What makes someone feel strong before a race, I wonder? Three weeks ago I felt great a day or two before the Scotland Run. I basically knew I was going to PR, and had to hold myself back running the day before the race.
At the adidas Run for the Parks four-miler today, no such luck. I just felt … not sluggish, exactly. But not strong, either. My legs weren’t spry. I didn’t do terribly, but I was 27 seconds slower than my time in the Snowflake 4M on Feb. 25. I ran it in 26:15 (26:21 gun), a 6:33 pace. It was WET and rainy the entire race. I was 138th of 3,647 runners, and 131 of 2,017 men.
At about a mile and a half in I found myself running with this little kid, who was seriously up to about my waist, keeping pace with my 6:30 min/miles. I think he is the 10-year-old listed in the results, although I would have guessed he was even younger. I lost him when I had to stop to tie my shoelace.
Then in mile three my shoelace came undone again … I might look into some lace locks or something, because that’s ridiculous. A Reservoir Dog runner, Robert Gillespie, passed me and I worked to catch up to him, doing so in the fourth mile. After the final turn with just a few hundred feet to go he tried to pass me and I accelerated, breaking into one last kick. I thought I had outdistanced him and let up with just feet to go … and caught him out of the corner of my eye passing me as we hit the finish mats. Jeez, it was that kind of day.
Come on, dude, DOUBLE KNOTS! Didn’t the flyers teach you anything? 🙂 Well, I didn’t even have the %$^& to get out and run today, so I’m not one to talk.
there’s a thread on the flyer forums that would probably be helpful for you 🙂
It was a tough day for everybody…
Uh, could the drinking until 3 a.m. on Friday night have anything to do with you being sluggish? I wonder. It is all such a mystery.
I utilize the “surgeon’s” knot and it hasn’t failed me yet…easy to tie…holds like a champ (two full marathons!) and easy to untie:-)
Yay TRD;)
wow – you were one of those nuts out racing in that weather! kudos to you!
Hey, I ran across your blog while looking up blogs from the race this weekend. I ran it, and even though you had to stop and tie your shoes twice and were a little dissapointed with your finish, you still beat me by 15 seconds. You got my competetive juices flowing- the next time I’m racing in new york I’ll have you in my sights :-). Seriously, looking back at your previous races it sounds like we run very similar times- I’ll look out for you.
I flew in for the race from Austin, TX, and wrote about my experience on my blog. If you ever find yourself running in the ATX you can look me up.
Never stop pushing until you are a few feet past the finish line. To use an analogy you can understand, remember to swing through the ball. Keep the momentum going.
Agree. That should be a leason. You should be accelerating when you cross the finish line every time. I mean there is nothing else to save the energy for anyway since the race is done. Another two or three steps of running isn’t going to break you.