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| finally running on the last lap |
I have gotten used to things happening on time in road races. 8:00 a.m. gun fires, you start running. At a track meet, you wait until the previous events on the program have completed - and you have to feel it out. So there I stood, with my spikes on about half an hour before the race started. I nervously jogged back and forth on the backstretch as the officials leisurely watched the heats of the 60 hurdles. There seemed to be no urgency. I was however becoming quite nervous, realizing how much younger and more prepared these kids were for a race this short. My legs started to feel the 94 miles I'd run in the last five days. Finally, we got called over to the starting line. As we stepped to our marks, I could tell the guy on my outside intended to cut down right in front of me. So at least I still have some track instincts. The gun fired and my right side neighbor jumped right in front. I went straight to the back of the pack. The pace felt so fast. I felt like I was leaning at a ridiculous angle on the first two curves. We hit the first 200 in 33. Slow as crap and I felt like I was gunning it all out. The next three laps weren't much better, as I stayed in last place. after the half, I finally started to feel like a runner and started to pick people off. It was way too late though. By the time I had clawed my way into the race, the kick had started up front. I was able to at least finish respectably, catching a few guys in the last lap, but I flapped across the finish line in 4:17, getting 7th place out of 13 runners.
I wasn't sure how to feel about this.
I did this race in the midst of a 133 mile week, almost exactly five years after the last time I ran a mile on a track. almost five years since I'd even been on an indoor track. Still, I should be able to run faster than 4:17. I split 4:06 on a relay in college after sitting out for two weeks with injury. I could go on all day.
I was also supposed to run the 3000m, but decided to cut my losses and go for a longer cool down.
Something great happened though---
All I wanted to do after the race was go out and run as far as I could stand to. I didn't do that, because I also wanted to watch some bad movies and drink beer at home. But as I cooled down, I realized that terrible race had completely sucked out my will to compete. It's February, I'm trying to run fast in April through June. Right now, running miles is the only thing I need to do. So I'm doing that and loving it, with only a glimmer of desire to race other people. I'm sure I'll get that back in a couple months when it's more reasonable.
Last week:::::
| 133 miles - total (8 runs)
| 1 mile indoor track - 4:17.04
| long run - 25 mi
| ~25 PowerBars consumed
