Quest For Boston

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  What a great way to start off the holiday.  8:30 A.M. start worked out perfectly as I slid the stuffed turkey into the oven at 7:30 and made my way out to the race.  Weather was pretty exceptional with temps in the low 50's and a clear sunny day.

     I came into this race with absolutely no idea what to expect.  Having done no speed work- unless you count long races and tempo runs as speed work for a 5k. Plus the legs no longer seem to have a second gear.  I seem to be able to run as fast as I can for as long as I want-  sort of.  I was hoping for 6 minute miles as I felt I could possibly take advantage of my big base. That's exactly what happened except they were 6:04 miles and every mile I ran was right about there.

     I kept the leader in view the whole way and with just over a mile and a long gradual uphill and down hill I made a move.  The gap started to close and by the time the leader hit the bottom of the hill I had closed the gap from 150 yards to about 50.  As he took the corner I saw him peek over his shoulder and I thought I had him.  Sadly, as I rounded the same corner he had accelerated and started extending the lead again.  I had nothiong to respond with and slowly watched him pull away.  If he hadn't responded so strongly I probably would have run a bit faster for the final 1/2 mile but I didn't.  Sadly I missed a p.r. by 3 seconds. Still Thanksgiving dinner was awesome and there was no guilt about overeating.  One more race to go and my season is over.  It can't get here quick enough.

Today marked the end of the racing season for me.  It's been a pretty hard 2 months with a 30 mile relay contribution;marathon; half-marathon and 2 5k's  and I was soo happy to see it all come to an end.  The course seemed a bit long and my Garmin confirmed it.  Garmin milage was 3.35 miles which explains my slow time.  I definetly felt like I ran a better race than that.

     This is one of my favorite races, as it is the High Schools x-country course and it brings back a lot of good memories of my own high school days.  The past 3 years I've managed to finish 4th in every one.  So of course I'd have to finish 4th again this year.  It actualy looked pretty good for that to change with about half the race to go as I passed a couple of youngsters and started to chase after the leader.  Oops. I probably should have waited a little longer.  I faded badly the final mile and was once again delegated to 4th.  My legs are definetly feeling the effects of a lot of hard miles the last month.  There was just no second gear to turn to today.

1st mile 5:58

2nd mile 6:03

3rd mile 5:50

fianl .35 according to Garmin- 1:47

If the Garmin is correct I would have been very close to a P.R for a 5k if it had been the correct distance, but what can you do.  I was very happy with my performance especially for an off road course.

8.8 miles in 1:10 7:56 pace

Day after a 5k.  I used to take these days off but a 5k just doesn't seem to bother me much anymore.  That's nice to say.  Maybe I'm running them too slowly.  If only I had another gear.  After Boston I may have to seriously think about finding some more leg speed.

     Dave and I went out fairly easily for the first 3.5 but ended up finishing the last 5 in 7:40's.  Not exactly ideal long run pace but it really wasn't much of a long run.  Felt great with no feeling of going too fast.

7.5 miles at 8:17 pace

Pat stopped by and talked me into a run.  It didn't take much effort on his part.  Feeling great after yesterdays run and felt good today to. Off day tommorrow?