Penn Relays 2023: Where did I go wrong?

 Fri, 4/28-took off; a bit exhausted.

Thurs, 4/27-I ordered an Uber, but the driver canceled, so I left for Franklin Field in my own car at about 7:30. After a while, I secured street parking and arrived at the meet-up spot at about 8:35. I hung out at the fence with members of the team for a while, but then we decided to step into the line, which numbered hundreds and stretched around the corner and snaked into a nearby parking lot. The wait would be long.

After 40 minutes in line, we made our way to the warm-up area, also waiting to connect with Ross and Dan Esposito, who obtained our racing bibs earlier. We'd have less time than usual to warm up on this upper 50-something degree, partly cloudy day. I was in layers and used my gloves intermittently.

I was pretty conservative during my warm-up, as my left lower hamstring was tender.

The entrance to the paddock was hectic, with Jacques and me trying to connect with Dan and Ross. Dan eventually came down, but we waited anxiously for Ross, as we were not able to enter the paddock without all four runners. Apparently, Ross was still in the stands. He made his way down just in the nick of time, and we were off to the staging area. It turns out they had called our event number and the other teams were trackside. With some gruffness at the hectic situation, we made our way to the track. (I was thrilled to pass by some of my MS students, who had just competed!) 

We would have just three teams in our race, with GPTC in lane 8. I felt pretty good about our race, particularly given that Dab and I did not practice baton exchanges. We'd hit 48.38, a hair slower than last year's 48.22. Not bad considering we didn't have Wayne. (The fastest team we could have put out on the track would have gone even faster. The truth is, I was an alternate and, by his own admission, Dan was a bit compromised with an injury and not at full steam. With John and Wayne in the mix, the team could've broken 48!) 

https://www.facebook.com/william.martin.75436/videos/614515956960018/?idorvanity=2258629067701816

RESULTS

PLACE

TEAM

RESULT

LN

BIB

1

Unite4

Adeniran Epebinuade, Gavin Thorne, Shawn Talley, Arif Husain

47.04

7

BB

2

Southwest Sprinters

David Gibbon, Clinton Aurelien, Tony Echandia, David Jones

47.36

6

BA

3

Greater Phila. TC

Wayne Foulke, Dan Esposito, Ross Oneill, Jacques Lucien

48.38

8

BC

4

Penn Track Alumni

Beau Ances, Lloyd Armstrong, Mark Pan, Kaplan Mobray

1:00.70

9

BD

Potomac Valley TC

Glenn Staples, Norris Hanes, James Barr, Curtis Muhammad

BE

Our M60+ team of Bruce, Daryl, Wally, and Bill Yelverton took home gold in convincing fashion.

https://www.facebook.com/william.martin.75436/videos/2493991040754047/?idorvanity=2258629067701816

After sitting in the stands for a bit, I headed back to campus for senior speeches and the senior BBQ. Beforehand, though, I went to the house and did an ice/heat treatment for 20 minutes to help my hamstring. 

I'd eventually head back down and arrive at 2:30, this time parking in a structure. I hung out in the stands for 45 minutes or so and then made my way down to the lower fields for warm up. Knowing the meet was running 20 minutes behind schedule, I was a bit more leisurely than usual. 

We made our way up at 4:30, knowing that our originally scheduled 4:45 race would probably go off after 5:00. Incidentally, as soon as we arrived we were told we needed to report to the track. We'd stand trackside for 40 minutes. 

(It is notable that we had a W40+ team, two W50 teams, and a W60 team, in addition to a M40+ team, two M50 teams, and two M60 teams. A couple of the teams struck gold. One of the M60 teams got silver, as did one of the M50s and the M40.)

While there were just five races before ours, only two were for high school and three were for masters, with an M80 team in the M60+ 4x400m relay race alone taking about 15 minutes to finish. (Not a criticism, just a report of facts. When I am 80, I hope to be in a condition to compete in a 4x400MR at Penn.) Several of us started doing strides on the track. 

By the time the gun went off, it was about 5:10. John had a strong leadoff and brought the baton to Nick in second place. Nick drove hard and kept it in there. Jacques extended the lead some with a hard first 200. Southwest then closed and handed off just ahead of me. I tracked the runner from Southwest comfortably, knowing we were running at a modest clip. Rather than pass him on the backstretch, I thought I'd wait and do so with 100m to go. I pulled to his outside and tried to make the pass and take the pole, but he roared back and pulled away. 

https://www.facebook.com/1685287706/videos/pcb.6181898095222934/1178377619518972

RESULTS

PLACE

TEAM

RESULT

400

800

1200

1600

POS

BIB

1

Southwest Sprinters

Tony Echeandia, David Gibbon, Hector Betancourt, Kent Gadin

3:53.37

59.37

-

Pl: 4

1:56.77

57.41

Pl: 3 1

2:55.78

59.01

Pl: 1 2

3:53.37

57.59

Pl: 1

9

CL

2

Greater Phila. TC A

John Curtis, Delvin Dinkins, Nick Damalas, Jacques Lucien

3:54.51

58.05

-

Pl: 2

1:56.69

58.65

Pl: 2

2:55.95

59.26

Pl: 2

3:54.51

58.57

Pl: 2

2

CB

3

Freedom-Garmin Runners A

Mark Williams, Gary Rosenberg, Jason Lattimore, Peter Kashulines

3:57.92

56.50

-

Pl: 1

1:56.42

59.93

Pl: 1

2:59.84

1:03.43

Pl: 3 -2

3:57.92

58.08

Pl: 3

1

CA

4

U.Penn Alumni A

Gabby Yearwood, Damon Manning, Kaplan Mowbray, Jason Costner

4:08.67

1:03.28

-

Pl: 7

2:05.91

1:02.64

Pl: 6 1

3:10.61

1:04.71

Pl: 4 2

4:08.67

58.06

Pl: 4

6

CH

5

Greater Phila. TC B

Andrew Albright, Tim Harte, Scott Landis, Leroy Miles

4:15.22

1:01.95

-

Pl: 6

2:04.20

1:02.25

Pl: 5 1

3:11.93

1:07.73

Pl: 5

4:15.22

1:03.30

Pl: 5

3

CC

6

Shore AC

Brian Hill, Ron Bork, Chris Rinaldi, Pat Keefe

4:36.16

59.31

-

Pl: 3

2:07.35

1:08.04

Pl: 8 -5

3:17.52

1:10.17

Pl: 6 2

4:36.16

1:18.65

Pl: 6

10

CF

7

U.Penn Alumni B

Matt Manion, David Allison, Mike Guastella, Joe Devine

4:58.47

1:01.66

-

Pl: 5

2:03.08

1:01.42

Pl: 4 1

3:40.80

1:37.73

Pl: 8 -4

4:58.47

1:17.68

Pl: 7 1

7

CI

8

Phila. Masters

Alexis Godillot, Mick Donnelly, Paul Padien, Stephen Gualano

5:05.22

1:18.42

-

Pl: 10

2:35.92

1:17.50

Pl: 10

3:51.55

1:15.63

Pl: 10

5:05.22

1:13.67

Pl: 8 2

8

CK

DNF

Freedom-Garmin Runners B

Tom Metz, Scott Fawcett, Steve Mancuso, David Small

1:12.63

-

Pl: 9

2:31.70

1:19.07

Pl: 9

3:44.61

1:12.92

Pl: 9

4

CD

DNF

Haddon Running Club

Jason Miles, Bryan Overbeck, Matt Martin, Kirk Earney

1:03.56

-

Pl: 8

2:07.24

1:03.69

Pl: 7 1

3:18.40

1:11.16

Pl: 7

5

CG

DC Capitol TC

Rodney Timpon, Josh van Tassel, Jamie Lubliner, Remus Medley

CE

Potomac Valley TC

Glenn Staples, Norris Hanes, James Barr, Curtis Muhammad

CJ

I was miffed and disappointed. Had I gone too early? Was I not strong enough? Had my split been faster, say, a 56.xx, I would have been less upset. However, a 58.xx relay split, especially under the circumstances, will never do! Besides, my lead-up workout indicated a 56 was well within reach. Where did I go wrong?

faster than the target pace

Sun, 4/23-Met up with the crew for a brief, the "hay-is-already-in-the-barn" workout: 2x150 at 400m race pace and 2x100 at faster than 400m race pace (~fastest 100 in the 400). For Bruce and Andrew (who were joined by Anthony and Chuck K), this meant about 22.5 for the 150s and 14-14.5 for the 100s. For John and me, this meant about 21 on the 150s and 13-13.5 on the 100s. 22.5...60 sec 400m pace; 21...56 sec 400m pace. John and I hit 19.9 and 19.8 on the 150s, although I felt a little off kilter, especially on the first one. We then hit 12.9 and 12.8 for the 100s. Needless to say, we were a faster than the target pace on these efforts. (For the record, the pace of our 150s was for a 54-sec 400m. Wishful thinking!)

Sat, 4/22-at Swarthmore. Ran from the Inn to the track and did 3.5 laps for just over a mile. Stretched pretty well, then ran about another .75M across campus.

Fri, 4/21 Ran to Vare (8:30), stretched, lifted some weights and core strength exercises (20 min), and then ran back home (8:30).

Following suit

Thurs, 4/20-50 degrees with little wind

Following suit from this day in 2019, I did 6x100. Goals were 3@13-high and 3@13-low. My times were a bit better: 13.8, 13.6, 13.4; 12.8, 12.6, 12.7. I took 3 minutes between the first three efforts and 3:45 between the second three.

(In 2019, I did 5x100, plus starts, managing 13-mid, 13-mid, 13-low, 12-high, 12-mid)

2022: 59.5

2021:--no Penn Relays

2020:--no Penn Relays

2019: 55.45

2018: 54.56

2017: 54.19

2016: injury

Wed, 4/19-

Ran to Vare (8:30), stretched, lifted some weights and core strength exercises (20 min), and then ran back home (8:30).

Tues, 4/18-45 degrees with some wind.

Mimicking what I did this time in 2018, I went for 8x100: 4 on the curve and 4 on the straight. My goal pace for the curve was 14-low; my goal pace for the curve was 13-low. My expectations escaped me. I hit 14-high, 14-mid, 14-mid and 13-high, 13-mid, 13-low. I took 2:30 rest. (Back in 2018, I managed 13.8, 13.8. 13.6, 13.6, 12.8, and 12.6 on the curve and 13.1, 12.6, and 12.4 on the straight.)

Mon, 4/17-

Ran to Vare (8:30), stretched, lifted some weights and core strength exercises (20 min), and then ran back home (8:30).

I think I am ready for 56.xx!

Sun, 4/16-

1200 meters. That was the amount for today.

We agreed on 6x200 at 400m race pace. John and I would target 28, Bruce and Andrew would target 31, and Rob and Darryl would target 33. We'd use three different groupings.

We'd take 5 minutes' rest for the first three and six minutes for the second three.

My plan was also to connect with Ross today to practice baton exchanges. 

John and Delvin:

• effort 1: John led in 28.4; Delvin in 28.8
• effort 2: Delvin led in 28.4; John in 28.xx
• effort 3: John led in 28.7; Delvin in 28.4
• effort 4: Delvin led in 29.1; John in 29.xx. Ross arrived and had begin to warm up.
• effort 5: John went the first 100m solo, and I picked him up at the 100m mark. (Ross ran a 200 with Darryl as part of his warmup, with Rob sitting this one out)
• effort 6: Delvin led in 28.1; John in 30.xx, with Rob joining on the second 100m.

For the most part, we all were pleased with the workout. I think I am ready for 56.xx!

My baton practice with Ross went well.

My rationale

Sat, 4/14/23-I decided not to complete at WCU and to get in my constitutional instead: run to gym, near-full body strength work, and return run home. 

My rationale for not competing was fulsome: 1) I no longer needed a time for the 100m, as I made the 4x10 team on account of Wayne scratching from Penn Relays due to a schedule conflict; 2) the WCU meet organizers said we needed to declare for the 100m no later than 9:30 even though the event wasn't until some three hours later, with the 200 being another three hours after that; 3) the weather was unsettled and most certainly would mean rain and lightning delays.

4/13/23-On account of my plan to compete at West Chester University's Bill Butler Invitational, I took off today.

from the start position

Thurs, 4/13-On the track today...at 6:30am. Did some drills on the turf, then went into 100s. I did 3 in 14-low, 13-mid, and 12-high. I then did a few 40s on the turf from the start position.

I'd say this workout was a success.

Wed, 4/12-mile, stretch, lift, other strength work, piriformis work, mile back home

Tues, 4/11-Track day. After warming up, I was ready at 6:30AM for my workout of 6x150, with the goal of 2@22-mid, 2@21-mid, and 2@20-mid. 3:00 rest in first pair, 3:30 rest for second pair, and 4:00 rest for the third. I managed 22-high, 22-mid, 21-mid, 21-low, 20-mid, 20-low. I'd say this workout was a success.

For perspective,...

Wed, 4/1019-Went to Pingry track at 6:05AM for a workout of 6x150 with the goal of running 2 in 22-low, 2 in 21-low, and 2 in 20-low, given the hour. My runs were  22-mid, 21-high, 21-low, 20-high, 20-low, 19-high. (My runs on the same day in 2017 under the same conditions were 21-mid, 23-mid, 20-mid, 20-mid, 19-high, 18-high.)

All about speed endurance

Monday, 4/10-Ran to gym (1M), stretched, lifted and did general and piriformis strengthening exercises, and ran back (1M).  On tap for tomorrow 6:30 AM 6x150. Goal: 2@22, 2@21, and 2@20.   

Sunday, 4/9

Back from Jamaica, but brought it with me! Taken from the annals (4/7/19), today's workout was 3x200 at 800m pace (33-high/34-low). 3 min rest after each effort. 3x150 at pace of second 200 of 400m race (22-low). 4 min after each run. 3x150 at pace of first 200 of 400m race (20-low). 5 min after each effort. The 200s were really just warmup before I went into the 150s, which were supposed to be all about speed endurance. I pretty much hit these times. At 33-mid, 33-low, and 33-mid, the set of 200s was slightly faster than necessary. The first set of 150s was oddly pedestrian at 22-mid, 22-mid, and 22-low. The second set of 150s came in at 20-mid, 20-mid, and 19-high.