Armory races: motivate me to do some more speedwork

December 27--
3.2M recovery run. 25:50.

December 26--Holiday Classic at the Armory--NYC

I decided to go to the Armory after all. I drove to Craig Strimel's house (NJ) from Bethlehem, as my family and I were visiting the charming Moravian Book Store, a family tradition. I arrived at his house at about 3:15, and we departed for NYC at 3:35. After a tentative drive during which Craig and I shot the breeze about everything from track to parenthood and education, we arrived at the venue at about 6:20. The meet was to have started at 6:00, but lo and behold the youth meet was still in progress. The open/masters meet wouldn't begin until 7:00 or so, and we wouldn't run the 400 until close to 8:30 or so. I got a pretty good warm-up in, using the second floor hall, which was like a sauna. I stretched down there a bot and tried to stay loose. As it turned out, open and masters athletes were separated, although masters athletes could decide to compete with the younger and faster open athletes if they so desired. I stayed with my own kind. I was seeded fourth and was assigned lane 2 (no one was assigned lane 1) in the faster masters heat. The top seed was 51.9, the second seed was 53., and the third seed, Ray Parker, shared my time of 55.5. I did virtually no striders track side, only one or two starts since I had planned to start down. When the gun went off, I popped up pretty immediately (bad), but I ran the curve reasonably well. By the 100m mark I had caught Ray and found myself right within striking distance of the leaders at the cone break (150m). I tried to relax, hearing 25. for the leaders. I figured I was 26 and change since I was not that far behind. Coming down the homestretch I surged a little and came within a couple of meters of the second runner, who finished in 55.05. I ran 55.35. Ray ran 56.

I felt okay afterwards and was able to jog pretty immediately. I readied myself for the 200, figuring I would run it since Craig mentioned that he had planned to do it. I would be at the Armory anyway, so why not get a run in? I tried to stay loose but could sense that my muscles were stiffening. A little more Icy Hot and stretching helped. I was assigned lane 3 in the fastest of three heats of the 200 with a seed time of 25.0. From the start, the race didn't feel right. I stepped out of my lane in the first 10 meters, causing me to adjust. After this, I could feel my hamstrings tighten and throb, beginning on the backstretch. Despite this, I felt myself closing in on my fellow teammate, whom I was catching, perhaps the result of high knee lift. With less than 75m to go I pulled even with him. Coming down the homestretch he surged and I felt my leg tighten, so I back off. The win wasn't worth what would have been an injury. 25.85.

Perhaps these Armory races will motivate me to do some more speed work. It's hard though, not just because it's difficult to reach the intensity level I need to reach alone, but because my feet and big toe kill when I do any kind of speed work. We'll see.

On another note, I think we might be able to run sub-3:40 in the 40-49 masters 4x400 if Nick runs. Who are the 40-49 guys: Nick, Scott, Craig and me??