Five College Realtors 10 Miler, Amherst MA, Feb 22nd. I love this race, but as I've started to loathe road racing, I skipped it the last few years. I found the race in 2008 when I had just moved to Mass and ran it five years in a row, with 2010 being perhaps my best road race ever. Usually this race is on the USATF-NE road racing circuit, and it was again this year, so it gets the fast guys from around the region. The course is tough and slow (for a road race) with lots of climbing and a dirt road stretch that is usually snow-covered. So, a great winter race to see how your year to come is shaping up. My history here:
2012- 27th, 55:03
2011- 5th, 55:37 (not a Grand Prix year)
2010- 8th, 53:04
2009- 23rd, 55:16
2008- 3rd, 54:40 (not a Grand Prix year)
I decided I'd run this year, wearing old clunky trainers that I haven't used since going more minimal in 2012. (This was an effort to minimize the foot burning that usually slows me down in road races.) I felt great for a conservative first 2 miles (10:38). The pace felt fine, which was surprising, because I do very little training at this pace. Per the plan, I worked the climbs from mile 2.5-4, getting into 15th place or so. The dirt road mile was very snowy, and though I had hit 4 miles in 22:06 (net uphill), this flat mile on the snow was over 5:30 (through 5 miles in 27:40). I felt good and enjoyed the downhills and flats through mile 8, where my good achilles started hurting, no doubt thanks to the stiff shoes that I wasn't accustomed to. This really held me back for the last 2 miles and I couldn't cover a move as I got passed, hanging on to 16th in 54:38. I think that achilles pain cost me 15-20 seconds over the last 2 miles and I'll need a few days off now to be sure it doesn't spin off into a major injury. But it was nice to make a brief return to the roads and mix it up with these guys. My 2nd best time here and 2nd best grand-prix finish for this race.
Results: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/15/ma/Feb22_FiveCo_set1.shtml
2012- 27th, 55:03
2011- 5th, 55:37 (not a Grand Prix year)
2010- 8th, 53:04
2009- 23rd, 55:16
2008- 3rd, 54:40 (not a Grand Prix year)
I decided I'd run this year, wearing old clunky trainers that I haven't used since going more minimal in 2012. (This was an effort to minimize the foot burning that usually slows me down in road races.) I felt great for a conservative first 2 miles (10:38). The pace felt fine, which was surprising, because I do very little training at this pace. Per the plan, I worked the climbs from mile 2.5-4, getting into 15th place or so. The dirt road mile was very snowy, and though I had hit 4 miles in 22:06 (net uphill), this flat mile on the snow was over 5:30 (through 5 miles in 27:40). I felt good and enjoyed the downhills and flats through mile 8, where my good achilles started hurting, no doubt thanks to the stiff shoes that I wasn't accustomed to. This really held me back for the last 2 miles and I couldn't cover a move as I got passed, hanging on to 16th in 54:38. I think that achilles pain cost me 15-20 seconds over the last 2 miles and I'll need a few days off now to be sure it doesn't spin off into a major injury. But it was nice to make a brief return to the roads and mix it up with these guys. My 2nd best time here and 2nd best grand-prix finish for this race.
Results: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/15/ma/Feb22_FiveCo_set1.shtml
Don't blame the shoes! Great race.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you out there, Drew, glad you came out of road hibernation for it! I wish I could have been more helpful for the second half, instead I was doing all I could just to keep you in sight! Thanks for including a picture where I was closer!
ReplyDelete...Had that race been 400 meters longer, you'd have caught me! Hence all the backwards glances. Good effort out there, it was fun!
ReplyDelete