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| Seth and I on a tandem photo by Urvi |
Location: South Burlington, VT
Goal Time: 1:02:30
Actual Time: 1:04:49 (PR!)
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| Off to the race: Me, Deb, CA and Joe photo by Urvi |
Later when discussing the wind, Joe told me that I shouldn't worry about it and just duck in with other groups and hide in the wind. Unfortunately this is actually a problem when you are reasonably fast for someone who is 6'3", 215 lbs. Usually there isn't anyone to hide behind. So, I had to work even in the easy three miles at the beginning of the race...
The GMAA Labor Day 15K was the fifth race in the USATF-NE Grand Prix this year. Four hours from Boston, it is about the least convenient race for us on the schedule; Of course it must be annoying for Vermonters to have to go to Eastern Mass and Southern NH all the time so, I'm okay with it. In fact we decided to make a trip of it. Deb and I reserved 6 campsites the second the reservations were open back in April. By Saturday there were 20 people and 11 tents filling up the North Beach Campground.
Four of us jogged from the Campground to South Burlington. The starting line was about 3/4 of a mile from the High School. We jogged further to get there. Chris Smith had told me that the end of the race was to run up the hill on Dorset Street to the High School. Oh Boy, I thought. I never do well with hills at the end of a race especially ones that are that steep!
I had good first 3 miles. Mark and I managed to stay in control and not go out too fast.
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| Mark and I right after mile 2 photo by Tom Cole |
The fourth mile was the selector for everyone. It was all up hill; so, it was slow. This put everyone who was racing into three camps: 1) "That was the tough mile and I did okay, so time to get back to racing"; 2) "Crap I ran that mile too slow, now I have to run really fast"; and, 3) "Well, I'm not having a good race; I'll slow down and save my self for another day." Culla, who was taking the race as a tempo run, enjoyed watching each of these groups. I fell into camp 1. But the humidity, made me look like I was in camp 3. It was sneaky humid, since the temperature was lower than 70.
I spent the next 4 miles running slower than I wanted but still putting in the effort I wanted. I figured, I couldn't do anymore than I could do. Briefly I had the idea of catching up with Mariah - very briefly.
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| Seth - hamming it up for Tom |
You crest the last tough hill right before the 8 mile mark. Then you can charge down to the 9 mile mark - saving some energy for the tough uphill on Dorset street. The last turn was being manned by the impromptu volunteers of SoRad and Karen who had realized they needed to direct people who were getting confused. I hit the 9 mile mark and realized we weren't doing the Dorset Street hill, but a much easier one - YES! So, I had the double advantage of being prepared for a tough hill AND not running it! I had plenty of energy to redline it up the hill and into the parking lot for a 1 minute and a half PR.
With 4th in the race, my math puts SRR Masters team right off the podium with two races (Lone Gull 10K and Manchester City Marathon) left.
Scenes from the Weekend
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| Deb and I setting up Camp Morrow-Mujumdar |
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| Me and Steve Siracha with Hill Farmstead and Heady Topper photo by Deb |
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| Neil ready to ride away |
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| Shark Tank, Scott, Neil, CA and Urvi |
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| Around the Campfire |
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| Scott and Julie watch as I try out the kayak photo by Shark Tank |
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| Criterium in downtown Burlington |
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| Brian and Alex off on their romantic cruise of Lake Champlain |
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