I hopped in the car at 0600 with my wife and child and made the trek to Havana, IL to run the Polka Pace Race. The PPR has a special place in my heart as my Dad's side of the family comes from the Havana/Bath area. I can park my car at my grandparents' house, which happens to be around the corner from Nate's parents, and I have a built-in cheering section made of my grandparents, my dad, my wife and my little Nathan just before the two mile mark. A block later I run into Nate's Dad and then I know I'm on my own the last 1.1 miles to the finish in "downtown" Havana. If my cheering section moves fast enough, which gets hard with Grandpa's emphysema, Grandma's knee and hip replacements and Kim pushing Nathan in the stroller, I have my family yelling and snapping photos as I sprint the last few blocks to the finish line. After the race I meet relatives I haven't seen since I was this high (gesturing at knee level), girls I knew in high school (Rachel Ebert) and then I get to eat lunch with the grandparents and have a nice visit.
After arriving in Havana a little after 0700 I picked up my race packet, pinned on my number and went out for a warm-up jog. 47 seconds into my warm-up I ran into Nate's Dad and talked to him for a bit and finished my jog. I ran a mile warm-up and at the conclusion I was a dripping wreck. The humidity was going to be a bit of a challenge I surmised.
I don't have any Weather Channel stats but if I had to guess I would say it was at least 65 with maybe 70% humidity. There was a bit of a breeze but not enough to hinder, or help, us during the race.
After making some announcements and introducing the Havana Citizen of the Year, Coach Caton took his place on the starting line next to me and my buddy, IronTim. I don't know what Tim was thinking seeing as how he did his FULL Ironman about thirteen days ago but he's running a half marathon relay tomorrow with his sister too. Tim is just a stud. Way more studly than me anyway.
The starter started us and we all took off. David D. and the Bionic Woman worked their way up ahead of me, David by alot and the Bionic Woman by a step or two, and Coach and I ran side by side until the downtown area where coach decided I was running too fast for him.
Upon hitting the downhill to the river and essentially letting myself fall down it, while still keeping my feet, I passed the Bionic Woman and a few others. David had at least a 15 second lead on me at this point and looked very strong. I thought maybe he was going to uncork a good race and then, though I hate myself for this, I chuckled internally and told myself that if I was within 100 meters of him at the mile I was going to beat him.
I hit the first mile in 6:00.18, right where I wanted to be, and just tried to relax and continue gaining ground on David. A block later, as we headed east toward Broadway, I saw David sneak a glance over his shoulder to see where I was. I knew then that he was mine for the taking. I caught him on Broadway, right before we made the left to get on Pearl, and as I came up on him he surged hard for five or six steps. I let him go because I knew I was going to get him on the incline. I passed him halfway up and rasped out a "good job" as I went by. As I turned the corner I heard my cheering section yell and take pictures and I surged a little to try to catch up to Carl B. I told myself that Carl was going to break 19:00 and that if I stayed close I would too.
Right before the two mile mark I was passed by someone who ran up on Carl's shoulder and parked there. I was about three seconds back and starting to feel a little bad. I hit the two mile mark in 12:12.35 with a mile time of 6:12.17. I slowly started falling off the pace after that and Carl and the other guy built up a bit of a lead on me of probably 20 seconds. I noticed that my shoulders and arms were migrating to my ears like a punchy boxer trying to avoid a knock out late in a fight. I forced myself to lower my arms and surge and I kept telling myself, 4 minutes to go, 3 minutes to go. I came back to life with about a half mile left and started making up ground again.
I hit mile three in 18:32.73 with a mile time of 6:20.38. It wasn't what I wanted but it is what I got. I told myself going in that if I could hit the three mile mark between 18:15 and 18:20 I would comfortably dip under 19:00. I had 28.2 seconds to cover 0.1 miles and I did it in 30.18 to break the line in 19:02.91. I finished in 7th place overall, second in my age group and ahead of the Bionic Woman, IronTim and David D. Bionic Woman won the women's race in 19:27, IronTim took third in our age group in 19:34 and David finished in 20:25. Coach nipped David by about ten seconds, running 20:14. Carl B. and the guy who passed me at the two mile mark ran 18:47 and 18:52, respectively. Dang it.
I'm pretty happy with my race. I wish my third mile had been a 6:17 instead of a 6:20 but a 33 second improvement from last year is reason to cheer. This is quite an improvement over the Scholastic Challenge in June where I ran 6:05, 6:12 (12:17), 6:33 (18:50) and 35 (19:25). I got out faster, finished stronger and finished ahead of some people who trounced me then.
I'm going to take it easy this week and on Sunday I am heading to Decatur to run the Shoreline Classic 15k. IronTim will be there as well. He said he's having some IT Band soreness so I hope he feels okay after today and doesn't exacerbate it tomorrow in the half marathon relay he's running with his sister.
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7 comments:
Great job! Very impressive race, and very enjoyable report. I hope that I can get back to Havana for a PPR someday.
It's funny. That last mile is the flattest of the race, but it always ends up being slow anyway. I think running the last half mile on bricks is part of the problem. You lose a little on each stride on that slippery surface.
And Tim is an absolute animal. Those Iron Man guys are crazy.
After the two mile mark and all the way to the turn it is slightly uphill too. It is very subtle but I think there is enough of an incline to slow you down when you're starting to hurt. The bricks don't help either and the fact that you can see the finish line when you're a little over half a mile away from it makes a little mentally intimidating.
Tim is a beast. He said he has already raced about twenty times this year and he's still thinking of doing a marathon in the fall. His sister took a picture of us with our trophies which I will post on here in the next few days. He's tall(6'2 or 6'3) and lanky, he's built for the longer stuff. Heck of a nice guy too.
I wish it was uphill. Unfortunately, I think it's as flat as the sea.
But it's funny that say that. There are stretches on the bike path by my house where I'd swear that I'm running hill both directions!
I still think it is slightly uphill. There may be only a few feet of elevation gain but I there is a long, very gentle incline. I know you lived there most of your life but I think you're used to it and are jaded by the App-lay-shun mountains that you live by.
App-lat-shun mountains.
I think actually think that "dem hills" is the preferred local pronunciation. ;-)
And honestly, Chapel Hill was hilly, but Durham is pretty darn flat. An apple-at-chin mountain would destroy me these days.
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