2010 Indoor Nationals Or Three Days,Three Races,Three Medals And One Heck Of A Good Time In Boston

Alrighty then,here it is my review of this years Indoor Nationals at Boston's Reggie Lewis Center.
Friday I left home at 7.30am,landed in Boston at 11.30am,checked into my hotel by 12.30pm and arrived at the Reggie Lewis Center by 3.30pm
W/ my race going off at 4.50pm I had ample time to check in,declare and get myself situated,given this was my 5th visit here it's not like I don't know the lie of the land.
Even on a lite day of competition there were still dozens of familiar faces present,since I missed out on Oshkosh and Outdoor Nationals last summer and some folks didn't make it to Landover for last years Indoor Nationals this felt like a catching up of sorts.
My good friend Nolan Shaheed won the M60 3,000m and I was quick to acknowledge his race b4 heading out for my warm up.
As I was looking to reverse a trend from previous Indoor Nationals I went out the front door not the side door and also clockwise not anti clockwise for my loop,it may sound like daft superstitious nonsense but since I was forced to do my pre race Franklin Field ritual in reverse the day b4 kissing the plaques of Jumbo Elliot,Ronnie Delaney,Marcus O Sullivan and Eamonn Coghlan in reverse order why not try something different and hope for better results?

Three quarters of the way around I ran into my good friend and the man I expected to be my main rival for the Gold Francis Burdett,Francis not only came in w/ 8.58 pr but also Gold at the recent World Indoor C'ships in Kamloops but until we crossed the line to enter the track we were friends,once you enter the playing field though it's a different matter
20 mins b4 gun time we gathered to get our hip and chest numbers,Francis was clutching his right hamstring,in the freakiest of accidents returning from our warm up Francis had tripped over a pole at the foot of the steps and injured himself and upon taking our place on the track for stride outs I asked how he felt"if I drop after two laps I won't be surprised" was Francis's honest answer.
This is why you should never go into a race w/ only one race plan,on those 9 and 10 mile runs in the last four weeks I visualized different race scenarios just because you have to have a back up plan in case things don't go to script,clearly now trailing Francis was not a plan.

From the gun I got a good reaction and from my 3rd place on the starting line I eased into the first turn and tucked in behind John Noland,Oscar Gonzalez and Chris Chisom,when we reached the 150m mark and the runners on the outside lanes were allowed to cut in Pat McCarthy took the lead and I was 4th at 200m in 36/37 seconds.
The next few laps clicked off at a decent pace,38.0,36.4,37.2,37.2 it was on the 5th lap that I took control of the race.
I was comfortable in 4th but wanted to get up onto leader John Noland's outside so I swung wide on the top turn to past Oscar and Chris however they countered my move and bunched up,did I tuck back in behind them?stay out in lane 3 along side them? or ease by them and John to take the lead?

I opted for the later even though I didn't want to be out in front w/ 10 laps to go but as I've often said b4"once the Genie is out of the bottle"
I proceeded to click off 4 laps at 36.7,36.7,36.9,36.3 as the race now entered it's second phase,I forget when Oscar,Chris and somehow remarkably Francis went by me,suddenly I found myself in 4th and on the outside looking in this was very much not in the script.
As I came through the bell I saw 8.40 on the clock,in New York in both the 3,000m and 2 miles on March 6th and 19th I'd laid down a fast closing 200m to set pr's/club records and my feeling was I'd worked too damn hard over the last 11 weeks not to mention in today's race to leave empty handed.

I dropped a closing lap of 31.3,I caught and passed Oscar b4 coming out of the bottom turn and flew down the back straight in hot pursuit of Francis,as we entered the final turn I remembered one of the several race scenarios I'd visualized in my build up to today and remembering a quote from Craig Mottrom at a Reebok Games here a few years back he said coming out of the final turn if you get up into lane 2 it's almost like a sling shot up the home straight and 40 meters from the line I caught and passed Francis to take second and silver in 9.11.4 and take 2 seconds off my recent pr.
Obviously the race would've had a different outcome had Francis not been injured but as I often say"you can only race who shows up"and to take that a step further you can only race who shows up and in the shape they show up in.

Kudos to Francis for gutting it out and props to Chris Chisom for being the sleeper in the field,9.06 is an impressive time,if memory serves me Chris was the defending M45 champion from Landover.
Post warm down I collected my medal,I honestly felt in the build up to today a sliver was attainable and I now had a second Silver Masters Nationals medal in my collection but more importantly a medal at my new and prefered indoor distance over 3,000m,not to mention a new pr/club record,no wonder I enjoyed my post race meal at Olive Garden b4 an ice bath and bye byes

Saturday Up early{7am}to partake in breakfast at the hotel b4 a relaxing few hours in my room b4 heading over to the track by 10.40am for my 1.08pm mile.
W/ more events on the schedule today the arena was a lot busier than yesterday and w/ events going on either on the track or infield there's always a buzz going through the Reggie Lewis Center,hell if it were upto me we'd have Indoor Nationals here every year!!
By 12.10pm after watching Nolan Shaheed win another M60 Gold in the mile John Noland and I went out for our warm up,warm being the operative word as Boston was it's usual chilly self,the first words from the pilot yesterday were"the temperature in Boston is 33 degrees" and while I'd had the good sense to wear my tights and long sleeve dri fit under my warm up and pack a ski hat just in case I hadn't brought gloves{so much for being a Boy Scout and being prepared!!}

Not surprisingly Francis had scratched from the mile,no point in risking more injury period much less jeopardizing the outdoor season,granted one less threat to my medal aspirations but there were still some legit milers on hand,one of whom was the great John Hinton.
Since my Nationals debut in Charlotte in 06 John and I have been duking it out over 800m and the mile both at Indoor Nationals and Hartshorne Masters Memorial Mile,I'd never beaten John my head to head record was 0.9{0.10 including a Masters XC 5K} could today be my day?

Again I got a good reaction to the gun which was just as well given the bumping and banging going into the first turn,John Noland almost went down in front of me as we went into the first turn but I managed to get clear albeit on the rail and as things settled down
Not sure what my opening 200m split was but I was 6th entering the back straight,I swung wide and around 2nd thro 5th on the top turn to tuck in behind John as we came thro 400m in 1.10/1.11 but down the back straight I got swallowed up by the pack and had to repeat the move off the top turn again.

A slow 800m split 2.23,I heard somebody yell"this is 4.46 pace" but if the opening 800m had gone out slow now things were about to ratchet up several notches as John put his foot down and I gave chase.
Not sure when Dave Matherne went by me to relegate me to third but I glanced over my shoulder to see where 4th place was and I was clear,having raced yesterday and w/ an 800m to come tomorrow I could afford to ease off the gas slightly,though that said my closing 4 laps went:35.0,34.3,33.2,32.0.

Again another strong final 200m,who knows if I could've caught Dave if I hadn't ran yesterdays 3,000m but I had a bronze to show for my efforts and a seasons best 4.38.1 also,out in 2.23,back in 2.14,how's that for a negative split!
Post race I cooled down w/ John Noland and Adam Harder and got their perspective of the race.
After picking up my medal John Hinton and I shared a few minutes together,like I said w/ Francis once the race is over the mutual respect you have for one another can come through,I like John Hinton a great deal,he's a true champion and a gentleman,we've had some great races and I hope we have several more over the years,John's been MIA for most of the last year but I told him Masters track was a better place for having a fully fit and healthy John Hinton back in it.
W/ my days work done I could now relax and watch friends and team mates compete,there were some awesome 400m races b4 the 4x800m relays went off,sadly the schedule at Indoor Nationals doesn't favour a chance for us to run a 4x800m as at least three of us run the mile{the schedule at Outdoor Nationals isn't much better as the 4x800m comes right after the 1,500m on Sunday}
Kudos to the W40 and W50 teams who broke world records in the 4x800m,I know all 8 ladies reasonably well and it was fun to watch them race and celebrate their records.

Another ice bath, a quick check of the footie scores online{2.0 to Spurs!!!}a blog tweet{thank you Holiday Inn Express for having Internet access in the lobby} and dinner w/ Ray Parker team mate and split taker,his friend Michael whom I've know since Boston 07,Tom Cawley who I met at Hartshorne this year,his son George and Danny Kelly a friend and team mate of Tom's,....you can never have enough paddies around the dinner table in my humble opinion!!!
Food was great,the craic was even better,this is the other side of Masters Nationals I,ve grown to embrace,you run your race and then go out to dinner it was a tradition that began in ernest in Orono in 07,but in Spokane 08 instead of being just team mates it became team mates and friends and has grown since then,missing out on Outdoor Nationals last summer was a kick in the teeth as a runner,missing out on the social aspect of it an even bigger downer.
W/ my mission 2/3rds complete I had an earlier nite than Friday since I had an earlier race on Sunday.

Sunday Again up by 7am for breakfast, a shower and over to Reggie Lewis,w/ a 12pm race I needed to be there by 10am.
Ah ha! the third shift had arrived team mates Scott and Chuck had driven up yesterday evening to run the 800m today and give the Blue and Red of GPTC a few more members in it's ranks,boy we've come a long way since 07 when only myself,Ray and Russ Patton were the only members of our team here,off the top of my head this year we had twelve,still small compared to other clubs but by jaysus what we lacked in depth we more than made up for in talent trust me!

Myself,Scott,Jason C and Kent Lemme went out for a warm up together,Scott and I would be going mano e mano in the M45 while Jason and Kent would do likewise in the M40.
Warm up completed,hip and chest numbers collected{declaration had been taken care of b4 leaving yesterday}I now had to ready myself for one last race.
My mantra coming in was simple,one race at a time,people had asked how I thought I'd feel come Sunday and the 800m,my third race in three days,truthfully I didn't know how I'd feel,the fact was between increased mileage,ice baths and reasonable expection levels from myself I felt good.

I knew there were a few guys capable of unhinging my 3/3 hopes,team mate Scott Landis and Jim Watts were running fresh,Gladstone Jones and David Jones were capable of beating me,however David scratched as his 60m,200m,400m,800m proved to be one event/several races too much and Gladstone scratched after aggravating his hamstrings in the 400m final yesterday so as we lined up on the starting line it was from the inside,John Hinton,myself,Scott Landis and Jim Watts.
Another good reaction to the gun as I got out quick,Scott bolted by me to get behind John and I tucked in behind them oblivious to what was going on behind me.

I forget what the 200m split was and nobody took splits either but it was a fast honest pace,I felt if I could get third and bronze I'd be more than happy.
At some point on the back straight Jim Watts fell he was the one guy I felt could threaten my plans but unbeknown to me 4th place in the mile David Esposito was now tracking me in 4th and it was him not Jim Watts who was moving upto my shoulder as we hit 500m
I sensed someone on my outside but even though we were on that killer third lap of an indoor 800m and I was on my third race in three days my weeks of extra mileage paid off in spades,I found another gear and repelled the challenge.

Third at the bell I was feeling good,the weeks of 40 miles and that 50 mile week a fortnite ago over the last four of five weeks,the ice baths the fans cheering all gave me the wheels I needed and just as it should've been in Charlotte 06 when I had the 3rd best time for the 800m but finished 6th this time I finished behind John Hinton and Scott Landis for third and bronze.
I couldn't resist making the three finger gesture as I reached and crossed the line,three races in three days and three medals,oh how sweet it is!!!!
2.04.2 a seasons best...albeit by default as this was my first 800m all year and in fact my first 800m since we broke the world record for the 4x800m in December.
Talking of which w/ Scott and I having done our part now the younger guns of the 4x800m team Nick and Bob were about to run....and how!

Another 800m clinic by Nick 1.56 and Bob Mc took third in 2.00 no wonder the topic of discussion on our warm down along w/ Chuck who finished 7th in the M50 800m was a crack at an outdoor 4x800m this summer,the World Record might be a bit rich for our blood,but the American and or American Club Record are doable thought I feel the American Record is probably also the World Record but that's for another day.
Given I had a 4.30pm flight and the relays weren't going off till 3.20pm a 4x400m was out of the question for me and neither Scott,Nick,Bob,Ray or Daryl were up for it either.
I said my goodbyes to my team mates and friends,Chuck and Scott kindly drove me to the airport,I can only imagine what the drive back to Philly would've been like based on the high jinks and shenanigans that went on in the car from Reggie Lewis to Logan International.

I've said it a million times but it bares repeating,I love my team mates I could not imagine running for anyone else nor running against these guys it is a unique bond that runs thro Greater Philadelphia Track Club and makes us what and who we are.
And w/ that another indoor season comes to a close,if you'd have told me on Jan 7th when I was humbled and humiliated at The Armory off a 4.51 mile that 11 weeks later I'd leave Boston and Indoor Nationals w/ three medals and a new pr/club record in three races in three days I'd have to ye to feck off out of it but through hard work,spirit and guts and determination I turned my season around.

At last I have an Indoor Nationals at Boston to be proud of,listening to the Dropkick Murphys on the way up and Floggin' Molly,The Pogues,and U2 over the last three days my inner paddy was more than ready to come out to play!!
Thank You to Pete Taylor for introducing me as All Ireland b4 each of my races,I appreciated it.
To the friends I got to hang w/ and watch and the new friends I made,I wish you all a safe journey back home where ever home is,I look forward to Sacramento in July when"the clans all gather"again,YES Masters track is a bit like Running Camp for Grown Ups sure the medals and pr's/club records,world records,American records are great but there's something about all gathering together for a few days and competing and enjoying being in one anothers company that makes the time,travel,expense,training and sacrifice ALL worth while.