Easy Gait

“Turned the engine but the engine doesn’t turn.”

This is more of a rant than an entry so you may want to just skip this one.

I have no idea what in the hell is wrong with me. It is not the training, the legs, or the diet. I am not sick, tired, or undertrained. I run solid workouts with the crew and do the required mileage to race at a high level, and what comes out in the compilation?

32:10

As you can see, I was moving in slow motion.

It is very very very very frustrating to put in the type of work I have been putting in and get a result like that at USATFNE cross yesterday. I was figuring I should run between 31:00 and 31:20 depending on the way things went, but 32:10 is just unacceptable and slightly embarrassing. Last year I had the excuse of running the Chicago marathon 2 weeks before for being flat but yesterday my only excuse is wussing out. I just hope the mayor’s cup and NE’s was a rough patch in the my racing and at club nationals it all sorts itself out or else I am going to have to do something drastic to my training and preparations.

The start was controlled and tame with a 4:54 mile, which is perfect for me because I was fearing a fast start. Went through two miles in 10:02 right off the back of the pack and I still felt pretty good, but right as we started the first wilderness loop I started floating and over-striding I knew it was happening but could not get into a rhythm until the 5 mile mark. I started closing the gap to the BAA guy in front of me and getting a little bit of distance from the central park guy who I passed but it was way too little way too late.

The worst part about the whole thing is we lost to the BAA by 4 stinking points. If I ran at anywhere near where I should have that would not have happened.

Great run by the NB Boston guys up in the front, Jeff, Roland, and Justin coming in 1-2-4. Unfortunately the 5th guy did not hold up his end of the deal and crapped out. He should just hang it up and hit roads if he knew what was good for him.

Holy Crap did the women look strong. Taking the pace out hard, the lead pack was a sea of NB Boston green at the front. The women scored only 26 points in taking the race convincingly.

Today I punished myself with a long run in the woods at work after I was going to take the day off. My legs actually felt great so it just goes to show how hard I worked yesterday.

That’s all I got.