Another post race inquest as to why things didn't go to plan, glass half empty my second slowest time all time for ten miles, glass half full on a day when the elements weren't in my favour and physically I wasn't at the pitch of it I dug deep to finish and at least had the satisfaction of going gun to tape w/out having to stop......while to my critics that may smack of"trying to make a silk purse from a pig's ear" it was another in a long line of a worrying trend of days when I had to dig deep mentally and physically to see it through
Silly O Clock got even earlier this race, the traditional 8am start was brought forward an hour to facilitate a Phillies home game so it was 4.35am when I got up to leave b4 5am to get to my auld stompin' ground of Broad & Olney by 6am
Even then there was a line for the prerace Portajohns which seemed in short supply for a field of 40,000 runners, that said my "business was taken care of" and I was into the Orange Corral by 6.35am, I had gone to the rear of the corral b4 eventually moving forward as the two corrals ahead of me Red & Purple were called up to the starting line at Broad & Somerville ,conditions were grey and overcast....a pre cursor of what was to unfold,full disclosure I didn't check the temps pre race,not that it would've made any difference as the proverbial cheque was in the mail in terms of what was about to unfold, I will say however in my defense that I had drunk ample water the day b4 in an attempt to ward off dehydration
Off the back of the illness that laid me low a fortnite ago I wasn't expecting a fast time so I really didn't come into this race w/ a finish time/pace in mind that said I was pleasently surprised to clock 7.31 for the opening mile...however this was short lived.....as mile 2 was a 7.49 split,I would've expected mile 1 to be 7.49 as I weaved my way through the corral in the opening mile and then opening up the throttle w/ a 7.31 split.......
When mile 3 registered a 8.13 split I knew I was in trouble,my stomach was bothering me more than usual, I'm well used to "dodgy guts" pre race but usually once the race starts I'm fine.....not today.....it was going to be a long 7 miles to the finish
Somedays you have to create your own motivations when things aren't going to script....b4 mile 4 around Broad & Cecil B Moore I spotted a large Irish Tricolour off to my right......the flag of my homeland will always inspire me and raise my spirits period muchless when things aren't going to script as I approached it I saluted it, high fived it's owner and said " Tiocfaidh ar la"{our day will come for ye who aren't well versed in Gaelic} on a day things weren't going my way that interaction bought me another mile
At this stage I was thinking one mile at a time, I don't think not finishing was ever a consideration,asides from a rare DNF{ only one in my 49 year career thus far and that's one too many} I also wanted my medal {#260} plus my bag w/my phone and keys was at he finish line so unless I was going to punk out jump on the Subway and get down to Patterson Ave to get to the Navy Yard and bullshit everyone that I ran the whole race I was going to have to grind it out
8.25 for mile 4, 8.38 for mile 5 at Broad & Spring Garden now I needed to think about my daily 5 milers to get from Spring Garden to the Navy Yard, I was dripping in sweat and having to take water on which I normally don't but this wasn't my typical Broad Street Run,.....any day a runner dressed as a giant Hot Dog passes me inside the final mile underlines that fact......more power to him but it was the exclamation point on my day......
8.41 for mile 6 heading in to South Philly,reversed a trend of each split getting slower by dropping a 8.34 at mile 7....not sure where that came from ...however it was short lived as mile 8 was a 8.46 split followed by a 8.48 split at mile 9
I believed a sub 1.25 finish was there for the taking if I could dig deep, after a couple of years of construction in the Navy Yard the last two years it has had its traditional finish in the Navel Yard which always helps,once I went through the gates of the Navy Yard I knew the finish line was just up ahead and somehow I dredged up an 8.28 final mile to cross the line in slow 1.24.29 off 8.22 mile pace
And so to the post race inquest, what went wrong? two things I had feck all control over getting over being sick and the humidity both lent themselves to a slow time, for me the more worrying trend is another slow time, ok I dug deep to grind it out but "moral victories" are becoming the norm of late, looking back at the last twelve races since last years Broad Street Run they have mostly been slow and or me having to dig deep to salvage something from them,I had hoped after a semi decent Hot Chocolate 15k last time out I'd reversed that trend......then I got sick and lost ten days of training which was always going to hinder me coupled w/ the humidity which is always my Ktyptonite
I now have a long stretch of no races on the schedule through choice until the Philly 10k in sixteen weeks time,in that time I would like to start building base mileage for the Philly Marathon in twenty nine weeks time hopefully the trend of slow times and moral victories/ grinding it out will pass, last year I didn't log enough mileage in May, June,July,August, September in the build up to Dublin to make sure Philadelphia isn't deja vu I need to crack on starting Tuesday
