As advertised, yesterday was the Millennium Mile up in Londonderry. Zencycle decided not to run for some reason. Duano could not make it either, as he had some pressing business to tend to. The Cronoman came, but he just spectated. Way Fast Whitey was the only other Team BOB member to compete. He even rode his bike through the rain and fog to get there and back home. Yikes. At least it was pretty warm, hence the fog from all the snow.
There were almost 600 runners. Shitloads of kids. The organizers make no attempts to keep them off the front of the pack either, and even seem to encourage it. It's a pretty dangerous situation really. Some of them are as young as two years old. There was a team of about fifty grade school kids in uniform who all lined up at the front. Of course, there are some hard core track runners too. The course is flat for a quarter mile, then starts going downhill, and loses over 100 feet by the 3/4 mile mark. Then the end is flat, with maybe even a hint of rise in one spot.
During warmup my calves were way tight. I think the Brooks trail runners that I've been trying have something to do with this. There was a running track out behind the school that was mostly snow free. I was having trouble doing two minute laps. My "strides" were pathetic. My original plan was to run next to Duano and then beat him in the sprint, since I can't even come close to that on the bike. But he was a no-show. I needed a new plan, and sure didn't feel like I'd be able to run fast. I headed back to the car and changed into shorts and my racing shoes. Instantly my calves felt better. It was almost start time.
I lined up in the third row. There was no national anthem this year. They fired a gun and we went. As usual, all the little kids, and about half the adults bolted from the line like the race was 100 meters. I can hit the first mile in around 5:45 in a "normal" 5k, and I was for sure running faster than that, yet I had about 200 people in front of me and more coming by. Then they all blow and put the flashers on. I was bobbing and weaving like OJ through the airport just trying not to trample someone. Pretty ridiculous. There was a big plywood sign for 1/4 mile but I was so busy elbowing and navigating that I could not take a split.
Last time I ran this, in 2008, my time was 4:51, and it HURT. Bad. This time, I felt awesome. I'm not sure why. I've worked a lot on my downhill running, as well as my turnover/cadence, and it's helped. The half mile sign came up suspiciously fast, a 2:19 split. That's a 4:38 pace and we're still flying downhill! Not only that, but now there's actually some clear road. But I have to wonder if the sign was in the proper location. My 3/4 mile split was 1:21. The end seemed brutally long but the clock said 4:54 as I passed it into the chute, another 1:20 split on my watch even though I'd hit the button well late of the line. Yet my official time was 4:58, 45th place, 7 seconds slower than last time.
I can't complain about that. I never do speedwork, instead preferring to just run hills. I'm thinking about finding a place to do mile repeats soon though. My legs weren't the best but I think my heart and lungs are in great form because this felt like a cruise to me. The winning masters time was 4:30. 28 seconds is an eternity at this distance, but I'm nonetheless encouraged because only five of the 44 runners ahead of me were my age or older. And I'm not a runner.
So that's it, the last race of 2009. There were less of them than I thought. Maybe I'll put up some year-end stats later this week. Thanks for reading.
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