March 15, 2009

Is the headline writer here? Whattya got? No that's not it. Wait, how 'bout "Are You Fucking Kidding Me?!"

New Bedford 1/2: Last year- 1:12:33, best 1/2 I ever had, by quite a chunk.

This year- 1:10:26

That's right. A 2+ minute PR.

A quick rundown of a personal NB 1/2 history:

2004 1:15:14 - 5:45 pace

2007 1:14:19 - 5:41 pace

2008 1:12:33 - 5:32 pace

2009 1:10:26 - 5:22 pace

Perfect conditions and I ran about as smart as I could. Brendan Lynch, otherwise known as The Nicest Fast Guy You'll Ever Meet, asked me at the starting line if I was shooting for 70 or so. "No, that's crazy. I'm just hoping for something under 72." I thought I was being quietly optimistic. Brendan insisted that as Amherst showed, I'm much stronger later this year and that I really should be thinking bigger. So I did. Went through 9 at 5:21 pace and felt strongest at that point. I flew through 10 and 11 and even did most of 12 quick until the hill, which I still did in 5:30 (my slowest mile.)

Overall I came in 26th, beat the USATF age guideline and was the first Whirlyman again. Tom ran 1:12 even and smoked it. Justin got 1:14 coming off a nasty cold. We're going to kill Boston and now I actually think that sub 2:30 (maybe not at Boston, but certainly at Bay State) is possible, if not likely.

I am doing things I've never done, and each race and even each training run brings something exciting.

2 mile warmup, race and 4 mile cooldown makes 19 for the day, which makes 70 for the week.

M-10

Tu-10

W-5.5

Th-13.2

Fr-6.5

Sa-6

Su-19

week: 70