New Haven Road Race report

I had another good year at the New Haven Road Race.  I ran the 20K this year which I have not run since the first time I raced there.  Somehow I have either been training for something bigger, or just wasn’t up to the 20K.  But this year I trained specifically for it.

We had a very small turnout this year.  Since I’m a total freak geek and all my friends are online, I really look forward to seeing people at the big races.  This year we had Dianna, Jank, and Jank’s wife Missy.  Dianna suggested I stay at their house since we would both save a ton on hotel bills and Dianna makes way better pasta than restaurants anyway.  A chance to sleep in the same Bed and Breakfast as the Amazing Hip and April Anne?  I’ll take it!

I got to meet Dianna’s very shy and reserved dog, Darin (sp?), along with the equally shy and reserved sled dog team owned by Dianna’s parents.  Sloppy tennis balls for everyone.  :D

Dianna and I had a lovely dinner out on the front porch, and I even managed to steal some tomatoes from her garden.  A welcome gift since my tomatoes have been utterly pathetic this year.  I did find one red one when I got home.  I set it on the counter next to the two giant ones from Dianna and it instantly shriveled up and turned to dust out of sheer disgrace.

We got up bright and early and headed out for the race in the morning.  I never did meet Dianna’s alleged husband.  Supposedly he came home after we had gone to sleep, and was still in bed when we left.  She had lots of pictures of guys around, but they all looked like the model pictures that come with the frames.  I remain skeptical, but we all have our little secrets I suppose.

We arrived at the race with plenty of time to check in and get our bibs.  Somehow I got a really low number and didn’t have to wait in line.  I’m sure from my physique they were all wondering if I was one of the elite runners.  Let them dream.

I was sure I spotted Beth walking with some guy, but I was too afraid to run up and tap her on the shoulder.  If it wasn’t her I was afraid the big guy she was with would be cranky about some freak questioning his girlfriend.  I know she was there someplace though.  I hope you did well, Beth, and I’m sorry we missed you.

The race was pretty good this year.  A little hotter than I’d have liked. I don’t do well in the heat.  Bill, Dianna and I started out together.  Bill disappeared in the first 1/4 mile and Dianna and I hung together for a mile or two.  At one point Dianna shouted to me that I was way over pace and I promptly slowed up.  Unfortunately, she was far ahead of me soon and was not around to stop me from over pacing later.

I was doing pretty well for the first 8 miles.  I was targeting an 8:45 pace (ahead of McMillan’s prediction), but I was running as follows:

mile 1:8:37
mile 2:8:28
mile 3:8:22
mile 4:8:19
mile 5:8:30 (see it slowing?)
mile 6:8:48 (now you do!)
mile 7:8:46 (still on target but..)

Somewhere in mile 8, the wheels fell off.  My legs were like lead and my hips started to ache.  I really didn’t have much left in the tank at that point.  I tried to straighten my form and make sure I was moving as efficiently as possible.  I got some Gatorade, an orange slice, and a oh-so-yummy Gu at the aid stations.  I think those things helped alot to revive me but I was still flagging for the rest of the race.

Bill came up on my around mile 8, or maybe I passed him, I’m not sure.  I was kinda out of it at that point.  We hung together until the next water stop and he vanished at that point.  I put on a the best smile I could for the photographer but I have the suspicion it won’t be pretty picture.  Its always on that downhill in the park and I end up looking like I’m heel striking, which is hard for me not to do going down hill.

The best thing I heard someone say in the race was “You’re almost there!  The next band you hear is at the 12 mile mark!”  Live band music never sounded so good.  :D

The rest of the times went like this:

mile 8: 9:14
mile 9: 9:18
mile 10: 9:27
mile 11: 9:17
mile 12: 8:53 (the finish line is in sight!)
mile 0.6: 3:37 (8:24 pace)

Final Forerunner time: 1:49:42 (I think gun time was 1:50:28, 8:54 pace), 8:49 “chip” pace.  1114/2090, 147/219(?). Forerunner says I went 12.58 miles, which is just shocking because usually its off by a quarter mile or more.  FYI Dianna, I peeked at your time.  You totally rocked that race!  :)

I think I crossed the finish line in good form. I think. At least it felt like that. Then I disintegrated on the spot, and walked in a daze to the food tent. After about 20 minutes I found Dianna and went to collapse on the lawn where I ate anything that I could get near my mouth.  I checked a bag this year which was very convenient because I could change into a dry shirt and I had a big bottle of Gatorade waiting for me.

After about an hour, we all said our goodbye’s and headed home.  I was very thankful for Dianna driving this morning, so I had the hour ride back to my truck to recover.   I was the bad rider and forgot to give Dianna money for gas.  Sorry Dianna.  :(

Overall it was a good race.  I crashed at home after emptying the fridge and showering.  My left hip is a little sore and I don’t seem to have much energy at the moment.  I have a 5K next Sunday and I’m hoping things will be ironed out by then.  I have no obvious injuries from this race, except for maybe some soreness on one toenail.

Thank you again to Dianna for hosting me this weekend!  And ofcourse it is always a pleasure to see Jank and his family.

Hope everyone else had a great Labor Day weekend!

This entry was posted on Monday, September 1st, 2008 at 11:21 pm and is filed under Races. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.