Christopher Martins 5k

The last race of the season.

So many races this year. Well, not really that many- things have changed for me and I don't race like I used to. Nowhere near as many, but then again, it would take almost 50 5Ks to equal the output of a single day's distance in the Ironman. Still, my first race was January 1st and here I was, trying to get up for one more race in mid-December.

The course was new. And as I would find out during the race, I didn't understand in the least the map that explained the course. I looked at it three times and it didn't help.

Worst though, was the bitter cold.

I stripped down to my bike jersey and shorts, arm warmers. The only concessions to the cold were the goretex gloves and the winter hat with the little tassel.

It was cold enough that when I started running faster, I started getting colder.

I warmed up with Charlie Hornak and we noticed the top woman was looking ready to race- Erin from Trumbull. We were wondering if we had what it would take to outrun her- she looked a lot more ready than either of us.

The starting line was packed. It's funny how when you're right on the start line at a mass start of the Ironman swim you think there's too many people, it's not fair.

And yet, I'll line up, on the line, or as it was this day, in the second row, and think nothing of it. There's no fear. I belong on the line and that's not arrogant. It's a numbers thing. There's probably 40 people on the line, and if I'm in the second row, that's means there are people in front of me that maybe shouldn't be.

We started out and I could tell we were going to start out easy right away. The top guys like Oscar and Bart from Athlete's Foot (second and third overall) were off the front, but there was a nice pack of people in sight. The race starts with a long run up some street, a long, flat run, always either into or out of the wind.

About a third of a mile in, I was thinking that lead woman was nowhere near me. She wasn't in front of me. I looked over my left shoulder. Not there. I relaxed fractionally. If it's a little misogynistic, forgive me. Intellectually, I appreciate, understand, and quite frankly am impressed as all hell by the fact that there are so many women who can leave me in the dust. At the same time, I have no desire to go out and be beaten- in a running race- by women. I'm old. It's a shortcoming.

I looked over my right shoulder.

She was about six inches from me, half a step back.

The race started to thin out after that.

Somewhere past half a mile, I was in a group of four people. One guy was leading the pack and I wanted to move into the second slot and establish my position well before the first turn. I'm pretty scrupulous about moving in and I'm sure I had room. I'm giving the guy behind me the benefit of the doubt that he must have thought I didn't.

He put his hand on the middle of my back. All five fingers. I could feel each one on my back.

He pushed.

I was so shocked that for about 3 seconds I had no reaction.

Then I said about what you'd expect if you know me. Then I went back to running.

We took the turn, still in a group. The next turn is almost immediate and sends you back down the way you came, maybe one block over. We hit the mile mark- which was long- and were at like 5:50. The youngest guy in our group immediately broke ranks, disappointed I guess in the 'slow' mile.

Then it was a lot of back and forth. All four of us tried to assert ourselves, none successfully.

After that, the turns started. I was lost pretty quickly, and confused. The map's course was in my head, but we were making turns that didn't track with what I thought I knew. Then at about 1.75 miles we hit a tight turn and there was a lot of ice around the turn, so I had to hop the ice, extending my right leg out long and bound up high. I hit the ground hard and I swear it took something out of me energy wise. That exertion was just enough...

We keep jockeying.

At one-point the back-pusher managed to elbow me as well, not hard, but I mean, it was two miles into the race. There was a grand total of one person next to me.

Oh well.

And then, we were running back towards the starting line, in the opposite direction, going to cross the line.

I saw a photographer on the side of the road and the back-pusher (again, I'm sure he felt like he had to push me in the back for his own safety- or something) was in front of me. I surged to get in front of him for the pictures. I might not beat him to the line, but I would beat him to the pictures, if I could.

And then it was the final run to the finish.

I had two guys in front of me, including the guy who pushed me and I knew- knew- he was in my age group.

I tried. I gave it everything. But two days of easy workouts and an Ironman three weeks earlier were just too much.

I got beat by four seconds, I finished 4th in my age group.

I'd run 17:54 and finished 18th overall. It was my first time in the top 20 since 2005. I should not have been unhappy with that.

I was 4th in my age group by 4 seconds and I let a guy who pushed me beat me.

Of course I was unhappy.

Then I downed a very good beer, ran a warm down with Charlie Hornak and Dick Korby. And had a second beer.

And then, I wasn't so unhappy anymore...

See y'all next year at the races.

Christopher Martins 5K Road Race

Well, here I am, sitting watching the Patriots game. My shins and calves are sore, my season is finally, pretty much unquestionably, over.

Last year, I ran a 17:45, and was 10th in my age group, according to the race results. It's funny, I went into today's race thinking I'd run a 17:39 last year.

It was cold- really cold, and with a sharp wind. I was wearing racing shoes, and I couldn't get my feet to warm up at all, which meant that my calves, at the far back end of a long season, got more, and not less sore as I warmed up. I was a little concerned. I know how this race is- you have to run pretty hard in the first mile, run to that turn-around, like you really mean it, or you will be out of the race by the mile mark.

They had one of the personalities from Channel 8 there and after some pleasantries, he handed the microphone over to the MC and he started the race instructions with "We'll be counting down from 5."

The was a wheelchair athlete in front of the rest of the start, and we assumed they'd be starting him off before the rest of us, so we were unprepared for the next thing which the MC said, which was "4".

At two the wheelchair athlete attempted to haul ass, but unfortunately it takes longer for him to get started than for us, and I have a feeling he got engulfed at the start.

The start goes down State Street, pretty much all of it, so there are a lot of people that surge out early. Like most well attended 5Ks- over 1500 people- there were a LOT of people who ran by me early, and I was fighting just to stay in the race, or at least that is what it felt like. On my right was some guy who had to be in his fifties, then Yemisi ran by me. That actually made me relax a little. Yemisi is fast, but she goes out really hard and usually if she goes out and passes me in the first half mile then I'm in good shape pace-wise, and I'll be able to pass her back before the mile mark.

As we ran down the street, I started to lose contact with he lead group. This was expected, yet still ever so slightly frustrating. I wanted to finish top twenty, and so many people in front of me, but I was also passing people.

Just before we turned, someone clipped my feet. Then hit my elbow. Then tried to go inside me on the right. I knew the four people coming up on me were going to end up running faster, but I don't like having my feet clipped that late in a race- nearly a mile- I don't like being bumped- so I accelerated and made that corner and the next one before I let anyone by.

Once you make it around those two corners, it's one hell of a long way the other direction.

But a little adventure first. We hit the mile marker and the woman at the marker said '5:07'. I said, very loudly, 'Holy Sh!t !'

Brian Talon was good enough to say 'She's wrong, it's 5:30.' I was profoundly grateful to Brian, because 5:07 ? That would have probably been a disaster-inducing meltdown.

The second mile is just hard. You run, and run, and run, and you just never get to the turn. There were people all along the way, cheering, and that was great, I needed it. I was struggling, or felt like I was struggling, although I was neither passing nor being passed. I think maybe two people passed me in the second mile. You reach that mile marker and you're still running in the same direction. You finally see the lead people turn and that turn looks like it's a forever from where you are.

I made the turn, following four guys, all of whom would gap me a little bit. We wound our way through a set of short turns and then we were headed towards the unlit 'Mezcal' sign. And finally we were back on Main Street, headed towards the finish line. I could see the cones, but not the Christopher Martins awnings. The guys in front of me just weren't coming back to me.

And then I saw the clock, partially hidden. I could see the 17: but not the seconds. Bogus for me. I thought I had plenty of time to finish under 18:00, but who knew, so I gave it everything I had until i had crossed both mats.

17:43. Two seconds better than last year. 22nd overall, 4 places higher than last year and 4th out of 204 in my age group.

I guess I have nothing to complain about. I certainly didn't knock it out of the park, but it was another solid race, another race that was faster than last year, and I had a good time hanging out with friends after the race.

No, nothing to complain about at all.

5K Training

Tuesday, I was back on a coached plan, and found myself on a treadmill doing five 90 second race-pace efforts in the middle of a 45 run.

I think this is good prep for a 5K. You have to, early in the week, remind yourself that you are going to be do something intense come race time. Ever time I've run a 5K this year- and there's only been a few, it's been a wake-up call as to how far away from that kind of effort I've trained- with good reason.

I'm not a 5K runner. I'm twenty pounds heavier than when I ran track, at least ten pounds heavier than when I ran 5ks every weekend. I'm old.

But I was trying to work the treadmill, trying to visualize myself on the Christopher Martin race course as I ran each effort, visualizing a different part of the course and trying to image myself running as faster as I am humanly possible of running. I've never been one for visualization or any other psychological methods of either training or racing, but hey, I don't have speed, so maybe I can trick myself in to pulling an impossible effort out of- thin air.

When I finished Florida, I wanted to immediately start focusing on this one last 5K. I really want to run well on this super-flat and fairly course just once.

But after having other good races along the way, it's not quite such a burning desiring at the moment, and maybe that will help. Having a good Nutmegman (thanks, Mandy !) took pressure off me to have a good Florida, and for the most part I did. Maybe stealing a win in a small cross-country race takes some of the pressure off having a good Christopher Martin, and I hope so, because the only one putting that pressure on me is me....