54:42, 20th place overall, 1st place Whirlaway Open team. Went out in 27:41, came back in 27:01.
To say I'm happy with today's race is a massive understatement. Holy crap.
Great field. Tough, hard course. All the usual suspects were there and I mean all. I started out in the 4th row and was just fine with that as I knew it would thin out relatively quickly and it would keep me honest.
I went through Mile 1 in 5:20 and 2 in 5:07 as the smallest of the rollers showed their asphalt faces.
Next was 5:36 as it went to the start of what I thought was a bit of an uphill. Then I remembered what the altitude map of this course looked like and that it showed 2.75-4 as having a consistent grade that started at 100 feet and went to 500. Ouch. Went through 4 in 5:55 and was surprised it wasn't worse. I found out after the race that more than one guy around me went through that mile in 6:05 or more. It took me a bit to recover on the other side of that one and suddenly I found myself having gone through 5 in 27:41; not exactly what I wanted, but everyone I know who's run this thing said to add a minute to one's total, at least. Last year's results bear that truth, as a number of guys who I know are capable of faster totals seemed to have a hard time on this course, including the Western Mass. mountain goats like Verrington and Dunham. That said, it should be noted that Pat Tarpy not only beat Pat Moulton by over a minute and a half (!!!), but he ran under 50 minutes to boot (49:51) That's just nuts.
Regardless, back in what "I-thought-was-fast" land, at 5 miles I said "Screw this," and set out to catch people. I hadn't gotten passed since mile 1 and I didn't want to become roadkill, but I also didn't want to play it safe and not pick anyone up and finish somewhere around just under 56 and in 30th or further down.
So, I started to lengthen the stride, pay more attention to my shoulders and chest, use my arms, cruise down hills and drive up them. Andrew Wommack was about 30 seconds ahead of me and I know he's a GBTC guy, and I love getting GBTC guys. He's a good guy and a great runner, but I know I'm better going up hills and I just had to keep him in sight going down. I went through 6 in 5:19, 7 in 5:10. He was getting closer and I passed Jim Johnson at this point, also a good one. I knew I had Verrington and Scollard as well as the rest of my own team (and all sorts of guys whose backs I've seen for years) behind me, so I knew I had to be at least a little careful, but also keep the pedal down. I went through 8 in 5:16 and passed Wommack going uphill at 8.7. I wasn't giving him anything and as another uphill came, I hit it, knowing he wasn't going to gain on me there, but also knowing there was a downhill finish, so if he had any chance to get me, it would happen there. Went through 9 in 5:23 and 10 was a mostly uphill and thankful downhill 5:36.
Wommack finished 7 seconds behind me and I could see him coming around as the race finished with one lap around a parking lot. I held him off and in the process came frighteningly close to catching Matt Clark of CMS.
I went in to this race thinking about getting a top 30 finish and surviving for a sub 56 on a brutal course. I wasn't even sure I would place on the team. Instead, I led the team, came in 20th, was the oldest guy in the top 20 (by far) and ran my second fastest 10 mile time on a cracker of a course. The miles are working. I am becoming the late-race animal I always thought must just be one of the elements I'm missing; that thing that only the young or talented have. As it turns out, for me it's not toughness that gets such speed down on the pavement (though it helps,) it's work.
m- 14
t- 21
w- 10
th- 11
f- 8
sa- 6
su- 15
week: 85 miles
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