Broad Street Run
Well, let me get this out of my system so I can take a nap.
First good feeling I get today was right after the alarm goes off and the room is permeated by a deep chill. Meet up with Allen at the house, Erin and KJ at Erin's, and we all cycle into Center City to catch the Orange Line up to the start. We get the 6:30 subway, which means we are early enough to get seats in the subway and, once we get to the start, first crack at the banks of porta potties lined up around the track at Girls High.
"Take a good look at 'em," Allen says, "'cause they're not gonna look [or smell] that good again today."
If you think about it, neither will we.
There are two things I love about this race. The first (I'll get to the second later) is the course. Starts on a downhill and becomes pancake flat - a Boston start without the Boston hills. I take off like an idiot, miss the first mile split, and realize I'm in over my head when I fall in with a group that includes Bryn Mawr Running Co. owner Bob Schwelm and Chester Co. Running Store owner (and erstwhile coach of mine) Kevin Kelly. Both are runners who are out of my league.
Mile 2 whooshes by and the clock reads 10:27 - more of a 5k pace than a 10 mile pace. I figure I'll hang as long as I can, but start losing Bob and most of the group after about another half mile. Nonetheless, mile 3 goes by in 5:17, which means that I passed the 5k point in something like 16:20 (a 5k pr). I slow a little, but by mile 5 the clock reads 26:28 - 90 seconds faster than I've ever run 5-miles. By this time I'm flying so high over my head that I can barely make out my bald spot glistening in the bright sun of this glorious morning.
And then reality sets in. Q.: what do I do now? A.: hang on for the ride. 56 minutes is my pr, at this point I want to, no need to, lower this or die trying. My mind is still nimble enough to do the math. 29:30 will get me there, that means I need to keep up a 5:54 pace and the faster the next miles come the more I'll put in the bank. But I'm slowing, mile 6 split, around City Hall, is 5:39; mile 7 split is 5:41; mile 8 split is 5:53. . .
And somewhere along there the second good thing about this race kicks in. The competition here is intense, and there are people passing me regularly to whom I can latch onto and let them pull me for a little while. Little life preservers, so to speak. Among others, Duncan comes blowing by me and tows me for about a quarter mile, Emily chugs by to become the eventual third place female finisher and I speed up a bit to stay with her. By now I've bottomed out and recover a bit to hit mile 9 in 5:41 and mile 10 in 5:45. Clock at the finish reads 55:09 - pr by 45 seconds!
The mood at the finish line is festive. The near-perfect conditions lead to tons of good times among friends - Allen pr's in just over 51 minutes; Duncan's in at under 54 - also a pr (I think, check with him); Ian's in at sub 56 (pr); Chemistry Steve in 57 (pr); Kevin F squeaks across in 57:59 (pr); Chuck S. in 58-sumthin (10 m is the new marathon for Chuck); Craig S and John W both in 61 (big pr for John, dunno about Craig); KJ in 63 (everythings a pr for him); Erin (running for 2) in 72; Ryan W with a first time under 90 minutes and Katy, who promised to start training seriously everytime we'd ride up to Graterford together, finished in 107 and saying how she could run faster next time if she trained better. And I know you can. Hell we all can!
Giving all these shoutouts means I know I left several folks out that I'm likely to kick myself for, apologies in advance. Although I didn't see them at the race, I see from the online results that Scott finished in 98, a hell of alot better than he raced last week, and Mike M ran 63 minutes (how'd that go for you, Mike?).
Another omission I can think of offhand is Maricela's social studies teacher, who I see from the online results ran a very respectable 80 minutes. But it was a good thing he didn't bet.
And lastly, the post race analysis. I ran like an idiot, and fortunately the course is very forgiving (i.e., easy) and I avoided a blow up. I'm happy I pr'd, and I don't care that my splits read 26:28 and 28:40. But it is the first half of the race that I will carry with me. It reminds me of the time I ran the Schuylkill River Loop race in November 2001, which I ran the first mile in 5:58 - the first time I ever ran a sub 6-minute split. I slowed down considerably after that, but that first mile changed me - I saw I was capable of running at a higher level and proceeded to shave 19 minutes of my marathon time the next spring in Boston. Coming back to this race, that I could run 5k and 5mile pr paces (yeah, I know that the course here was straight with a net downhill, but that's not the point) on my way to a 10 mile pr again tells me that, at 42, I can again torque this insane little avocation of mine up a notch.
So that wraps up my Spring season. Now its back to base mileage and preparing for the fall. Stay tuned.
First good feeling I get today was right after the alarm goes off and the room is permeated by a deep chill. Meet up with Allen at the house, Erin and KJ at Erin's, and we all cycle into Center City to catch the Orange Line up to the start. We get the 6:30 subway, which means we are early enough to get seats in the subway and, once we get to the start, first crack at the banks of porta potties lined up around the track at Girls High.
"Take a good look at 'em," Allen says, "'cause they're not gonna look [or smell] that good again today."
If you think about it, neither will we.
There are two things I love about this race. The first (I'll get to the second later) is the course. Starts on a downhill and becomes pancake flat - a Boston start without the Boston hills. I take off like an idiot, miss the first mile split, and realize I'm in over my head when I fall in with a group that includes Bryn Mawr Running Co. owner Bob Schwelm and Chester Co. Running Store owner (and erstwhile coach of mine) Kevin Kelly. Both are runners who are out of my league.
Mile 2 whooshes by and the clock reads 10:27 - more of a 5k pace than a 10 mile pace. I figure I'll hang as long as I can, but start losing Bob and most of the group after about another half mile. Nonetheless, mile 3 goes by in 5:17, which means that I passed the 5k point in something like 16:20 (a 5k pr). I slow a little, but by mile 5 the clock reads 26:28 - 90 seconds faster than I've ever run 5-miles. By this time I'm flying so high over my head that I can barely make out my bald spot glistening in the bright sun of this glorious morning.
And then reality sets in. Q.: what do I do now? A.: hang on for the ride. 56 minutes is my pr, at this point I want to, no need to, lower this or die trying. My mind is still nimble enough to do the math. 29:30 will get me there, that means I need to keep up a 5:54 pace and the faster the next miles come the more I'll put in the bank. But I'm slowing, mile 6 split, around City Hall, is 5:39; mile 7 split is 5:41; mile 8 split is 5:53. . .
And somewhere along there the second good thing about this race kicks in. The competition here is intense, and there are people passing me regularly to whom I can latch onto and let them pull me for a little while. Little life preservers, so to speak. Among others, Duncan comes blowing by me and tows me for about a quarter mile, Emily chugs by to become the eventual third place female finisher and I speed up a bit to stay with her. By now I've bottomed out and recover a bit to hit mile 9 in 5:41 and mile 10 in 5:45. Clock at the finish reads 55:09 - pr by 45 seconds!
The mood at the finish line is festive. The near-perfect conditions lead to tons of good times among friends - Allen pr's in just over 51 minutes; Duncan's in at under 54 - also a pr (I think, check with him); Ian's in at sub 56 (pr); Chemistry Steve in 57 (pr); Kevin F squeaks across in 57:59 (pr); Chuck S. in 58-sumthin (10 m is the new marathon for Chuck); Craig S and John W both in 61 (big pr for John, dunno about Craig); KJ in 63 (everythings a pr for him); Erin (running for 2) in 72; Ryan W with a first time under 90 minutes and Katy, who promised to start training seriously everytime we'd ride up to Graterford together, finished in 107 and saying how she could run faster next time if she trained better. And I know you can. Hell we all can!
Giving all these shoutouts means I know I left several folks out that I'm likely to kick myself for, apologies in advance. Although I didn't see them at the race, I see from the online results that Scott finished in 98, a hell of alot better than he raced last week, and Mike M ran 63 minutes (how'd that go for you, Mike?).
Another omission I can think of offhand is Maricela's social studies teacher, who I see from the online results ran a very respectable 80 minutes. But it was a good thing he didn't bet.
And lastly, the post race analysis. I ran like an idiot, and fortunately the course is very forgiving (i.e., easy) and I avoided a blow up. I'm happy I pr'd, and I don't care that my splits read 26:28 and 28:40. But it is the first half of the race that I will carry with me. It reminds me of the time I ran the Schuylkill River Loop race in November 2001, which I ran the first mile in 5:58 - the first time I ever ran a sub 6-minute split. I slowed down considerably after that, but that first mile changed me - I saw I was capable of running at a higher level and proceeded to shave 19 minutes of my marathon time the next spring in Boston. Coming back to this race, that I could run 5k and 5mile pr paces (yeah, I know that the course here was straight with a net downhill, but that's not the point) on my way to a 10 mile pr again tells me that, at 42, I can again torque this insane little avocation of mine up a notch.
So that wraps up my Spring season. Now its back to base mileage and preparing for the fall. Stay tuned.
posted by seebo | 3:22 PM
2 Comments:
Steve, congrats on one heck of a race. In the end, you PR'd. Yeah you chased the sun, but you PR'd. Way to go!
I've heard you talk about that Loop race before. Reading this, I'm thinking I'm sure glad you ran that way back when and became the crazy runner you are. Running in Philly would be a lot more boring without you to chase around.
Post a Comment
<< Home