mcsolar99
Cool Runner |
 posted Jul-06-2007 07:50 PM
   
short version:
ugg, 39:40, 24/911 oa, 6th ag. slow, but one bright spot.longer version: i got a little choked-up at the star spangled banner,
since i again had missed my chance to race with ilene...
i was standing there with the music playing, alone in my
bridal gown, as ilene was across town racing with a sexy
guy named huskydonjuan. sniff, sniff. "i hope she has
a good race anyway" i thought, stripping off my veil and
throwing my bouquet down on the asphalt. i steeled my gaze down the street. ok, i steeled my gaze at the backs of the 300 runners
between me and the starting line. the 5k and 10k started
together, and i wanted to start conservatively. it was
warm by la standards, and i was hoping that would work
in my favor. well, mostly i was hoping to break 40min
and thus avoid some chiding from my running pals. celebrity starter carl lewis wished us well, shot the gun,
and bang! we were off. dodge left, right. stop, swing hips to avoid walker.
scamper over grass, on sidewalk, back onto street. i
started conservatively alright, and got some crosstraining
too. i hit the mile at 6:17, a little slow for a downhill
start, and i was behind a lot of people. i was the
only one running the tangents in the roads, and i was
working my way up the pack. second mile has a friendly little uphill, then some flats on
an out-and-back segment. saw some fast guys, and some guys
in my age-group, and older. ahh, just relax. 6:35 split.
oops, ok, stop relaxing. third mile takes us downhill. down the middle of sunset blvd
in pacific palisades. hmmm, it was peaceful, lovely. i
could hear birds chirping. it was nice without the 30,000
cars that normally race the road at breakneck speed. split:
6:11. that's better. ok, now up into will rogers park. we head up the back entrance
on a road with 5-6 switchbacks. it's a hill. ugg. mile
4 split is near the top, 6:54. the guy yelling splits must
think it's halfway, since as i approach i hear him saying "25
minutes, you guys are on a 50 min 10k pace." ugg. rounding the last of the switchbacks i grunt loudly and pant
"i hate those f-in switchbacks" to the guy next to me. he
grunts in agreement. we circuit the polo field and start the
downhill drop out of the park. three switchbacks down i think,
one was very very steep and i grunted again as i clamped my abs
hard so i didn't do a faceplant. scoot out of the park,
mile 4: 6:06. ok, now i do some math, 8min to break 40. hmm, it'll be close.
rats. as i'm nerding out the first guy passes me going up the
hill. then the second and third. grrr.. so here's the bright spot: i looked at those three backs and
said to myself... i want to beat those three guys. then zip,
i moved onto the last guy's shoulder, and we crested the last hill.
it felt great, best feeling in a race since january. one guy
pulls over and we drop him. the guy with black socks fades.
just me and the first guy now, and i pull up next to him. "i think we can get 40." i puff. "40? no, i'm 45" he says
back to me. i smile, "40 minutes" i respond. "oh, yes, we
can do it" he replies. then i drop him  so there's one guy within reach, 30m up. his name is pete,
since he has a cheering squad of la track club friends chanting
his name at the last corner with 200m to go. "pete, pete, pete..."
they chant and clap, at an increasing pace. i'm only 10m back
now. another 50m and i hear my bil yell out for me (he later
admitted he knew pete, and felt bad yelling for me). so i play
the totally sneaky role, hang 3m back until 70m to go, and
then i blast past pete! i was about 90 seconds slower on this course than i was two
years ago. need lots more speed work, but i'm happy with the
last mile (6:23 uphill) and the last 0.2 (1:15). so i'm going
to focus on those two things as long as i can. ------------------
mcsolar99
workouts
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Dark Horse
Cool Runner |
posted Jul-06-2007 08:42 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Spareribs:
Ilene is fickle and tends to race with the hottest guy available, so just get over it. Also, she won. You were what? Sixth? Train harder.
Great report, mcsolar, but Spareribs topped it with his reply, as he is wont to do. Just get over it. But seriously, I bet you lost at least 30 seconds by starting where you did, behind so many people. Maybe you had no choice. As you know, in any race with uphills, you have to make hay on the downhills, but you weren't able to, with 3,000 people in front of you. And I don't like the plan of starting the 5K guys with the 10K guys: that can't help the fast guys in either race, if they have to run around so many people. Dark Horse ------------------
I'm a dark horse, running on a dark race course
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