Mixed Mile GBTC Invite

I signed up for the 3000 meter race at the Greater Boston Invitational hosted at Harvard University. I car pooled in with Regina Loiacano, Jennifer Brooks, Nick Taormina, and Katie Misuraca. It was nice to catch up and talk about training, racing, et cetera. We got to the meet early, settled in, and I checked in for the 3K which was going to start two hours later. I watched the gals run the 3000m Invitational race. Katie went on to win and Jennifer and Regina had solid races. I ended up missing the start of my heat as I mis-judged how much time I had to warm up and get down to the track. My heat was #3 (heats ran fast to slowest) so it was totally my fault. By the time I got to my bag to grab my singlet and racing flats, my heat was lining up. I ran down to cheer on Dan Verrington and Nick Taormina who both ran 9:51 and 10:10 respectively.

I found the race director, Dave Callum, who allowed me to enter into the masters mile which was fine with me. I had a banana and Powerade that Regina was nice enough to give me as I had another two hours until my event. I carefully timed my warm up and got down to the check in area while all of the heats of the mile were going on. I waited through 3 heats before my mixed masters mile went off. I jumped into the middle of the pack at the gun and saw the first two laps go by in 37, 75 and then a 2:31 800m split. I was behind Chris Lawrence only for those laps and he began to move up a place. I caught up to 52 year old Adam Harder from GBTC and I ran in his pocket for the last 400m to finish 6^th out of the 11 in the heat with a time of 5:04.86. I was wiped out in those last three laps but glad Adam was there to help me out and he agreed. This event was totally out of my comfort zone but glad I got a race in for the day after missing my heat. Krissy picked me up and we headed out for pizza and unfortunately watched the Patriots run into a solid Broncos defense and lose.

6th overall in the mixed 40+ mile event

1 mile BU mini meet

I picked up Martin and drove to the last of the three mini-meets at Boston University. I got there in time to catch CMS teammate Scott Leslie take his heat of the 3K. There were several heats of the 3K and 400m before the mile event came up. My seed time of 4:52 put me into heat nine. My heat had seed times on the sheet two seconds quicker to three seconds slower. This gave me an idea where I sat among the competitors. I encouraged David Long to come to the meet at the Frosty Four and was excited to see him there in my heat. I warmed up inside the facility with laps outside the banked track with Rod Hemingway and Caleb Evanter from GBTC after watching the 1st heat of the mile.

The plan was to push a lap after 800m and see what happens. The race went out hard and I cautiously latched into the back of the race. Lap one was quick and noted a split of 35 after lap one. I was right behind Kevin Delaney, David, and Rod for the first four laps - seeing a 2:26 as I approached the clock (unsure of actual 800m split). I waited one more lap and wound up for a move into lane two passing the previously mentioned guys over that lap. I ran scared into the last 200m and just held them off where I could feel myself losing form. I got a time of 4:54.03 in a distant 5th place (4:45 won the heat). Check out the video of the race. My legs were pretty week as soon as I finished.

My goal was to break 4:50 but had a feeling based on recent workouts that such would be a challenge. I had some fun cheering on anyone I knew in the races and had to leave before the mile races ended. Looking ahead, I intend to run the Lazy Dog 3 mile road race in Lynn and enter into the GBTC Invitational with another mile. That mile event will get me started with the USATF All Terrain Race series.

Boston University Mini Meet #3 race results

BU mini meet 1 mile

BU - known as Boston University - hosted the last of three mini meets today. Dennis Floyd, Larissa Park and I arrived while the 3K was going on so we had plenty of time to get our numbers, relax, and then warm up for the mile. The three of us were signed up with seed times pretty close to each other. I seeded myself at 4:56. We had to wait for all heats of the 3K and 400m to finish before we were called over to check in for the 1 mile. We got into heat 7. I grabbed hip and chest #2 and warmed up with Dennis and Larissa inside.

Dennis asked me today while we were warming up "when was the last time we toed the line together on a track?" I was not ready for the question but I surprised us both that I did know what race it was (the year was fuzzy so I had to look it up tonight). We finished 19th (16:22.67) and 20th (16:24.56) in the USATF New England Indoor Track and Field 5000 meter championship race at Harvard in February of 2008. I was DFL (dead freaking last) and Dennis was bothered by an achilles issue. [meet results]

I was pretty nervous before the start as expected. It has been a few years since I raced on the indoor oval. I got sorted with my flats taking a few strides with one foot having an Inov8 and the other a Saucony A4. I went with Saucony. They called for heat seven as soon as heat six finished. I saw former CMS 'mate Jeff Goupil finish his mile in 4:57. I lined up in between seed #1 (a female) and seed #3 - Larissa. Dennis was a few runners down, maybe the 6th person to my right. The starting gun got us off in a hurry. I jumped toward the back and waited for those on the stagger fill in after the 1st turn. I planned on taking the first few laps cautiously to not worry about place but pay attention to the splits - staying in the hunt of 37 or 38 seconds per lap. Lap one and two were around just that. Three laps down and I was around 1:52 just behind Larissa and Dennis. I felt good and noted a good bounce to the track. I wanted to get aggressive and move up - get competitive with the 10 or so in front of me. I had to wait though and use patience. I passed half way (half mile or 800m) in 2:30 and moved out and put in a hard lap. This is risky. I could put in that surge and it could cost me a few laps later. I carried the momentum and found myself closing in on the two leading the race so I went after them keeping my aggressive move now for three laps. I passed them at the bell lap taking the lead. My inexperienced legs wobbled on the back straight, form started to break down, and I heard steps coming back on me. The guy blew by (he would win with 4:50.95) and then one more on the final straight into the finish line (he finished with 4:52.4). I finished 3rd with a time of 4:53.2. Dennis ran quicker than last week dropping his time down to 5:02.26 and Larissa was the 3rd fastest female in the mile (5:12.92).

BU mini meet #3 results - January 4, 2014

I was good with the time and beat my seeded expectation of 4:56. I had so much fun ripping through the 2nd half of the race. I had a negative split by comparing the 1st 800m (2:30) and 2nd 800m (2:23). Moving up through the race after 800 meters reminded me of my younger and fitter days when my mile times were under 4:40. I had the fitness to make the aggressive surges, back it up, and have the kick in the last lap. Today, it was all there in terms of instinct and execution minus the follow through (and slower pace) to the finish line. I had fun today and did not expect that. I expected the hurt box for 7 out of 8 laps and a physical break down in the 2nd half of the race. The race exceeded all expectations but I was purposely careful on the approach by keeping the first four laps within myself and staying out of traffic. The experience has me wanting more of this indoor track racing: what can I do if I ran another mile but ran the 1st 800m in 2:23?