Sunday, March 5, 2017

Win Some, Win Some

We made a return to Dubai this year for my 3rd Dubai marathon in a row.  Aside from being a decent, flat race in the middle of winter, it had the added benefit of being where our good friends live.  So we saw them and got a race in.  Good times.  Sarah jumped in the 10K, running about 43 min which was a solid effort for her at this point, and good for 9th place overall.  I toed the line on less than ideal training.  While I normally suffer in the first part of the Dubai, this time I felt good, really good.  I started slow in say a 4:2x kilometer. Slow down. 4:30. Slow down. 4:30. Alright. It is what it is.

I clipped off 4:30s for a LONG time, bouncing around and forming quite a group. My body felt pretty good at this pace and while I thought it was too fast for my training, I was managing fine, so I kept it. I passed the halfway point spot on 3:10 pace so I was really keen to hold it and dip under that former Boston mark, especially on absolutely no training.  And therein lies the rub.  I had not done enough work.  Cresting 30K I was fine.  But 2K later I was starting to feel pretty poor.  I had passed the 20 mile mark, and as they say, the race is in 2 parts: the first 20 miles and the last 10K.  I managed to keep the damage at a minimum for a couple of kilometers but the body can only do so much and by 35K I was buggered.  The pain really set in and I slowed. At 38 I walked, which didn't really help, but the hot spot on my foot was at a maximum. I haven't walked in a marathon in years, but I took a second walk with 2K left. I was terrible, handing back time, and letting people pass me that had no business beating me. Ahh well, I deserved that with the training I had done.   I still finished another marathon and called it good in the Middle East.

Moving forward to another adventure, we return to India for the Urban Stampede. After being delayed a month for pollution, we registered a team for the Corporate Relay, a 4x5K race.  Our school entered a team the year before and won it all, so we wanted to do it but they had their team so I formed my own.  With Sarah, another teacher, and a parent, we had people that would help us. So we headed out.  It was met with the usual Indian issues: the guy guarding the parking lot designated for the race wasn't letting in racers, the Zumba to start the activities, the race starting late, etc. Sarah led us off and took an early lead.  She rolled along having done no speedwork and still put us in first at the end of her leg, with a 20:58.  Next, our "old man" cracked off a 21:06 and we were looking great. Nathan took the 3rd leg, a guy who hadn't run much but was a good athlete, promised us a 22 flat.  He crossed in 22:02 so we called that fair.  I took the baton.

Well in the lead, I could have jogged but that wouldn't have been fair to my teammates who we asked to run their hardest, so off I went.  It was a winding course with a lot of headwind, so there were some challenges.  After the first 600m I was worried about the pace, but with no one to key off of, it was hard to judge. The halfway point of the course wrapped around to near the start so teammates could check on their runners.  I crossed halfway in 8:55, blistering for me.  The 2nd half was very difficult, with the pace catching up with me.  The lactic acid was burning my legs but nothing compared to the lungs. The pollution was low for India, but higher than most other places. I am not sure if it was that, or the dust from the dirt trails on the course, or simply that I just have not pushed myself that hard in a long time, but my lungs were searing.  I tried to settle in and maintain a good pace, but the turns and the wind slowed me.  I finished with an 18:25, probably the fastest I have run in 3-4 years.


Sarah, Justin, Gaetan, Nathan

Mixed division winners also beat the male teams

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