I wasn't sure about doing a Grand Prix race as they tend to be pretty crowded at the start and since I've been focused mostly on cross-country I wasn't sure how "speedy" I'd be. After doing the Great Bay 5k two weeks ago and runnign sub-18, I figured I'd give the Bigsteps race a shot since it was also part of the USATF all-terrain series (I'd done all of the races but had a DNF at Loon Mountain). I was hoping to crack 18 minutes again, but knew that'd be tough with this course. It probably wasn't wise to also have a 90+ mile week and get in over 6,000' of climb and descent but that is what being on "vacation" does for me.
Boy, 1030am start time seems SO late in the day. I already had too much mileage so I spent the morning on the computer doing data entry (putting Eric Morse's training logs into excel). I got to the race fairly early (915) and was happy to see so many familiar faces. That reminded me of one of the reasons I've enjoyed doing Grand Prix races.
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| Jim and Krissy, me (smirking) and Scott G |
I bumped into Alex McHenry who was heading out for a warm-up after his 3+ hour drive from VT. We linked up and ran the course to check it out. The first mile had a couple of turns (that'd be tough in the crowded start) and 15' of drop. The second mile would be faster with 30' of drop but almost all of that was in the last 1/4 mile. The final mile would be sneaky tough, with 30' of climb in the first 1/2 mile and a steady climb of 40' over the last kilometer (.6 miles).
I quickly changed into race flats and singlet and headed out for a mile with some strides. I felt a bit tired but the strides felt good (I hadn't done anything under 8:15 pace all week). I got to the line with four minutes to spare but they ended up starting at least a minute early so I'm glad I snuck in on time. I jumped in about 15 rows back, it was really tight with such a narrow start on the access road to the school. Too bad, they didn't (or couldn't) start on the wide main road. Off we went and it took me four or five seconds to cross the line and then another 100 meters of slow running before we turned onto the main road and I could start going. I glanced around and saw Jeff Walker (RI) who is running VERY well right now. I'd seen him before the race and he was aiming for 17:40, so I wanted to keep him in sight if I could. I also saw Dave Westenberg (top 60+ guy from GLRR) only a few steps ahead. I was where I should be and just started picking people off (mostly women who had started ahead of me - USATF gives them a corral at the front, which is fair...but you have to be careful as you can end up running right up on someone). I was 2:55 at the 1/2 mile which was a bit slower than hoped for (but was really about 2:50). I got rolling after that and latched onto Kevin Alliette and Bob Jackman. We hit the mile in 5:39 which was right on schedule. Walker began to pull away and Jackman also shook me loose before 2 miles (11:17). At that point I felt I had the sub-18 but figured it'd be close with the uphill running. I was also running out of steam. From 2 to 2.5 I was 3-flat and I really tried to put together a kick after that. It did not happen, another 3-flat and I now thought I wouldn't break 18. I kept pressing as I was getting passed left and right. The last steeper part up the access road was so tough and seeing the clock tick away didn't help. I crossed the line in 18:02 clock (or gun) time and was happy to find after that my chip time was 17:56.6. Goal met and bonus of finishing 5th in the 55-59.
I got in an enjoyable (but FAST) warm-down with Dan Vassalo and Tim Shea. Dan had broken my BayState marathon record a few weeks back and was looking to chat, I was very interested to hear his account. Sub-8s for a warm-down is cooking for me but a slog for those guys. I hope they had fun, because it was a blast for me.
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