we planned to run as close to even splits as possible.  If we could it 37 second laps we would be in good shape to hit our goal.

There were 14 people in our heat (the “fast” heat) as not unexpectedly a few of the younger guys jumped out to fast start, but I tried to stay relaxed and ran a 37 second first lap which had me running in 4th place.  Mike was 1 GVH runner behind me at that point but we were in a tight pack so it didn’t really matter.  The next 600 meters flew by right on pace, the 3 runners now ahead of me had opened up a 5-6 second gap so at 800 meters I made a move to try and close the gap but after a hard 150 meters didn’t put me up with them a settled back in to a more steady pace.

At that point Mike passed the GVH runner who he had been running behind and moved up on my shoulder.  I was looking forward to him going by me so he could pull me along for a few laps, but he quickly settled back in behind me.

By 1600 meters I was still feeling pretty good.  I was glad to have just 7 laps left and was right on pace with a 4:56 (4:58 mile pace).  By 2000 meters the pain was really starting to settle in.  With 1000 meters to go I had to run a 3:10 or better to hit my goal.  I was starting to seriously doubt I could hold the pace and dangerous thoughts like “whatever happens you will run a PR” starting going through my head.  Lucky at about that same time Ryan starting shouting that the lead pack was coming back to us.  Sure enough, 2 of the 3 people ahead of me were starting to flag and with 800 to go I begain my final push to the finish.  The grueling 6×800 meter workout Mike and I had done a few weeks ago at U of R gave me the confidence I needed to start hammering with 4 laps to go.

Mike told me after the race that he had been planning on making a move on me at 800 meters to try and steal my finishing kick, and it might have worked if I hadn’t decided to make the same move on the leaders.

With 400 meters to go  Mike and I passed 2 of the 3 leaders with out much resistance.  They just let us by without any fight, which was good because at that point I was running as hard as I could already.

During the bell lap I did everything I could to try and catch the leader.  Despite running a 33-34 second final lap I just couldn’t reel him in.

I was able however, to run a 20 second PR and finished with a 9:15.09.  Mike also ran a massive PR and finished with a time of 9:17.90,  I’m not sure what his old 3000 meter PR was but I’m pretty sure it was at least 30 seconds slower than he ran Sunday.  It was a great start to the indoor season for both Mike and I.  My next race is the 1 mile on January 16th.  Mike may or may not be running the 5000m at the Upstate Holiday Classic on Thursday Decemeber 30th.  As always the River Road Running Club did a great job with the meet, getting all the races to go off smoothly and updating the results quickly.  Full meet results here.

Winter Track

Trackkill Racing doesn’t have the same ring to it as Roadkill Racing, but for the next few months that is what we will be doing.  RIT has a series of 4 open track meets that several RKR members will be racing in.

The meets are put on the River Road Running club and feature track only events 55 meters to 5000 meters.  Each month in Dec, Jan, Feb, and March they choose a few different races and an occasional relay event.  This is my 3rd year running in the series and they always do a great job with timing, and moving things along.

For the first meet on December 19th Mike and I are going to be racing the 3000.  Last year I ran 9:35 but hope to improve on that by 15-20 seconds.  We had a great 6×800 meter workout on Friday at the U of R track which is much slower than the RIT track.  I’m hoping that workout translates into a good race next Sunday.  Stay tuned for race results.

Jingle Bell 5K in Brighton, NY

Josh and I competed in the Jingle Bell 5K this morning, and the race went quite well. The weather has been chilly lately–a small dusting of snow last night had made the Brighton neighborhoods’ roads a bit slick during our warm-up. Fortunately, the small patches of ice had either melted by the time the race began or they really were of no consequence anyway.

At the starting line at 9 AM sharp, we didn’t notice any of the fastest local guys around…until about 10 seconds before the gun, I spotted Jeff Beck to my right wearing a Santa Claus hat and elf shoes. He would go on to win in a pedestrian time (for him) of 16:05.

We maintained a strong pace for the first mile, which contained the only uphill portion of the course (and it’s a very mild uphill). Jeff was out in front along with Dave Bischoff and another guy, about 10 to 20 meters ahead of me and Josh. We passed Dave after about 1000 meters, and then Josh made a nice push, pulling me along with him, to catch Jeff and the other guy before completing the first mile.

We came through the first mile in 4:58. This was either the easiest 4:58 I’ve ever run (less likely) or the mile mark was a bit short (more likely). In either case, I felt great, but Josh and I were both a little stunned by the split, so we eased off the pace as Jeff Beck and the other guy slowly opened up a gap. Over the next few minutes, I began convince myself that the mile mark was probably short and that we probably shouldn’t have backed off the pace, especially considering how well we were running (I later found out that Josh felt as good as I did, maybe better). We traded off small surges throughout the middle mile but mostly ran shoulder to shoulder.

Around the turn into the third mile, Josh suddenly opened up a 5 to 10 second gap that I was never able to close. Maybe this came during a small lapse in concentration or a brief moment of weakness. In either case, these types of things seem to happen sometimes during races, even when I’m feeling strong. It’s difficult to understand because there really was no point where I felt like I was in agony and couldn’t push the pace more. I need to work on simply sticking to a competitor like glue. The photo below depicts Josh smoking me down the stretch.

We finished 3rd and 4th overall–Josh in 16:29 and me in 16:40. That’s a post-collegiate 5K PR for Josh and 3 seconds faster than last year for me. Although I feel like I could have run a better time, I am excited by how strong I felt throughout the race. Hopefully this bodes well for the upcoming indoor track season.

Official results are here.

Turkey Trot Glory

It is Turkey Trotting time, and many of the Roadkill Racers got up early Thursday morning to preburn a few hundred calories.  Travis (results), Rob (results) and I returned to our hometowns while Mike and Chanse stayed in Rochester to do the Race with Grace 10K (results).

My race was the 102 running (althought the location has changed a few times) of the Mid-Husdon Road Runners Club 5 mile Turkey Trot.  Many runners, including my Dad who isn’t inclined to complaining, think this is the worst race course they have ever run.  Personally I don’t think it is that bad, but that might be because I just ran a PR on it.  The “problem” with the course is that it rises 300+ feet in the first mile (mostly in the last 600 meters of the first mile) before slowly windy down about 100 feet to a turn around.  Of course once you turn around you have to wind back uphill that 100 feet then it is a dash down the steep hill and a flat 1000 meter sprint to the finish.

 

I decided to let the gaggle of high school runners toe the line, knowing that in all likely hood they would fade by mile 2 (they faded before mile 1) and took a spot next to Knox Robinson and Mike Slinskey.  I figured one or both would break 27 minutes and would be good runners to key off of.  We got out to a fairly slow start and heading into the first steep hill 3 of the runners seperated from the pack and I got caught in between for about a minute before settling in as we drudged up the hill for a lackluster 5:50 mile.

As we crested the top of the first hill Knox and I broke from the pack and by the turn around had opened a 15-20 second gap on Mike and another runner.  We hit the turn at 14:13 and I knew my hopes of breaking 27:30 were finished, but I was only worried about winning the race at that point and just stuck to Knox like glue.  It was great to be cheered on by so many of the other runners as we headed past them to the finish.  We had really picked up the pace but I didn’t know by how much as there were no splits for miles 2 or 3, as we crested the top of the last hill Knox slide to the other side of the road.  I assume this was to try and hide a surge, but we both flew down the hill so fast there was no way either of us could gain any advantage. 

In the picture above Knox took his largest lead since before mile 1, but it was short lived as I passed him back a few hundred meters down the road.

We ran elbow to elbow until I made my finishing kick 75 meters from the line.  I ended up edging out the win by a few seconds, and when I looked down at my watch I was shocked.  We had run back in under 13 minutes giving me a finishing time of 27:06 which is a new PR.  It is also 50 seconds faster than I ran on this same course last year.  There is no way I could have run so fast if I had run the race like a time trial worrying about my splits.  It was only by forgetting about my watch and running the race that I was able to run my best.

I think Hazel’s expression about says it all.  Results Here.