Medical update. Feeling like complete crud. Not sure about race tonight?
Well, I made it through. Felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest the whole way though - the dry indoor air at the Albuquerque Convention Center coupled with my cold/fever.
The gun went off and the pace was really slow for the first 400 meters. Really tightly bunched pack with lots of elbows and jostling. Came through 200 in 41 seconds and 400 in 82. I was actually digging this because I certainly didn't feel like runing fast and it was nice not being off the back of the pack.
About a half mile in, things began to open up. I quickly discovered that there were three or four guys racing for the win (17 total in the race), and then everyone else.Anyway, before the mile I was in 13th place with thoughts of quitting running through my head. I was running alone now and at least didn't have to worry about tripping. My good buddy Doug was taking pictures of me with his fancy camera and I was mostly concentrating on looking good each time I came around to his location. Priorities!
Then, a strange thing happened. I began passing people! One or two every lap, steadily working my way up in the field. Now I had something to race for! With two laps (400 meters) to go, I was coming up on the shoulder af an African American dude that I had had a great conversation with before the race. I could clearly see "45-49" on his back and I knew that if I could get around him I might actually finish pretty high in my age group. Then, and I'm slightly ashamed to admit this, my mind engaged in some racial stereotyping. I thought "this guy's probably fast and will outkick me over the last 50 meters if I don't put some distance between the two of us". Just being honest.
Passed him and one other guy the last lap. Finished 5th overall and 2nd in the 45-45 which earned me a supercool medal proclaiming me the "National Runner Up in the 45-49 Division in the 3000 Meter Run.
So there it is, not a good time. I sometimes run faster for the first couple miles of a 10k road race. But a fairly satisfying conclusion to a really difficult race.
Now, for the mile today. Cold isn't any better this morning, but I did get a good night's sleep. | 