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Comments: My observations this year are exactly the same as last year except my pace this time was quite a bit faster. A lot of runners lined up further up than they should have and caused congestion early on, and several started up fast only to slow down and fall back very quickly - those early hills discourage people. This year my goal was a very ambitious 22:00, or just over 7:00 minutes/mile. I had my doubts coming in whether I'd be able to pull it off. In training I had only managed 2 miles at 7:00 pace and at the end of those I'd feel fried. I hit the course hard and ended up with a 6:44 first mile - very fast for me. Again, like last year, I slowed down on the second mile, and although I had put some time in the bank early on, at the end of the second mile I was just on pace to hit my goal. On the third mile I managed to find something extra and pushed harder. At some point during the 3rd mile, I was passing some walkers and slow runners still on their first loop, and a guy on the side started yelling at some of them "Let the elites pass!" - which was cool to hear because I've certainly never thought of myself as elite! With about 1/2 mile to go, a guy passed me and started pulling away but I decided that I'd try to keep pace and maybe take him near the end. I managed to stay about 20-30 feet back, and even started closing the gap near the end. I never passed him but he did pull me and gave me a quick 3rd mile, coming in 19 seconds under my goal and a full 2 minutes 30 seconds faster than my time last year and new PR! I'm happy to see my year-over-year improvement in my 2nd year of racing, this being my first race this year. What would you do differently?: Maybe not go as hard at the beginning? Not sure. Definitely train more. This year I've improved a lot since last year, and got close to an age group medal, I'll try to make that happen next year.  Post race
Warm down: Sat down at the nearest spot I could find after the finish line! My family was close and came by and there were hugs and high-fives all around. I saw my friend John finish a few seconds after me and he came over and chatter for a bit before heading home. I ate half a bagel and had some more accelerade. As soon as I saw in the results that I wasn't in the top 3 on my age group, I took off (my son had lacrosse practice!) so I didn't partake in any of the post-race stuff or watch the awards. What limited your ability to perform faster: More continuous training over the winter (if I manage to keep my legs injury-free). And although I've dropped a great deal of weight in the past 2 years, there's probably 5-10 more pounds that can go. Event comments: Good race. Everyone has a very positive attitude. Will definitely do again next year. This is becoming my yardstick for measuring my running ability. Last updated: 2009-04-05 12:00 AM
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United States
ARC of Essex
50F / 10C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 26/420
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 4/34
I got up at 6:00, took a shower, and had a bowl of honey clusters with soy milk and coffee. My wife was sick but decided that she would come with the kids and watch even though I told her she didn't have to - but I'm glad they were there and appreciated the support. We arrived at brookdale park around 9:00. The lady at check-in told me to wait for a minute after she gave me my packet, and got the director of the ARC who came by to tell me that most likely for the 2nd year in a row I was their top fundraiser - cool!!
Jogged 1/2 mile, stretched. I took a 2x caffeine espresso love GU with about 40 minute to the race, washed it down with accelerade. Then took another GU (strawberry banana) with 15 minutes to go, drank water. There were 2 things I was undecided about - whether to wear my garmin 305 (decided I would) and whether to keep my sweatshirt on for the race as it felt cold and damp (I took it off). I lined up about 3 rows from the front, and saw my friend John almost next to me. We wished eachoter luck and off we went.