Race Report: MRTC RRS 10 MILER

 

RACE REPORT

MRTC RRS 2^nd 10Miler

DATE/TIME: 23Oct2016@ 0700				RACE COURSE Shelby Forest					Total: 10 miles
1 -06:40.9 Finding Rhythm 2 -07:05.1 3 -06:55.6 Losing Haskins 4 -06:56.1 5 -06:59.3 Passed by Lauren 6 -06:54.8 First Big Hill 7 -07:11.8 Second Big Hill 8 -06:54.7 reeling Haskins 9 -06:55.0 into the ravine 10 -06:38.8 Kick						Narrative: - Keep Haskins in view - It’s not over
Overall 27th of 831	Gender 24th of 378		Age Group 2 of 73		Award 2nd AG			Official Time 1:09:09		Pace 6:54	Bib 984
HEART RATE MAX: 170/181 BPM							Cadence 187Avg/235Max – Avg Stride length 1.23m
TEMP/WEATHER: 45°F at Sunny
Shoe		Nike 2015 Free 5.0 Pink
Attire		Nike 2inch shorts, Nike Dry-fit Pink “Breast Cancer” shirt, Nike - High-Compression socks
Timer		Garmin 225 Forerunner
Injury/Ailment		Twinge right hamstring
Day Before		Slept in. Light 4 miler. Stayed off my feet most of the day.
Pre-Race		Got up at 5AM. Stuff was already packed and ready. Got in a bottle of water and Granola bar. Got to the race at 5:45. Stayed in car for a nap. Got up for a warmup at 6:25 but that only gave me time for a 1.5mile warmup. Not my usual 2miler.
On the Line		Only one goal in mind. “Find Slaba and Haskins.” Found Haskins but no Slaba. I stayed 5yds back of him. All I wanted to do was just keep him in sight so I could somehow keep my 27sec AG lead.
1-5		Gun sounded, I went 6:40 to get the heart up. I was getting passed by Zucker, Hall, and the Breakaway elites. Didn’t care. But, by mile 2 Haskins started pulling away. On the first waterstop, I saw him on the return at least 30 seconds ahead. It got worse on mile 3 by the lake where I was about 40sec behind. Oh well, it was nice having the AG lead for as long as I did. I wasn’t giving up as much as I switch back to thinking about how to run. Being easy and light.
6-9		At mile 5, I got past one last time by my friend Joe Olsen and his buddy, then by Lauren Paquette. Lauren went by so fast. I felt like I was standing still. At first I was a bit dejected by this thin, bouncing, blond deer, “Hey Rome!” as she whiffed by me. But then I though, that’s an Olympic caliber athlete and I was in front of her through half of this race. I held on to Joe and his buddy, drafting them. Just pacing off them. They were going fast but I didn’t look at my watch to psych myself out. But, using their energy would help charge me up.   When I got to the first big hill, I charged it like they did. Strong, upright, under control. “Don’t bend I thought”. After that first hill I saw Haskins now only 100 yrds up. I was losing Joe and his buddy but I kept fighting to get close to them which inadvertently got me even closer to Haskins. By the next big hill at M6, I was only 50yds back. But had I just blown my engine? Mile 7 and 8 he started pulling away again, but he was in sight. Downward into the ravine, Joe was gone and so was Haskins. With the narrow passages and turns, I couldn’t tell how much they pulled away. But when I got to the base of the switchbacks, they weren’t that far up at all, They were at the middle of the switchbacks while I was only at the bottom. By the time I got to the top of the hill, I was only behind Haskins by only 10 yards. My only problem was my engine was blown but so was his. As I recovered so did he. “Okay” I thought. “It doesn’t matter if I beat him”. I have 27seconds to work with. If I raise my level to his, even if I don’t catch him, I won’t lose that much. With only 1/2mile left, I wouldn’t let him pull away. I kept telling myself, “Stay easy, kick hard, fast feet. Match his speed. You win by not pulling anything or getting hurt.” Live to fight another day! The clock read 1:09:04 as he crossed. It read 1:09:14 as I crossed. Only 10 seconds lost. “Holy Cow, I’m somehow still AG #1.” I’m still ahead by 18seconds.
After		Unlike last week’s Greenline Half Marathon, this was all about racing. The time didn’t matter as much as keeping pace with a rival. It felt more like NASCAR or the Tour De France. I talked to Haskins after. He said that he was suffering on the hills. He said that he’s doing NYC Marathon in 2 weeks.
Thoughts		With Slaba not competing and Perez (AG#3) +6Min back, if I can stay with Haskins or establish a lead on the RRS 2nd Half, I might have a chance. I’m actually officially 19sec up, I don’t know how much Haskins is going to have left in the tank.. I’m actually excited for the opportunity. I have a whole month of no racing, a lot of training, recovery and rest time. I should be fresh if I can stay focused and work the plan. I have to play this very smart.

 

Race Report: GREENLINE HALF MARATHON

RACE REPORT

Male Master Winner

DATE/TIME: 16Oct2016@ 0800

RACE COURSE Shelby Farms

Total: 13.1miles

1              06:40.2 Downhill 2              06:53.6 Flat 3              06:54.1 Flat 4              06:52.6 Flat 5              06:59.4 Flat 6              06:58.9 Dropped 7              07:04.4 Neighborhood climbs 8              07:03.8 9              07:01.6 10            07:10.8 Greenline up hill (false flats). 11            07:10.8 Into the park 12            07:04.3 Saw Jon Fading only ¼mile up.   but didn’t push to catch 13            07:03.7 14            00:56.5

Narrative: -Started at Front - Kept Pace with Jon Siquenfield at 6:45-7:00s - Cool at first then got warm at 5M then really warm at 9-10M. - Didn’t push hard.  Just tried to stay at a good pace.

Overall

Gender

Age Group

Award

Official Time

Pace

Bib

2th of 382

2th of 178

1 of 23

Male Master Winner

1:31:49.85

7:00

82

HEART RATE MAX: 172/180 BPM

Cadence 196vg/226Max – Avg Stride length 1.20m

TEMP/WEATHER: 66°F at 88% Sunny (3MPH N Wind)

MISCELLANEOUS:

Shoe

Nike 2015 Free 5.0 Pink

Attire

Nike 2inch shorts, Nike Dry-fit Pink “Breast Cancer” shirt, Nike - High-Compression socks

Timer

Garmin 225 Forerunner

Injury/Ailment

Twinge right hamstring, sore Achilles

Day Before

Ran with Scott Rauls at a fairly slow pace (8:45’s).  Ran with Rouge for her Agility Trials (earned her Title).  Got ready and gear together.  Wore pink in honor of my Breast Cancer Awareness and my Aunt who passed 2 ½ years ago.  Pretty light all day.  Ran (walked) 1.5 miles with Grace for her workout *(15min pace).  Slept fairly early.

Pre-Race

Got up at 5AM.  Stuff was already packed and ready. Grace drove.  Got in a bottle of water and Granola bar.  Warm up 2miles.

On the Line

Noticed the only person there I knew who was part of the RRS or any previous races was Jon Siquenfield.  A very good runner, one of Heathers guys.  I’ve beat him on a few occasions.  There was no one else there that we knew.  When the buzzer went off, I took off.  I didn’t spring, I just went at a tempo pace to get my heart and legs going.  I wanted to be between 6:40-6:55 to get rhythm.  By half mile there was almost no one with me.  I looked at my watch and it was reading 6:42.  I was on pace for the start and thought I was going too fast, but I was conscious that I wasn’t.  I slowed anyway to 6:50-6:55 when Jon and a guy named Luna caught up to me.  Jon and I carried a conversation which probably irritated Luna because he took off ahead, separating by 25 yards.  We were led by a bicycle.  The lead bike failed to make a left, leading Luna off course a bit.  Jon and I just followed the directions of the turn signalers.  Though we felt bad for him, we kept chugging along and holding our conversation.

1-5

For the first 5 miles, we monitored each other.  We weren’t racing as much as just keeping a pace.  His goal was somewhat similar to mine.  He just wanted to keep 7s.  He also raced the RRS 10miler and already banked his time.  He admitted that he didn’t mind if he blew his engine today.  I told him, if he felt it, “Go for it”.  We were surprised to learn through the cyclist and support volunteers that there was no one behind us at Wolf River.  Which was crazy because typically an elite runner would be past or be passing us

6-9

Once we got into the neighborhoods, I wasn’t feeling a need to push.  My hamstring wasn’t hurting but I knew that I didn’t want to aggravate it any more than I needed to.  I was remembering the course 2 years ago and remembered the inclines coming up.  Jon bumped his pace by just a little and I didn’t respond.  Every minute that went by, I was losing ground.  I thought of just keeping him in sight and maybe I’d catch him in the last two miles or something.  Either way, I wasn’t going to kill myself today especially with a race the following week. So there I was with Jon maybe ¼ to ½ a mile up and no one I could hear behind me.  When spectators and volunteers would clap for me, I couldn’t hear anything at all for anyone behind.  I wasn’t being chased.  I really relied on the tempo games.  However, it’s quite different playing tempo games during a race and when the terrain isn’t flat.  The undulations played havoc with my pacing and rhythm.  I was trying to push to cress hills, spin the downslopes.  I was playing mental games with the purpose of not trying to get hurt and keep to the pace I set out to run.

10-13

When I entered the Greenline, I saw Scott Rauls friendly face cheering. Just 24hours prior I was on a brisk Saturday Breakaway run with him.  He’d later tell me that I look strong yet relaxed.  Good because I felt that way.  I marched along the Greenline not seeing Jon until I got to the Penitentiary.  I happen to pass Sam Schwaller running with his dog.  With a quick greeting, Sam said, “That dude (Jon) is really dying out.”  However, he had to have been 1/3 to ½ a mile up.  I could barely get a glimpse of his blue shirt and the lead biker.  The internal voices started to really kick in.  Should I blow my load and go for it. Or, do I stay disciplined and on pace.  Realistically, 2nd place and winning Master is a bad thing.   My gut was telling me go ballz out!.  Taking a left off Mullin’s station into the park, I rationalized that I needed to blow my own load next week for any chance to stay in contention for the RRS AG.

Finish

I got into the park content with my decision to maintain pace.  But with about a mile left, I rounded a bend and Jon was only 200yrds away with shoulders slumping.  "Awe Man!"   Had I gone for it at the Greenline, I might have gotten him.  But, as I ran the winding path to the finish, all I could do was smile.  I was in one piece.  Not hurt, my ham in good shape, not to out of breath.  The announcer even went as far as to say, "He doesn't look like he's even run a half marathon."

After

I didn't consider this really a race.  It felt more like a Saturday Breakaway training run.  I didn't feel too stressed.  I even felt more joy for Jon who admitted that he gave it all he had.

Jon Siquenfield Winner and Me (2nd Place)