Friday, June 14th--I was sore and my hamstrings were super tight. I took the day off...for a third time this week. I am truly wondering whether I am burned out! I may need some cross-training. Low motivation.
Thursday, June 13th--I decied to join the 5:30 AM distance group in town for the 7.9M. It had been 5 solid months since I had shown. I learned going into the second mile that the group would be doing pick-ups for a good portion of the run: 2 minutes hard, one minute "easy" 5 times. I was good for steady state part of the run. Once the pick-ups started, however, I knew I was in trouble. I eventually found myself well off pace and in the back of the quarter-mile string of runners. My last 2-minute pick-up ended (at 26 minutes, I think) 2-3 streets before the 4-mile mark. I wound up reaching the mark at 28:15.
The remaining 3.9 miles would prove more challenging and a sign that my distance base is nonexistent. I have plenty of work to do.
Wednesday, June12th--I was sore and my hamstrings were super tight. I took the day off...again.
Tuesday, June 11th--I decided to meet up with the 5:30 AM group at WC Henderson HS for a distance workout. The workout was 2 sets of hard 1 mile, 300 jog, 300 hard, and 300 jog. I barely had a chance to stretch and my attempts to do so were futile. I decided to give the workout a shot. It was awful. My pace was slow, and I didn't even do the entire workout. I was in trouble.
Monday, June 10th--I was sore and my hamstrings were super tight. I took the day off.
Sunday, June 9th-Mid Atlantic Championship meet at Widener.
The day was mild, in the upper 70s and low 80s. No need for pants. I got there as the 100 meters began. I was actually registered for the 100, but decided against it sometime the night before. Instead, I opted for just the 400 and 800, knowing that a 4x100 relay wasn't out of the question at the end of the meet.
I met up with a few teammates and was surprised, even disappointed, to see so few of us present. In fact, the meet did not seem well attended. Only certain events had a critical mass of registrants.
I warmed up on the backstretch with Betsy and Rob as the 100 proceeded. After 12 minutes, I took to stretching. Not surprisingly, my upper hamstrings were tight (even though I received a massage on Friday night). Piriformis is persistent. I did my usual set of drills and then decided to try a couple of 100s--starting from the top of the turn and finishing at the middle of the straightaway. When the 100 finished and there was a lull in the action, I decided to do a150 to simulate race pace. I hit a comfortable 18.99 using a fly start. I was satisfied. My thought was to hit 38-39 at the 300 and run the last 100 in 14 and I'd be golden with a 53!
We were given our heat and lane assignments. There were only 4 guys in our 40-49 age group heat (5, I believe). I was in lane 5, Rob was in lane 6. Lyndell Pittman was in lane 4. Another guy was in lane 3. I set my blocks and was ready. My plan was to pull even with Rob as quickly as possible and then maintain when Lyndell pulled even with me, which I anticipated happening by the 200 mark. Not. Just as I caught Rob at the 100 mark, Lyndell caught me 150 meters into the race. I stayed even with him as we approached the 200. By the time we came off the turn and into the homestretch he had me by 5 meters. Bruce was standing at the 300 meter mark calling splits. I heard him say 40 right as I hit the far end of the 4x100 exchange zone. At this point, I knew I had 90 meters to go. I also knew I was starting to tighten up as Lyndell extended his lead. I thought I would cover the remaining 90 meters in 13 seconds. I figured we were running a good time, with Lyndell in the 51/52 range and me in the 53-range. Not. Lyndell ran the 53, and I posted a disappointing 55.21. Ouch. That last 90 must have been nearly15 seconds, unless Bruce's split or my assessment of where I was when he called it was incorrect. The odd thing is that Lyndell appeared really winded, while I walked away and nearly broke into a jog. Clearly, something was awry, but I wasn't sure what.
After my cool down, I reviewed the entry cards for the 800 and noticed only one seed time under 2:15. While the top time was 2:01 and I'd had someone better than me to chase after, there was no guarantee that the person would show. If the person didn't show, I'd likely wind up running an undesireable time. I didn't want to rick that. So, I bagged the 800 in favor of the 200. As luck would have it, the 19-year old who was seeded at 2:01 did run but managed around 2:10. The winner, a young newcomer to our GPTC whom I've never met, ran 1:55! I imagine I could've been the midpoint between the two.
So, on to the 200. Paying homage to my 800 meter seed time of 2:06, I had given myself a 200 meter seed time of 24.66. Our 40-49 age group heat was full, with all lanes occupied. I had lane 6. Lyndell had lane 4. Rob had lane 8. Wayne had lane 1. I felt good about my practice starts and ok and okay about my warm up. At the gun I got out well, being pulled through the turn by the guy to my outside. I pulled even with him at the end of the turn and found myself in the lead at the 100. I couldn't believe it. Where was Lyndell? My lead would be just a few meters. With about 80 meters to go, three guys ultimately overtook me. The top four times were in the 24-second range. I posted a disappointing 24.97 to get fourth. I believe the winning time, posted by the guy to my outside, not Lyndell, was 24.30-something.
Not too long after the 200, I agreed to run the 4x100 with Ceyhun, Lamar and another young but new guy, Jerome. I agreed to lead off and was able to practice 1-2 exchanges with Ceyhun. In the field of 4 teams, we had lane 5. TNT had lane 6. CCP had lane 4. Force Fields had lane 3. The gun went off. I caught the TNT guy by the 50 meter mark and handed off near even with the guy from CCP. I think we would've had the advantage going into the second leg except for the fact that Ceyhun took off too early and had to slow up and then look back to make the exchange. We wound up getting second place.
