Not A Pot Of Gold At The End Of My Rainbow....But I'll Take It!

I knew coming into this years Indoor Nationals that if ever my chances of finally adding an Indoor National Championship individual gold(I won gold on a 4x400m relay in 09 in Landover}were to see the light of day this was probably my best chance,next March in Landover I'll be 49.
On top of that to accommodate World Indoors in Finland in a few weeks time Masters Nationals were moved forward from their traditional end of March slot to not only mid March but also St Patrick's Day weekend w/ the mile falling on St Paddy's Day.....this was too good to be true!!!!!

Following my lackluster 3,000m performance the evening b4 I was suitably motivated to redeem myself over the mile.
W/ hindsight had I not been somewhat shell shocked from the 3,000m I believe I would've ran a slightly more astute race tactically.
I felt the mile was anybody's race to win 11 of us lined up Jeff Mann who beat me outdoors in Sacramento 2010 at Outdoor Nationals was a notable scratch but I still had Francis Burdett and Tom Fitzpatrick either side of me on the starting line and a little further along the line Michael Strickland,Kristian Blaich and Thomas Lentz,no wonder when I knelt down on the top turn to say my pre race prayer I asked God just to get me on the podium if an outright win wasn't doable.

A good reaction to the gun and in a sense of near dajavu as we broke down the back straight it was Kristian Blaich and Francis Burdett ahead of me,Thomas Lentz the 3,000m winner would not be a factor today and eventually dropped out.
According to the splits I was given the opening 200m was 36.3 followed by a 33.6 split for 1.09 at 400m.
W/ hindsight{a wonderful thing if ever there was one!!!}I wish I'd stayed tucked in behind Kristian and Francis but w/ my confidence somewhat shot not just from yesterday but also it has to be said from a {in my opinion}below par Indoor season,after kicking things off w/ a 4.15.8. 1,500m on Dec 26th my subsequent mile times have been:4.39.8.-4.39.9.-4.42. all well below the 4.32-4.34 the 1,500m indicated I could and should run I wasn't confident in the belief that if I sat back behind the leaders I could kick like a mule w/ a lap to go and win so at the end of lap three two I moved ahead of Kristian and Francis.

33.9 for lap three and 34.8 for lap 4 a 2.16 halfway split,probably closer to 2.18 adding the .3-.6.-.9-.8.'s
I had no idea of what was going on behind me although judging from some of the photos I saw there was a pretty tight pack on my tail w/ Francis,Kristian,Tom Fitzpatrick,Michael Strickland and Michael Scholtz all giving chase
35.7-35.4 for laps five and six,down the back straight b4 the turn I felt Francis Burdett try to make a move on me but repelled it 35.0 and 4.05 at the bell,one lap,200m between me and the finish and my first ever Indoor Nationals individual Gold.....on St Paddy's Day...........
Coming off the bottom turn Kristian Blaich pulled along side me if this had been a 1,500m I might've been able to stay in pole position but the younger legs of Kristian pulled ahead,I tried to mount a challenge but it wasn't to be,not for the first time at Nationals my"live by the sword,die by the sword" tactics had backfired.
Going into the final turn Francis went by me I glanced over my shoulder and couldn't see Michael Strickland for the third successive Indoor Nationals I was was going to claim bronze in the mile as I had in Landover in 09 and again in Boston in 2010.

Third in 4.42.4. I offered post race congratulations to Kristian and Francis b4 getting down on my knees to offer up post race thanks to God for another podium finish at Nationals,you never take them for granted,I may not've gotten the fairytale win I had dreamt of all Fall and Winter but yet again the record books will show yours truly on the podium at Nationals and while my times may be slowing as I get older the fact remains since my 07 Indoor Nationals debut I have 8 medals to show for my efforts.
Post race several of us ran together to cool down there's a tremendous feeling of camaraderie at Masters Nationals once the battles on the track are fought we laugh and joke as we cool down b4 enjoying a meal and a libation or two b4 we ready ourselves for the next battle which will be in Lisle Illinois this August at Outdoor Nationals......Gentlemen start your engines......