Little By Little

So a recap of last nite's 5,000m at Icahn.
Of the 14 races I've ran in the first half of the year 9 have been in New York,what can I say like a moth to the flame I'm drawn to the Big Apple.
I've been spoilt in the respect that all but one of those races were w/ a ride up and back from Sean but it felt good to get back to my roots last nite and take the Megabus to and from Manhattan and the subway to Randall's Island,big shout out to my buddy Tom Fitz for peeping that 103rd St bridge was out that would've been a boot in the balls getting there to find out I couldn't walk over,it meant going to 125th and Lexington and taking the M35 which was a bit of a ball buster but bottom line I got to Icahn w/ 25 mins to spare and back to Penn Station w/ 20 mins to spare....no harm,no foul.

Mile warm up b4 the womens 5,000m got underway which allowed me an extra 20 mins,54 men on hand so 3 heats of 18 runners,I never considered heat 2 given my times are sub par right now but I'll be curious to see the winning time from heat 2......if the results get published,my only gripe w/ the Tueday Nite Speed Series this year is a lack of results online.
Got a good start and a clear run into the first turn and came through 200m in 37 seconds and 400m in 75 seconds,I was 12th or 14th.
As the opening laps clipped off I tried to stay in contact w/ a small group of runners just ahead of me,I didn't want to end up in no mans land and came through the opening mile in 5.09.

By now I was inbroiled in my own "race w/in the race" w/ a couple of runners who helped me keep an honest pace,shades of my last 5,000m at Swarthmore in May where my time was sub par but I raced well.
10.39 at 2 miles a 5.20 mile,in spite of being a warm evening I felt comfortable,as I've become more accustomed to 5,000m races( this was my 8th in the last 14 months)
Runners were starting to come back to me over the closing laps as the on going tussle between myself and one of the Urban Athletics runners continued to swop places.
Kudos to the time keepers at 200m for calling out lap splits even if now I don't remember them,I also forget what I came through the bell in.

Down the back straight I had to move out into lane 2 to pass a runner but stayed there as the final assault w/ the UA runner was about to unfold,by focusing on him I forgot to make a mental note of my 3 mile time,if for shits and giggles it was 16.10 that would've been a 5.30 mile but I'm guessing,as it was coming up the home straight I launched a final kick to overhaul the Urban Athletics runner for 12th in 16.48.9.
Sure I'm disappointed to register my slowest time of the year but at least now I know where I stand heading into Sacramento and Worlds,I do still have 4 weeks till Berea and Nationals.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record everything I do now is geared towards the 10,000m at Nationals based on last nite I believe a sub 34 10,000m is there for the taking,where that would stack up at Nationals remains to be seen but we're going to find out soon enough.
While it's always more fun to ride shotgun in Sean's Mini on the ride home I enjoyed the ride home on the Megabus w/ my ipod and jamming to a few albums by Bryan Adams and 10,000 Maniacs as I reflected on a good nite at the races on a sub par first half of the season,let's see what the second half of the season brings?