Three down

Three to go.

Quick note: after one leg Zac came into the transition area saying that there was a bear in the road. I kid you not.

First of the long runs for me. 8.1 miles which kept going and going,  probably because it was actually 8.8 miles.  My bad. I pushed it hard,  maybe too hard. Finished off at 60 minutes 15 seconds for a 6:49 pace. Yipes. Let's see what that does to me later.

Hoping to catch some sleep soon beforemy longest run of the race, 9.6 miles. Long,  but it's all downhill.  Should be fine as long as my stomach holds out.  Starting to get duvet in there. 

Think of us tonight as you hoist another brew.

Second round

Second run done. 5.1 miles in 34:26,  6:44 pace. A bit quick but there were some good downhills for the assist. Next leg will show us if we have been going out too fast or not.

So far both runs have been solid but the next three are all near or over 9 miles long, so the real work begins then.  9.5 down, 30.1 left to go.

One down

At exchange 6 waiting for Ollie to get here. That will mean we have each run once. Only 5 more legs for each. So far everyone is running well and nothing has gone "sproing" yet.

Rain is on and off and it is cool out.  Should be interesting this evening as signage on the course has not been stellar.

The non–ultra teams seem to have so much energy.  Meanwhile we spend most of the time sitting. Bastards, we'll show them.

Race time

<p>The day of the New England Relay is upon me and as the rain falls down on the windscreen our van as we head to the start all I can think of is,&nbsp; this can is going to reek by tomorrow. Six guys,&nbsp; running, rain, and one can. Yipes. </p>
<p>So much I ready?&nbsp; I guess I'll find out soon. My training has been much better than ever.&nbsp; I've hit every key workout and my recent performance at the Corporate Challenge leads me to believ that I am. But then again,&nbsp; it's 40 miles over 24 hours. The fatigue will be a huge factor. </p>
<p>There is only one thing I am disappointed in myself with: I never did reach my goal weight. I got close,&nbsp; within one pound, but close isn't good enough. A 3:11 isn't a 3:10. One gets you into Boston the other gets you does calves. Something to work on. </p>
<p>Finally, the only thing that has me worried is my heel. It has been an issue since April and while it had leveled off into a predictable injury it still has the potential to be a huge problem. Time and miles will tell.</p>
<p>Off to the start now,  more later. </p>

Unknowns

"[T]here are known knowns; there are things we know we know.
We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know."

—Former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

Such as in war, so as in racing.  We spend months, sometimes years training and preparing for certain races and in the end there will always be aspects that are completely out of our control.

Some of these things are obvious and known to all, for instance, the course.  Being that it is usually proper form to lay out the course before race day, we can easily look at the route and study it.  The more studious amongst us will also try to train on the actual course in order to become familiar with it.  For races like a relay the organizers send out a course packet with each leg's map and elevation chart so that we can review what we will be running.

The known unknowns would include uncontrollable aspects of race day such as the weather.  With the relay this weekend it looks like we have gotten really lucky.  Tomorrow it is going to be over 90 degrees, some reports top it out at over 100, and humid but that weather pattern will clear out by Friday leaving us with temps from the 50's to the low 70's.  The difference of 48 hours is looking to be the difference between excellent running weather and an absolute weekend of hell and misery (think: being stuck in an elevator with Carrot Top for two days).

Another important known unknown for many runners when racing is who else will be racing that day.  While this may only be a factor for those runners trying for a win (overall or AG) it is definitely a huge part of racing.  After all, you way run the race of your life but if you are up against an Olympic qualifier then chances are you're not going to win.

Now as for unknown unknowns, well, these are the things that we either don't even realize that they can effect us or we just fail to even think about them during race planning.  For instance, the tornadoes that hit western Mass last week have forced some of the legs of the relay to be changed.  Who could have seen that event coming?

There are countless things that could be considered unknown unknowns and I tend to categorize anything that I ignore in that category.  Unfortunately one of those things hit me last night at 1AM.  I woke up and had trouble getting back to sleep because I was having trouble breathing right.  My throat was sore, I was choking, and yup, my glands were swollen.  Damn, I was getting a cold four days before the relay.  I categorize this as an unknown unknowns just because there is nothing that can be done about it.  I can't plan to not be sick and even if I do have a cold there is nothing more that I can do about it then what I am doing on a normal taper.  It's a fact of life and it sucks balls.

Ultimately, one has to just ignore the unknown unknowns and learn not to stress out about them.  There is nothing that you can do to try and mitigate problems when you don't even know what they may be.  Focus on what you know and can control, or at least plan for those things that you can't control but may be able to mitigate.  Much of the anxiety for some in the lead up to a big race is the fear of the unknown.  This is counter-productive.  It is good to have a plan.  It is good to be nervous and excited and to triple check your gear and food and drink and etc.  Channel your energy into that and stop worrying about what you can't control.  At the end of the day we're just racing ourselves, everything else is just background noise.

Corporate Challenge results

When I last left you yesterday I was worried about whether I would be running the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge due to a new pain in the leg.  After donning my GNRC singlet (gotta represent!) I went out for a warm up run and the leg seemed fine during it so I decided that the race was on.  As it turns out the leg soreness was a complete non-issue during the race.

It's amazing that after all the races I have done I still get anxious beforehand.  As I was pinning my number on my shirt I was surprised that I was getting increasingly nervous with anticipation.  All those old pre-race feelings came rushing back just like it was my first race.  I was looking forward to really getting out there and proving to myself that all of the training over the past few months was paying off so I was extra jittery and nervous.

At this point I should mention that I am not a fan of the start of this race.  You stand around waiting for them to let you on to Charles St. and when they finally do you have to fight your way to the front where you stand around for another 15 minutes while they drone on about how great their sponsors are while slow runners start making their way in front of you.  I started two rows of people back but by the time the horn went off I was more like 6 rows back.  As a nice little change this year though, when they went to play the National Anthem there was a technical problem and nothing played.  So instead we all just started singing.  It was really great and a good lift to the spirits to get the race started.

The horn goes off and exactly like every other year, I spend the first half mile fighting the crowd, weaving and dodging, trying to set a good pace.  Finally I had enough room to settle in and I quickly realized that a 6 minute pace was feeling real comfortable.  It was decided right there then, it was going to be a 6 minute or better pace the whole way.  Mile one comes up at 6:10, a bit slow due to the crowds but right on target.

As I approached Kenmore Sq. I could see the leaders flying by and I was surprised that they weren't that far ahead (the winner finished in 16:48 so it is somewhat relative).  The turnaround in Kenmore and I was feeling great.  Mile two went by at 12:08; I had picked up the pace and was running under 6 minute pace now.

The great straightaway was ahead as we made our way back down Comm Ave.  This is where people start falling apart, they go out quick surrounded by fast runners and then die on the long run back.  This is also where I started picking them off.  Two thoughts kept going through my head, keep that 6 minute pace and if there was any doubt, trust in my training (good advice from Mary there). I clung to that pace but was rather shocked that I didn't really have to work at it, the run still felt strong and fluid.  It took an effort but it wasn't exactly hard, I wasn't struggling with form or breathing.

Which meant only one thing; as we took the first turn around the Public Garden it was time to speed things up.  Everyone around me was hurting.  The number 8 woman was just in front of me.  I still had gas in the tank.  I pushed the pace down to a 5:35 and tore up the final stretch, passing a few more people.  As I approached the finish line the time on the clock was getting close to 21 minutes.  A last burst of speed guaranteed me a sub-21 minute time.

I was psyched (I still am).  The race went better than I had planned.  It was faster, stronger, and easier than any race of that distance I had ever done.  In the end my official time was a 20:53 or an average pace of 5:58, my first ever sub-6 minute race.  Even though this was 3.5 miles long, that's 5 seconds/mile faster than my best 5K pace which was set on a course with a net-downhill elevation change of almost 100 feet.  Out of over 11,000 runners I ended up 120th overall, 113th male.

The only regret I have was not being able to follow the race plan exactly as Mary laid it out.  I was instructed to "run hard enough that you have to puke".  I did not puke, and for that I am ashamed.  I will try harder next time.

Corporate Challenge

Today is the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge here in Boston.  I've been looking forward to it as a chance to finally just cut loose and see how fast I can go.  The NE Relay is less than two weeks to go so this was to be the last test before that.  I haven't done any racing since the Hyannis Marathon way back in February and I was excited to get out there and tear down Comm Ave.

And then I woke up today with the muscle behind my knee swollen and a bit painful.  There is no reason for it to be like this, yesterday's run was an easy 4.5 miles with no indication of any problems so I am at a loss as to what caused this.  My personal theory is that it is my body trying to sabotage me and keep me from having any fun.  It does that you know.  It lets me train month after month and then when I am just about to have some fun, it yells "No race for you!" and goes and breaks something out of spite.  Stupid body.

So here it is, 5 hours before the race and I haven't made a decision on what to do.  Clearly something is amiss with my leg but I don't know how bad.  It could just be sore and everything will be fine.  Or it could go into a full meltdown if I race on it today.  There's really no way of knowing until it does.  Aack, the pressure.