2013 Silver Comet RR

Nothing really earth shattering on this one so it will not go on the sidebar but it does merit a full post.

Training:
Recovered from a disastrous month in February to post a decent first week of March.  I was near PR form only 6 weeks earlier and should not have lost much fitness.  I still believed that I was capable of a sub-40 but I'd need to be 100% for that to happen.  Warming up, I pretty much knew that it was not going to happen but I would give it a shot anyway.  I really was not too sluggish but I had a trace of abnormal stiffness in the IT band.  I did not feel like I had a ton of power and had to put forth effort to hit race pace in warm up.  It felt like I was just one of those "tiny slivers" from being in tip-top form and that's about how I performed.  In a 40 minute race, a 1% drop represents a 24 second loss.  I felt like I was about 3% off form so I predicted a time in the low 41s.  My CR set in 2011 was 40:55, which was possible but unlikely. 

Trip:
Nothing to report here.  It was a smooth ride on I-20, which is a road that I could drive in my sleep.  I got to Nick's by 7:30 after leaving work a couple of hours early.

Course:
Rolling for the first 3K with a hill at the beginning and a fairly tough one just after Mile 1.  The final 7K was on a paved trail with a flat-almost imperceptible decline.  It's certainly a PR course and I really wish I was completely healthy because on my best day, I could go well under 40.

Race:
  I had planned to go out more conservative this time but once again, it didn't happen.  I was moving well up the first hill but was already getting stiff in the legs and was beginning to breath heavily.  After a half mile, we went downhill steadily and my pace increased.  I looked down to see a 1st mile split that was too fast.  I intentionally backed off going uphill then attempted to pick up the pace on the trail.  As expected, there was not much there.  Still, I managed a brief increase early in Mile 3 to hit 5K around 20 flat.  Looks like I have a chance to CR.  Mile 4 was definitely a struggle but my split was not as bad as I feared.  4 runners passed me on the trail but my pace remained steady near 6:40 for Mile 5.  Time to push hard now with a Mile to go.  The effort increased but the pace did not.  I was just struggling to stay at the same speed.  Another runner began to gain on me in the homestretch but I managed to keep him behind me by 3 seconds at the finish.  He looked to be near my age too and I thought that perhaps I had out-kicked him for 3rd in my AG.  In any event, it appeared to be mine to lose at the 6 Mile mark but the race ended on a bit of an incline and I had very little kick left.  I still thought I had it up until about 50 yards to go.  In the end, I ran out of time by 3 seconds but I did manage to break 41.  The official time was 40:58 and it was only good enough for 4th place in my age group.  I needed a 40:19 to place.  Nick PR'd by more than a minute with a 47:39.  Way to go!  Next up is Rumpshaker (local 5K) in 3 weeks.  I'm hoping to hit the intervals hard and do 1 good long run over the weekend.

Splits:
6:12 downhill last .5
6:35 (12:47) uphill
6:29 (19:16) trail
6:42 (25:58) trail
6:42 (32:40) trail
6:45 (39:25) trail
1:33 (6:20ish pace for .24) slight rise

Final thought:
A respectable performance especially considering the hell that my body has been through but I'm sick of the "all things considered" excuse.  I want results and the healing that I thought I had last year.  A non-improvement over 2 years is unsatisfactory.  I really don't feel that I am any better off than I was 2 years ago.  A sub-41 is still within 9 ticks per mile of the goal and it's a lenient "A-".