Ironic I should spend the two days leading upto my race watching almost the entire David Tennant era of Doctor Who from his beginning episode{Christmas Invasion 06} to his last{The End Of Time Part Two 10} as I was about to incur a little time travel of my own....minus a Tardis in my case I should point out!!!
On Sunday January 9th 2005 I ran not only my first ever indoor track meet but also my first track meet here in America and my first track race since 1981,I think that's what keep me coming back to Swarthmore because I'm a sentimental fool,trust me it's not for the 3 lane, slightly banked curves,deader than dirt track which this year became a no spike facility,yeah I get spoilt running at The Armory I know!!
In 05 I ran the 3,000m because I thought I was a distance runner,I held my own for the opening mile b4 tailing off badly over the closing 6 laps to finish 5th in 10.26........from little acorns big trees grow I guess!
The reason for the 3,000m this year?two fold, I've never hidden the fact I'd like the club record at 3,000m which is 9.25.4 and also I have designs on the 2 mile record which is 10.05.8. and since 2 miles is seldom ran I figured a 3,000m today would serve as prep for Thursday at The Armory where frankly a better track should aid and abet that dream alot better.
It's 3 years since I last ran a 3,000m here a pr 9.38. sadly my last 3,000m was a lackluster 10.01. at Indoor Nationals coming off of my stress fracture,I've been back to Swarthmore every year since my 05 debut,in 06 it was my indoor 400m debut as I tried to make my way onto the Millrose Games relay,in 07 a ran a 2.02 800m followed by my aforementioned 9.38. 3,000m,and while I couldn't run in 08 due to being two weeks into wearing a cast on my foot due to my stress fracture I still came to watch my team mates compete,last year I made the Dec 21st meet since I knew I'd be at The Armory on Jan 4th for the Holiday Meet.
One thing was for sure this year was the coldest year I've been here,my warm up and cool down were both conducted on the infield,it was ber outside!!!
The race plan was try to go out in 36 seconds not 26 like last week and hold onto that pace,so when the two high school runners inside me took the lead into the back straight I was happy to follow them,I heard 34 seconds at 200m,a little faster than planned but not too bad.
I forget when I moved into second lap 3 I think in a multi lap race it's hard to keep track of splits and maneuvers,at 1,500m I heard 4.49 on pace for a 9.38. if I could keep it up.....
Sadly like 5 years prior the later half of the race got away from me,I began to slip back down the field to 6th and finished in 10.18.2 a major disappointment.
I'd like to think it was partly due to the track being so dead,there's just no give in it and my upper thighs are sore today,when I run 5x1,000m/ 4x1mile at Franklin Field/Lower Merion I feel fine,note to self Swarthmore 11 800m only or 400m!
Hopefully on a much better track Thursday I can redeem myself whatever I run it'll be a pr since I've never ran 2 miles b4 but I'd like to get close to if not under Chucks club record of 10.05.8.
One glimmer of satisfaction I was 8 seconds faster today than I was five years ago,small comfort really.
More drama!originally Ray wasn't going to run the Millrose Games 4x400m due to a conflict of schedules ie a flight to Chicago.....then the race got pushed up from 6.05pm to 4.25pm,Ray as a 400m guy decided he'd run now and dropped a 56.2 400m bumping me to 4th behind Nick,Ray and Scott.....but then Bob ran a 57.0 in the same heat and dropped me to 5th as my 400m time was 57.08.....8 1/100ths of a second keeping me off of the Millrose team..........SO I dropped my plans to run the mile next Sunday at Deleware to hopefully run a faster 400m than Bob or maybe Scott who ran a 56.4 400m at Haverford,there are a few other guys from the squad also looking to nail a spot at Millrose and Delaware is the final chance......
High noon at Delaware next Sunday that's for sure off a short week,one race at a time thought I need to summom up the "spirit of New York"on Thurday and take care of mt 2 miles b4 trying to make it onto my third Millrose team....stay tuned it's gonna be a lively week I feel!
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2 comments:
Sorry to hear about your 3000. The track is dead. It has not been touched in years, dating back to when I was a student there in the late '80s and early 90s. It has no give. Swarthmore's track is not something I take pride in. As wealthy as the College is, the track is simply not on the radar screen due to the economic downturn and other College priorities. Hopefully, we will have better luck at Delaware. I am thinking of running the 400. I have registered for both the 400 and 800...just in case I have a change of heart. It would be nice to break 56. Maybe we can push each other.
Delvin,
I can't believe how dead that track felt,I'll never run anything more than an 800m on it in future,my upper thighs are still sore today,there's no way I should be that sore from just under 2 miles.
What was your 800m time?
See you Sunday at Delaware....I'll bring"The Stick"....
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