NB Twilight Meet #1

I had been gearing up for a good fast 3k outdoors for a few weeks, but when the race came, my legs had other intentions. I have been having great workouts for a while now and was hoping that my first flat race of the outdoor season was going to reflect the training I have been doing. I did not have a concrete time goal in mind before going into this race, but I felt it would have been nice to go under 8:20 for my first 3k. All I know is that my body just felt like a lump of crap a good portion of the day and no matter how much or what I did for a warmup, nothing changed. I just tried to block out all of that negativity, because regardless, I had to run the race. Races, and better yet, other runners, do not give two craps how you feel on that day, so you just have to deal with it. The plan was to have Chris McCann lead us through 1200-1600 at 67's. He was perfect through 1200 and because of the wind, which was hefty, decided it was in his best interest and ours to step off. Once off the track, no one really had any aspirations of leading into the stiff wind, so the pace slowed. I did not care one bit. The race could have either been super fast or super slow and I would not have cared because of how I felt. The race came down to a very hard last lap where we ran a nice 58, with a 27 last 200....and I got 3rd. Craig Macpherson and Andrea Sorgato on my team got me at the end. I ended with an 8:27.45, which is a PR, so I guess I cannot be too upset with it. It is only one race and there are still 7 weeks left till the Irish Nationals for the 3k steeple. My next race will be this upcoming Saturday at the 2nd NB Twilight meet and I will be doing the 1500.

The premier race of the night was the 10k. The women started it off with a nice fast race that was negative split the entire race by the leader. The men's 10k was set up to have 3 guys attempting to break 30 minutes, which is always fun to watch. Like I was saying before, the whole day I felt like crap, and this is always fun when you are called back to rabbit a 10k. I have no problem doing it for my teammates because I know they would do the same for me. The plan was for Andrea and myself to rabbit 3k-5k of the race depending on how we felt from after our races. I felt like crap so I was hoping to make it through 3k at 72's per lap. I was able to help out till about 2k and then I felt usless, so I stepped off the track. Andrea on the other hand was very tough and was able to go through 3 miles right on pace. I give him a lot of credit because he was very very sick about 10 days before and training was not great for him. The pace stayed on 72's the entire race with Dan closing in a 62 for the last quarter to run 29:53...a PR...and his first track 10k. He ran amazingly! We have a great team and hopefully I can step up in my distance and run as tough as he did. I know I have been having great workouts and for the most part feeling good. Everyone has a time where they feel a little sluggish and tired, but that is just part of the training and sport. I still have like 2 months left of racing so I just need to keep everything in perspective. I can't let every little feeling or thought interrupt my training or thought process. You have to take the ups with the downs right?