The finale for the CARS was the Tom Walton 6 mile. I had run six of the nine races so I didn’t need to run this one but could lose my place in the age graded if someone scored highly at this race. A higher score was a definite possibility as this course is very flat (except for the two times over the highway each lap). I was charged up for this race until I woke up sick on Thursday. Not sure what was up but felt bad enough that I did not do my morning run and took a half-day off work. I felt a little better as the day went on but the persistent headache and sluggishness persisted. My hope is this was a side effect from the new meds I’d been taking to prevent migraines. Off them now and getting some testing done to figure out what is up.
On to the race. I still felt “off” on Saturday but decided to give it a go. Last year I’d had a good race here breaking 39 minutes. Based on my racing this year I hoped to be around 40 minutes even with feeling lousy. The weather certainly cooperated with temps in the upper 60’s, with no wind and very low humidity. I got to Delta Dental a little before 7 a.m. and was surprised to see Dave La. He mentioned he needed one more race to get his sixth for the series. We picked up our numbers and got a quick picture with the Knight Riders team mascot. I headed out for a course preview, and it seemed warmer as there was zero shade. The course was well marked, but no mile markers and maybe just a self-serve water stop. No problem with the day being cool and with my watch beeping every half mile. I felt okay warming up and quickly switched into race shoes and got a picture with my sisters and brother in law. Rose and John were both doing the 6 mile in prep for a fall ½ marathon, and Denise was doing the 5k. We the multi-loop and out & back nature of the course I’d be seeing them a bunch of times. I headed out for another mile and headed for the line. I got a big hug from Tim Cox at the start, I hadn’t seen Tim at all this year, so it was nice to chat even for just a few seconds.
I lined up about 5 rows back and off we went. I was very cautious over the first half mile as the road was a bit crowded as things sorted out. The 5k would be doing one loop and my race would do a 180 turn at three miles and head back out for a second loop. I settled in and hit the mile in 6:39. That was right on for 40 minutes although I was not feeling good and watched as people just seemed to float away. With the out & back it was easy to get a count of how many were in front and at 1.5 miles I counted 35 ahead of me. Of course, many of those would be doing the 5k but there was no way of knowing who was doing which distance. There were a few guys ahead of me who I normally beat that were ahead of me, but I figured they were running the shorter race.
A second mile at 6:43 had me still on pace and I’d passed just 1 or 2 people so far. Another 6:43 had me at three miles in 20:05 and gave me a chance again to count places. This time only 10 were in front of me as many headed in for the 5k finish.
I started to feel a little better in the second lap and a 6:35 mile had me catching up to Chuck Wise, I could hear footsteps behind and knew that Matt Russel was still there (I’d passed him at 2.5 miles). I wanted a top 10 finish and was motivated having two guys right with me. A 6:39 fifth mile had me doing some quick math, I’d need to keep pressing to get in under 40 minutes. I also knew my 5m split was faster than I’d raced at the Bill Luit last month which was encouraging. I was feeling pretty good and working with both guys, I really wanted to push before the last ¼ mile as I figured both would probably manage a stronger kick than I could. My final mile was the fastest of the race (6:32) but I lost 16 and 6 seconds to the guys over the last ¼ despite not slowing. My “high end speed” is a thing of the long ago past…not that I was ever FAST. No complaints as I took 11th place and tops in the 60+ with a 39:50 and a second loop that was 20 seconds faster than the first. That closes the books on the CARS for the year and I’m glad I took part. I’m not sure what I’ll do next, I’ve got nothing on the calendar but hope that something interesting comes up.
It looks like the entire crew had a good day with Rose taking 8th in the 60+ and John also taking 8th in the 60+ (both in the 6m) and Denise taking 10th in the 60+ in the 5k.
Pl Time Name Sx Age City St Team
1 32:51 Sean McCauley M 34 Canterbury NH Granite State Endurance
2 33:13 Nicholas Gosling M 43 Bristol NH Delta Dental
3 33:32 David Chorney M 39 Concord NH Granite State Endurance
4 33:48 Andrew Tuttle M 31 Rochester NH Bassett Hounds
5 33:53 Dave Beaudoin M 48 Manchester NH Knight Riders
6 34:55 Mike Veilleux M 48 Weare NH Knight Riders
7 35:39 Corey Girard M 44 Pembroke NH Knight Riders
8 38:26 Michael Martinez M 47 Manchester NH Knight Riders
9 39:34 Matt Russell M 27 Concord NH
10 39:44 Chuck Wise M 51 Mltnborough NH
11 39:50 Dave Dunham M 62 Bradford MA Delta Dental
12 41:33 Sarah Burdette F 48 Concord NH Delta Dental
13 42:59 Vincent Perelli M 62 Hopkinton NH Granite State Endurance
14 43:45 Steve McGowan M 53 Concord NH Granite State Endurance
15 44:50 Abbey Wood F 40 Laconia NH Delta Dental
16 48:20 Ginny Hast F 63 Bow NH Granite State Endurance
17 48:27 Peter Heslam M 59 Belmont NH Delta Dental
18 48:59 Scott Sullivan M 28 Pittsfield NH
19 49:02 Brylee Flood F 15 Penacook NH Delta Dental
20 49:21 Michael Quinn M 62 Arlington MA Somerville RR
21 49:58 Daniel Dambruoso M 47 Concord NH
22 50:09 David Lapierre M 62 Amherst NH Millennium Running
No comments:
Post a Comment