June 13th, 2010

Redemption.
Day of Portugal 5k. Arrived early, knowing that winning $250 last year with a 16:01 that I sandbagged the fist mile on was a fluke.
Lo and behold, after a nice warmup with Jimmy Q and Mo Hamcha (2 of the coolest racers you'll find,) saw the Kenyan contingent. Joe Koech, Titus and Ben Ndaya. Plus, Tim Richard was there. Oy.
The last 3 weeks have not been good and I was beginning to question everything I was doing. Funny thing is that I was really quite relaxed, knowing that no matter what, I was going to run, period.
Saw Chrissy off to the side at the start and have to say that put things in perspective, as she's been through hell lately and just the fact that she came out to watch a race and smile and take in the day was probably just the thing I needed to see to get my own head straight about what I was about to do. And so it was. The race started with a shout and off we went. I was out front, not looking at my watch, but going pretty easily at @ a 5:03 or so. Up came Koech and Ben and Tim and some kid from Fall River and at the mile, I was 5:03 and was in 5th by 5 seconds or so, which was OK, because I didn't feel gassed, but I also didn't want to try to catch Koech, who Ndaya had gone with, and as always, I wondered if he'd come back. I passed the kid from Fall River @ 1.5 and then it was Koech, Tim and Ndaya int hat order and I was alone in 4th, knowing Titus was back there somewhere and who knows who else. At 2, Ben was a good 10-12 seconds ahead and I certainly hadn't given in, even though I went through mile 2 at a 5:15, thinking, OK, this isn't like last week, I still feel like I have something. And I did.
I started picking it up, using the arms, leaning in, breathing hard. We hit the turns and he looked back. I needed that.
I was 7 seconds back as we hit Acushnet. 1/2 mile to go. 800 meters. I started to really think about making a move, wondering what kind of a kick Ben would have left after following Koech out when he broke so fast at the mile.
With a 1/4 to go, I saw Chrissy and she shouted, "He's hurting Joe! He's really hurting! You can get him!" These Anderson's, man. They sure are there when you need that next gear.
I just began to crank and passed him hard and just kept going. I finally looked back with a 100 to go and I saw that I had it. I hadn't even thought about the time and hadn't checked my pace in a while. I figured I'd just squeak under 16, maybe, but who cares, this was just a great race, mentally and otherwise. The clock came into view and I saw "15:30-something" Holy shit. I'm not setting any PR's but I'm well under 16. I motored home and came in as it hit 15:47.
The $150 I won helps for sure, but the redemption is in knowing that I ran 14 seconds faster than last year and I did it after everything I've run this year has been slower than the last. Had a great time hanging with everyone after and also got comped for Fairhaven next week by the RD. Can't wait for that one. I need a 15:51 to take home an extra $100 (break my own course record.) Should be fun.

M-7
T-10
W-10
Th-10
Fr-10
Sa-6
Su-8 (Day of Portugal 5k - 15:47)

week: 61 miles.