Highs And Lows

Ok so I missed the club record by a country mile and I wasn't even close to my pr but I'm ok w/ both.
Way back in June I was asked by the club{Greater Philadelphia Track Club or GPTC}if I'd be willing to run any of the road races in the fall as the club was hoping to make a run at winning the Mid Atlantic Road Race Grand Prix series,after the Moorestown 8K in May I think we were in 4th or even 5th but the feeling was from August thro November the club could move up the standings,for my part in June I already knew how my fall was going to look and frankly a return to road racing after an almost 4 year absence wasn't on the cards.
Most races were on Sundays which scuppered that since I wanted to set Sundays aside for my long run but when the Rothman 8K was brought forward to Saturday this year I felt this was one road race I could run,it was in Center City which meant next to no travelling and also I could still get my Sunday 16 miler in so I signed up and and agreed to"take one for the team" and run my first road race outside of 5th Avenue Mile and the Masters 5K C'ships since the 06 Camden River Run 5K.

I arrived at the Parkway by 6.45am.....I'd forgotten how insanely early you have to get up for road races and took my warm up mile along the nearby Schuylkill Banks.....so this is what it looks like in the daylight!!
It was a sunny but brisk 42 degrees when the gun went off at 7.30am I felt gloves were a bit too much but did keep a long sleeve dri fit shirt on under my club vest to make sure I didn't get cold.
I deliberately set myself a little bit back from the starting line,I didn't need to go off too fast and w/ chip time not gun time calling the shots I could afford to be a little off the pace.
In a field of 1,600 plus it was important to get a reasonably clear start and after rounding Logan Square and heading back up the Parkway I was able to get a clear run.

5.30 for the opening mile...according to the clock but there was an 11 second difference on my finishing clock time/chip time so it was probably 5.19 for me but still off pace,I needed to be holding a 5.10 pace at best if I wanted to go sub 26.
Rounding Eakins Oval and heading out along West River Drive I got into open road territory and was able to to cruise along virtually by myself w/ runners w/in range to pick off.
11.19 at mile 2 on the clock,11.08 on my chip while not as fast as when I ran 16.00 at 5K 7 weeks ago in Syracuse I was feeling comfortable,as I approach my 3rd week of 75 mile weeks in the last 4 weeks it's clear what I may lack in speed I don't lack in strength.

The 3 mile marker came right b4 the turn around I was more focused on the cone than the clock so the 16.47 may not be accurate.
Heading back along West River Drive I was glad to have my shades on as the sun was almost blinding,in fact it was so bright I missed the clock at mile 4.
From the turn around I had been the meat of a three runner sandwich one runner always a few strides ahead of me,another right behind me breathing down my neck but coming up off of West River Drive and drawing along side Eakins Oval w/ the finish line clock just in view I made one move to drop both of them and finish strong,37th in a field of 1,646 finishers.

27.45. well shy of the 26.01 club record and 32 seconds off of my 03 pr of 27.13. but my second fastest 8K of all time and a major improvement on the 28.38 I ran here 5 years ago in my last Rothman 8K.
Following my mile cool down I got my bag and headed home,bollocks to all that waiting around afterwards,turns out I won the 45-49 age group but unless someone from the club picked it up for me I guess I'm sol....that said in 05 I finished 3rd in the 40-45 age group and they never sent me my award so I'm not going to worry about it.

After seven weeks w/out a race it felt good to compete again,don't get me wrong I'm enjoying my 75 mile weeks and base mileage but the chance to race was a nice change of pace,I doubt I'll go to Brandywine next Saturday for the 5K XC race just due to logistics which means it'll be another three weeks till my next and probably final race of the season in Van Cortlandt Park.
Now for the fun and games!a 7.30am race and a 7.45am kick off of the North London derby between "the scum" and Spurs meant setting the dvr....but oh boy was it worth it!!!
0.2 down at half time Spurs rallied to win 3.2 and inflict our first win on enemy soil since 92/93,trust me the pints and kebabs on Seven Sisters Road will be going down a lot sweeter tonite!!!