Requiem For A Dream

A week after the fact I can bring myself to write this,in truth I was busy this week hence why I,m only now getting around to Nationals and a cliff notes version of my week,the only problem w/ falling behind on the blog is it,s a bugger to get caught up and while Indoor Nationals could easily be summed up in one word...............begins w/ an S rhymes w/ day and nite here goes!!!
The 3,000m never really got going,an opening 38 sec lap and 1.15 at 2 laps had me in contention at the rear of the lead pack,however when the lead 5 broke the race wide open I soon found myself in no mans land,no mans land in an indoor 800m or mile is one thing,over 15 laps for a 3,000m please.
Stepping off the track was NEVER an option,had I come all this way and gone through all the upheavals of the week to jack in in now.......hell no,I saw it through to it,s conclusion,a very disappointing 10.01.65.11th of 13 runners AND GP beat me!!!!!
After the race GP & I agreed I wouldn,t waste any more time w/ the 3,000m it was time to get back to the basics of the 8oom/1,500m/mile w/ the odd 4x400m relay thrown in along the way,my hopes of going to Haywards Field this July to run the Masters exhibition 3,000m during the Olympic trials like"phoney beatlemania had bitten the dust"one day I hope to run at famed Haywards Field but it won,t be this year and it won,t be during the Olympic Trials.
One final thought/observation on the 3,000m,while todays 10.01.65 had fallen well short of not only the 9.30 quallifying mark but also the 9.25 club record it was a dramatic improvement on the bloody woeful 12.47.41 I ran on Feb 4th,glass half full baby.
The 800m was ALWAYS gonna be tough,4 guys more than capable of running between 2.02-2.04 and me languishing well back w/ a "seasons best" of 2.13,the words arse,plate and served sounded about right and in running as is in life I had choices,shrug my shoulders and resign myself to defeat b4 the gun was fired or go for it and do my best................you know me and plan b!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seeded 8th of 12 runners I at least got on the outside of the starting line and for once got a clear start from the gun,5th after the first turn I was comfortable on the outside of lane 1,29 secs at 200m and 1.01 at 400m...........and then the bleedin Stienway piano landed on my back,the 3rd lap of the indoor 800m is a killer and it killed me today,I drifted back to 9th and only reclaimed 8th going into the final turn when the 7th seeded runner pulled up w/ what looked like a pulled hamstring.
8th in 2.12.82........ohh a seasons best,scuse me while I stop typing and burst into a spontaneous Irish jig.......................
Again trying to salvage something from a very disappointing race I at least can look myself in the mirror and say I ran an honest race and went for it rather than run up the white flag.
To come away from my first Nationals w/ out a medal is NOT something that sits well,hindsight that most wonderful of things proved that while 8 weeks to get ready for Indoor Nationals was one thing it was the proverbial horse of a different colour to be able to come to Boston and be competitive.
Gerry Farnam who was one of Eamonn,s coaches once said of his charge"you may beat Eamonn once but you won,t beat him twice"someone also said of my first sporting hero Jimmy Connors "Jimmy takes defeats like a fighter takes takes losing a tooth"sitting in Logan airport waiting for my flight back to Philly a piece of one of my teeth broke off,I,ll take that omen and not only run to the bank w/ it but also keep running till I get to Spokane in August for Outdoor Nationals.....stopping off at dentists only if need be!