Food World Senior Bowl Charity Run 10K
USA 10K Road Championships in Mobile, Alabama.
31:04 (4:59/mile pace)
4:50, 9:46 (4:56), 14:48 (5:02), 19:51 (5:02), 24:56 (5:04), 30:02 (5:06), 1:00
41st Place
Where to start? How about where I finished: 41st place. I'll take the road PR (a :57 improvement), but I was prepared to run faster. I was just a bit rusty. I had not raced since Aug. 8th at Falmouth and it showed, but you can't run big PR's without putting in the training. It's that simple. There is no magic. Work hard and you get results. Obviously, I have a lot more work ahead of me, but I am prepared to go the distance.
I always love running these championship races because it's a constant reminder as to why I am not a "professional" runner. The talent level in America is disgusting (imagine the African countries!). I know I work harder than a lot of the runners I raced on Saturday, but to begin with, I was one of the shortest runners out there at 5'8" in flats. Most of the guys were closer to 6'0" and extremely lean with long, bounding strides. It was quite impressive. Whereas I felt like I sprinted the entire 10K distance, I got the feeling that some of those guys were out strolling at sub-5 min pace.
Otherwise, the race went well. I felt great during the warm-up (maybe a bad sign?), very smooth and got out well. Hit my goal time of 4:50 at the mile and already I was in the back of the chase pack. Entering Mile 2, I pushed the pace to latch onto the larger chase pack, but that only produced a 4:56 mile and then I got passed by the guys I had been leading and held on as best I could. My left calf gave out at Mile 3 and I battled that until it loosened up at Mile 5 and I caught one of the Hanson's runners before running as hard as I thought I could to the finish, only to miss subbing-31:00 and getting outkicked at the end. All in all, a great experience and more of a tempo "race" than anything. I look forward to improving at this race every year. It's that good...
New York City Marathon Results and Thoughts
So, Paula Radcliffe pulled it out at the brutal New York City Marathon on Sunday. Her 2:23:10 victory reinforced my thoughts that she is human, at times. I never thought I'd witness Radcliffe not be able to take down a Course Record in a major marathon. She missed Margaret Okayo's course record of 2:22:31 ('03) by almost 40-seconds in a very competitive race with Susan Chepkemei. Susan and I go way back... We raced each other earlier in the year at the Quad-City Times Bix 7 Mile race in Davenport, Iowa, on July 24, 2004. My 35:22 just about held off her ferocious kick of 35:24 in a new Bix 7 Course Record, so I know firsthand the punishing kick this little Kenyan can deliver. [What does that tell me about Paula Radcliffe's infamous non-kick!?]. Anyway, we chatted after the race and I pretty much told her she took me to the limit in terms of kicking and I was just glad to be able to hold her off, so I was a bit worried for Radcliffe in those remaining meters before the finish, but a kick at the end of a marathon is much different than kicking downhill after 7 miles..
I am disappointed I did not predict Hendrick Ramaala's victory. I was so close to dubbing him my favorite and should have. Ramaala has dominated the road racing scene for a few years now, consistently running under 60 min for the half marathon distance, that it was great to see him put together a masterpiece over the full 26.2 miles after leading and then dropping out of the Olympic Marathon. Meb Keflezighi just seemed to have too much residue left over from Athens (ditto for Deena Kastor), however, he ran bravely and nailed a well-deserved Personal Best. I can see Meb running under 2:07 for the Marathon at either Chicago or London in the near future. Otherwise a great run by young American Ryan Shay and his 2:14:08 PR for 9th place. Shay and I raced each other at both Bix (33:37 vs. 35:22) and at the SBLI Falmouth Road Race 7.1 miler (35:08 vs. 35:49), so it was great to see him succeed at the inernational level.
Also, a huge congratulations to Press On!!! coached athletes, Christopher Preston & Jan Ross. Preston ran a brave race, running 3:32:43 after, in my opinion, throwing in the towel mentally. We had such a roller-coaster buildup that I was afraid he might not even run the race, let alone perform to his abilities. But he made me very proud. For those of you that don't know Chris, he is 6'5, 160 lbs of driven flesh (I can only imagine how those bridges took a toll on a runner so tall). Watch out for this guy at Miami because on a flat course, Chris's 3:32 is definitely worth a sub-3:25 or faster! Jan, on the other hand, had a most relaxing taper as she did not run in the final 2 weeks prior to NYC. Her 4:39:53 was a tremendous effort, as she ran an incredibly controlled race, her first marathon after knee surgery. She is another runner that has a bright future ahead of her in terms of marathoning... Congraulations, guys, and enjoy New York!
Long Run Ramblings
Thought this was a great interview with Bill Rodgers: On track with Bill Rodgers from The Beacon.
Also, another interesting insight with Jason Hubbard and Peter de la Cerda from the Colorado Runner: San Luis Valley to be Represented at USATF 10K National Championships. Talking about talent, I defeated de la Cerda at the Bix 7 miler, 35:22 to 37:00. It's not like I've been dong nothing other than 120+ mile weeks and he nailed me by 1:20 at the 10K Champs!
I need to congratulate sometime training partner, Jacob Phillips with his 38th place finish and 33:39 PR for 10,000 meters at the NCAA Division II South Region Championships.
31:04 (4:59/mile pace)
4:50, 9:46 (4:56), 14:48 (5:02), 19:51 (5:02), 24:56 (5:04), 30:02 (5:06), 1:00
41st Place
Where to start? How about where I finished: 41st place. I'll take the road PR (a :57 improvement), but I was prepared to run faster. I was just a bit rusty. I had not raced since Aug. 8th at Falmouth and it showed, but you can't run big PR's without putting in the training. It's that simple. There is no magic. Work hard and you get results. Obviously, I have a lot more work ahead of me, but I am prepared to go the distance.
I always love running these championship races because it's a constant reminder as to why I am not a "professional" runner. The talent level in America is disgusting (imagine the African countries!). I know I work harder than a lot of the runners I raced on Saturday, but to begin with, I was one of the shortest runners out there at 5'8" in flats. Most of the guys were closer to 6'0" and extremely lean with long, bounding strides. It was quite impressive. Whereas I felt like I sprinted the entire 10K distance, I got the feeling that some of those guys were out strolling at sub-5 min pace.
Otherwise, the race went well. I felt great during the warm-up (maybe a bad sign?), very smooth and got out well. Hit my goal time of 4:50 at the mile and already I was in the back of the chase pack. Entering Mile 2, I pushed the pace to latch onto the larger chase pack, but that only produced a 4:56 mile and then I got passed by the guys I had been leading and held on as best I could. My left calf gave out at Mile 3 and I battled that until it loosened up at Mile 5 and I caught one of the Hanson's runners before running as hard as I thought I could to the finish, only to miss subbing-31:00 and getting outkicked at the end. All in all, a great experience and more of a tempo "race" than anything. I look forward to improving at this race every year. It's that good...
New York City Marathon Results and Thoughts
So, Paula Radcliffe pulled it out at the brutal New York City Marathon on Sunday. Her 2:23:10 victory reinforced my thoughts that she is human, at times. I never thought I'd witness Radcliffe not be able to take down a Course Record in a major marathon. She missed Margaret Okayo's course record of 2:22:31 ('03) by almost 40-seconds in a very competitive race with Susan Chepkemei. Susan and I go way back... We raced each other earlier in the year at the Quad-City Times Bix 7 Mile race in Davenport, Iowa, on July 24, 2004. My 35:22 just about held off her ferocious kick of 35:24 in a new Bix 7 Course Record, so I know firsthand the punishing kick this little Kenyan can deliver. [What does that tell me about Paula Radcliffe's infamous non-kick!?]. Anyway, we chatted after the race and I pretty much told her she took me to the limit in terms of kicking and I was just glad to be able to hold her off, so I was a bit worried for Radcliffe in those remaining meters before the finish, but a kick at the end of a marathon is much different than kicking downhill after 7 miles..
I am disappointed I did not predict Hendrick Ramaala's victory. I was so close to dubbing him my favorite and should have. Ramaala has dominated the road racing scene for a few years now, consistently running under 60 min for the half marathon distance, that it was great to see him put together a masterpiece over the full 26.2 miles after leading and then dropping out of the Olympic Marathon. Meb Keflezighi just seemed to have too much residue left over from Athens (ditto for Deena Kastor), however, he ran bravely and nailed a well-deserved Personal Best. I can see Meb running under 2:07 for the Marathon at either Chicago or London in the near future. Otherwise a great run by young American Ryan Shay and his 2:14:08 PR for 9th place. Shay and I raced each other at both Bix (33:37 vs. 35:22) and at the SBLI Falmouth Road Race 7.1 miler (35:08 vs. 35:49), so it was great to see him succeed at the inernational level.
Also, a huge congratulations to Press On!!! coached athletes, Christopher Preston & Jan Ross. Preston ran a brave race, running 3:32:43 after, in my opinion, throwing in the towel mentally. We had such a roller-coaster buildup that I was afraid he might not even run the race, let alone perform to his abilities. But he made me very proud. For those of you that don't know Chris, he is 6'5, 160 lbs of driven flesh (I can only imagine how those bridges took a toll on a runner so tall). Watch out for this guy at Miami because on a flat course, Chris's 3:32 is definitely worth a sub-3:25 or faster! Jan, on the other hand, had a most relaxing taper as she did not run in the final 2 weeks prior to NYC. Her 4:39:53 was a tremendous effort, as she ran an incredibly controlled race, her first marathon after knee surgery. She is another runner that has a bright future ahead of her in terms of marathoning... Congraulations, guys, and enjoy New York!
Long Run Ramblings
Thought this was a great interview with Bill Rodgers: On track with Bill Rodgers from The Beacon.
Also, another interesting insight with Jason Hubbard and Peter de la Cerda from the Colorado Runner: San Luis Valley to be Represented at USATF 10K National Championships. Talking about talent, I defeated de la Cerda at the Bix 7 miler, 35:22 to 37:00. It's not like I've been dong nothing other than 120+ mile weeks and he nailed me by 1:20 at the 10K Champs!
I need to congratulate sometime training partner, Jacob Phillips with his 38th place finish and 33:39 PR for 10,000 meters at the NCAA Division II South Region Championships.
posted by Gabriel Rodriguez at 4:21 PM
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