Today I raced my longest race ever at York, PA. 8000 meters is a hair short of 5 miles, and I am wiped.
The course started on a nice straight-away, turned right and slightly upwards along the treeline, then turned right again along a road with grass next to it, and then left up a very real hill, then over the hill and a sharp right and back down again, turning right and running along a road, then making a U-turn around a tree line and running back the way we had come but in a different field. Around that field, and then another field, and now looping back we retrace the steps that we took before except instead of going all the way up the big hill we cut across the middle of it. The finish is virtually exactly where we started.
The first mile was planned to be conservative, though I felt like I had settled into something of a groove already but was slowing ever since the first 400m had passed, as more people streamed by me during the first mile. I came through the mile at around 5:50, so it was definitely slow, and my body just wasn't feeling it at that point.
Going into the second mile, I worked to try to hold position and distance relative to my teammate Ryan, who was about 40 meters ahead of me. That mile included the big hill toward the end of it. I chose to take that hill easy without pushing too much so that I could have something left for the downhill that I knew would follow and that I knew was big. I was in pain at the top, but I maintained pace instead of taking a moment to recover after hitting the top because I would recover on the way down, which proved effective. However, my 2mile split was 12:00 despite my efforts, though I was ok with it since there was the hill. However, I'm not used to running the first 2 miles so slowly.
Mile 3 was mostly flat and grass, passing through those fields. Mentally, I knew that I was coming to the end of what I usually race, and that the last 2 miles would be extra, but I didn't let that get in the way. I tried to keep my pace as even as possible, and pick off stragglers as they dropped back. Ryan had pulled a bit farther away, but was still within reach. However, Dill, another teammate, was coming up behind me, his plodding steps resonating against the hard ground. I let him come as he pleased, and sat on him for the back half of the third mile. Truth be told, I was pretty ragged at that point, so I wasn't entirely sure how the rest of the race would go, but I followed with it as best as I could. 3 mile split: 18:01.
The 4th Mile consisted mostly of coming back along the fields that mile 3 covered, and was pretty flat. I moved past Dill going into the 4th mile; he seemed to have lost a bit of composure. I was rather upset at my sluggish pace; I was hoping for at least a 17:30 through the first 3 miles. So during the fourth mile I was mostly alone, with a 2 other runners within 40 yards ahead of me. I worked to catch and pass each of them. Ryan was much farther out at this point, but I could see him and I clung to the hope of getting up with him during this mile. I moved past the first man in front of me fairly easily; he was trailing. The next guy put up a bit of a fight past the 4th mile. The fourth mile was also not very clearly marked, but I would guess that I hit it in a bit under 24 minutes based on what I knew of the course and the times I was seeing.
Last Mile. It started with the slight climb up the big downhill from early in the race, and here I stayed with the guy I was caught up with. Then after the hill I bid him a farewell on the next downhill and began to take off. This was probably roughly 1200 meters from the finish. It was a flat straight stretch, then a left turn downhill on a path, then some grass (also downhill), and then the final turn and the finish. So no more uphills, so I knew I could get going, and I blew through the finish without getting caught, and without catching anyone due to how far ahead the next guy was.
What amazed me the most was how much I had left in the tank to push with at the end. It wasn't the feeling of "oh I have way too much left" however. Our coach had told us that we could not let a single person pass us in the last 2 minutes of the race, and that no matter how tired you are, you can turn on the afterburners for 2 minutes to finish. And while I felt my speed kicking in very nicely at the end, I couldn't help but wonder if I should have pushed it harder earlier on. Pace changes can be difficult both mentally and physically. I was in something of a groove, and to break it is a challenge. However, I'd run 15mins of threshold and hit 5:40~45 pace, so why couldn't I do that in the back half of the race? I don't have the answer to that, but now I know that I have more than I thought I did. Pushing past boundaries, breaking down walls. That's what it's all about. I think I realized something good today; that I can run faster for longer than I'd once believed. Final time was about 29:22.XX, which means my last ~2 miles were run in 11:21, which is much faster pace-wise than the first 3 miles. So next time I know, I can do 5:45, and if I'm not, I need to push up a notch. So here's to Paul Short next Friday, and to faster times.
Well I'm understandably tired, and though there's no ice cream around to eat, I don't think my body will mind. Plenty of other deliciousness to go around.
