Sept. 12th, 2010

9 miles. Mighty Meehan 5k.
I went into this race last year coming off a strong (and surprising) Acushnet 4.1 miler where I held 5:06 pace and a Ollie Road Race the day prior where I'd closed with a 4:52 mile. I went on to run 15:39 and run even throughout, clocking 5:02's the whole way through.
This year. I've had up and down training, strange but excellent racing, (consisting of last week at Acushnet, where I ran 1 second faster than last year, but was alone the last 2 miles, unlike last year,) and a gimpy hamstring to thank for it all.
Running yesterday didn't exactly fill me with confidence, as the area behind my knee had been tight for 24 hours prior and didn't seem to be liking the easy running or the strides warming up. Nonetheless, I came to Dennis to run.
This race is a New England Runner Magazine Pub Series race again and thusly, all the usual suspects were there.
The two guys jockeying for the overall lead in the series are TJ Unger and Lee Danforth, both HFC runners.
I don't know much about TJ, other than he's young, around 6'4" and fast at short stuff. Lee is 32 and has a kick that is becoming legendary.
I warmed up for a little over 2 miles and did some strides. Everyone seemed to know about my hammy and was asking how it was.
I've always disdained excuses, but i had to be honest and just replied with a "We'll see..." knowing that it sure felt like it could either go the distance, blow up at 2 miles, or immediately as I asked it to run 5 minute pace.
Having all the Whirly guys there with me certainly eased my brain a bit, so at least I was relaxed. I had total confidence in my aerobic fitness, it was just the leg that couldn't be ignored.
The gun went off and I found myself quickly in 3rd, running into a nasty headwind with TJ up front and good friend Jason Cakouros just behind him.
I was doing OK with the leg, but the breathing into the wind was already a little tough at the 1/2 mile and neither guy was letting up, not to mention that with this Pub field, there were 15 other guys right there as well.
We hit a turn and Jason dropped back just a few feet and now I was just behind TJ.
Another turn and a slight drop and I found a burst of speed that got me in front by a few feet, a gap quickly closed by TJ and we went through 1 together in 5:03, a little slower than I'd like, but the wind didn't help. Luckily, by now, I was feeling fully warm and started to hammer the hills (which were barely even that, but they were welcome little rollers than broke it up nicely for a hill-lover like me.)
I checked my watch and it had me doing 4:58 pace.
Nice.
I had opened a 20 foot lead by mile 2 (4:58) and now looked to just get through the next 1/2 mile in one piece. The winds had been deflected for the most part and now I was really striding long and hard. I looked at the watch at 2.5 and it said 4:59 for a average mile pace. I was hoping to see just a 5:05 and to start lowering it, but now I was playing a little game in my head of seeing if I could get it even lower.
I didn't know what kind of a lead I had, so I glanced back as I round a sharp corner. TJ was only 5-7 seconds back and likely saw me look.
"Stupid, stupid stupid," I was thinking, as I certainly hadn't saved much if this became a sprint to the wire and I'd just given him all the incentive he'd need to make the race just that.
I really poured it on, remembering to keep the body together and not flail. I approached the rotary at 2.9 and a spectator said "You're all alone! No one close!" which was a sweet thing to hear, but I didn't trust it.
I cranked it up as I saw 3 approaching and hit that in 4:57. I could see the clock a few moments later and it was ticking just past 15:07.
Good lord.
I started to sprint and it took forever to get there, but as I crossed the line, I got one last look as it just turned to "15:24."
Oh my.
I looked at my watch and it said the same. I got through the chute and looked back to see Lee (who'd, of course, clipped TJ with that insane kick) come in at 15:39 (what I ran last year,) followed by TJ in 15:42.
Jason and Terry McNatt came in next and Jiimmy Q and Sean Doherty were in the mix as well. Everyone had a PR it seemed, though the course was legit. I guess this is just what you get when you get a close, uber-competitive field together on a crisp day with a nice tailwind.
Whatever it was, it worked for me and everyone else.
This destroys my previous PR at the distance and sets me up nicely for CVS next weekend, where there's a considerably more ridiculous national/international field and I'll be lucky to come in 40th.
Went for a cooldown with everyone after and then had a blast at the after-party.
Great day and makes me very happy about where I'm at as I stare 40 in the eye.

M- 8
T- 13
W- 19 (15/4)
Th- 15 (10.5/4.5)
F- 8
Sa- 10
Su- 9

week- 82 miles