3000m Boston University Mini-Meet #3

Joe Shairs and I headed over to the 3^rd and last installment of the BU mini-meets to shave some time off our 3000m times we set a week ago. Our seed times (mine being 10:00) put us both in the same heat. The number 12 hip number put me up on the barrel start (lane 6) which is always fun. I jumped into the back end of the competition once we got going and settled in, seeing 39 to 40 second laps. I saw a 3:20 at 1K, on pace for a 10 minute race (goal was to break 10 minutes). After 8 laps, the clock time was 5:20. Joe was a few seconds up ahead. I did not take any advantage of Justin Renz moving by and chasing Joe with 6 laps to go. I was pretty flat but consistent. I passed a few runners that were coming back more than me pressing. I wound up with a finish time of 10:01.64, four seconds back from Joe (9:57.93) and matched my hip number, placing 12^th out of the 16 runners.  The 2.5 seconds delta (faster) than last week is progress. Meet results

On a side note, Shaun Dever from Greater Boston Track Club introduced himself to me. He saw my name in archives of the Wingfoot Express (newsletter). It was nice to see that he and the club have uncovered some archives going back into the mid to late 1990's.  

Boston University mini meet #2, 3000m

Joe Shairs and I headed into the 2^nd of three BU mini meets to run the 3000m. My seed time of 10:10 placed me in heat # 5. The heats start with the fastest heat so that gave me plenty of time to run a few laps inside to warm up.  I picked the 10:10 seed time based off the two 3K’s I raced in February: 10:11.51 in Providence and the 10:05.47 at Harvard.  

The race was just about split between men and women. I raced toward the mid-back of the race after the gun despite having the 2nd fastest seed time for the heat. My focus was to not trip up in traffic and keep my pace as far away from aggressive. I felt like I was in the middle of the competitors after 1K in the 3:24 range. The mile went by around 5:27. 

I felt I had one surge in the legs to move up and waited for a spot with six laps remaining. I carefully made my way up to 2^nd with 400m to go. I tried to drop the pace in with 200m to go (I was about 2 seconds back from the leader) and I tied up, even felt a slight buckle from the resisting legs. The lack of mechanical demand in the legs was unfortunate but real. I finished in 3^rd place with a time of 10:03.99. Meet results

I was pretty happy with the effort and execution. I had the mid-race bargaining between the head and the legs. I positioned myself well at the end but had to respect the speed that I was requesting to go for it. It reminded me of what someone recently wrote in response to training for the mile (speed), "use it or lose it" - Derrick Jones. I did have fun and it was the greatest takeaway I have had in a track race in several years. It lit a fire that I can break 10 minutes (my unmet goal earlier in 2016) and buried the reluctance about racing indoors. I will shoot for a sub 10 minute 3000m next time. 

USATF New England Indoor Track & Field Championships, 3000m

I jumped into the 3000m event at Harvard University for the USATF New England Indoor Track and Field Championships to lower my time of 10:11 from late January in Providence. I got to the race just after 12:30  with Krissy. My race did not plan to start until after 3:10. I chilled out, caught up with friends. I ran a 3 mile warm up outside with Francis Burdett. Once inside, I waited out the rest of the 200m event and made my way down to check in for the 3K which I got into the slower 2nd heat. Meanwhile, the rest of my teammates: Pat , Fullerton, Colin Carroll, Scott Leslie, Chris Mahoney, Eric Narcisi, and Scott Mindel were in heat 1. That gave me the chance to cheer and yell for them. Scott and Eric went on to set PR's. The race was pretty exciting to watch. No one was giving in and fought all the way to the line. Awesome race. My race went pretty well early on. My instincts were to go with the flow at the back of the race as my seed time was the 2nd slowest. I was hitting some 39's in the first mile. I did not get a split at mile 1. After 2K, I slowed and blew my opportunity to break 10 minutes. I ran 10:05.47 and beat four guys in my heat. I chilled out for a bit and collected a few folks before heading out for another 3 miles. I don't have a race next weekend so I plan on a 2 hour long run. Later in the evening, Krissy showed me some video that she took of the races. I highlighted how clumsy and awkward my racing form is. I look like a twisted pretzel.

Still sweating after the race.