Mission Accomplished: I Am Ahab

The holiday weekend contained too much to blog about, so I'll save you from an overindulgent race report of the Davey Tree 10-K and give you just the facts, ma'am.

If you really need a detailed report of the race, read this and this. Just know I did it.

Flashback to last week's flashforward, and here is how this weekend's events unfolded ...

Track Attack
Thursday evening, I visited the track -- a different track than I have been using of late. A better marked track too. This time, I could clearly understand the hitherto cryptic lines telling me where to start my 800-meter intervals when Lane 1 was occupied.

And now the statistical rundown:

• Intervals: 5 x 800 meters
  
• Goal pace: 3:25 or less per interval (6:52 per mile)
  
• Lap 1: 3:15.04 (6:32 per mile)
• Lap 2: 3:24.07 (6:50 per mile)
• Lap 3: 3:22.03 (6:46 per mile)
• Lap 4: 3:20.34 (6:42 per mile)
• Lap 5: 3:21.79 (6:44 per mile)
• Average pace: 3:20.65 (6:42 per mile)
  
• Total distance: 5.5 miles

[Drunkard's note: Total distance includes one mile warm up, 400-meter recovery laps and one mile cool down.]

Maybe I should have kept my goal at 3:20 after all.

Seeking the White Whale
Mission accomplished. I ran the Davey Tree 10-K in less than 50 minutes. Results were not posted as off press time. My watch said 49:01, and the timer called out 49 flat. Of course, I'm not satisfied. I could have done better.

Like an idiot, I ran too close to Martini for the first mile and started too fast (7:19). Luckily, I recovered during the second mile. I kicked hard to the finish and approached the Puke Threshold, but my fast recovery after the race tells me I left too much out on the road.

What really irks me is the guy I didn't pass. Nearing the halfway mark, I heard this guy counting all the runners passing in the other direction. The Counter comes from behind to pass me just before the turnaround cone. I hear him pant, "37." I'm on the inside and re-pass him going around the cone, and he says, "38."

The guy was counting his place. I stayed ahead of him for about a quarter-mile, but it was forcing me out of my strategy. So I let him go ahead, to which he replied, "37." He was within view for the rest of the race, but I let him stray too far ahead and couldn't catch him with my kick, which I believe I could have started sooner.

For now, I am happy to have speared my 50-minute 10-K White Whale, but the beast has escaped to the Akron Marathon, where I must run a four-hour race to catch him. Now, the real battle begins.

And then 14 Miles
Yes, and then I ran 14 miles the morning after my 10-K PR. A group of three women had the pleasure of my company after they passed me at a road crossing. They couldn't get more than 100 feet ahead of me, but they kept looking back at me as if I were some kind of park-lurking creeper. I didn't have the legs to pass them, but I kept up with them for about five miles before they stopped. Their backward looks seemed to indicate that I was bothering them by being on their tails. I say, if you pass me, it's your job to separate. I'm not slowing down. Thanks for the even pacing, ladies.

Stockpiling Yuengling
I still had about half a six-pack of Yuengling Porter left from my birthday, but I got another case of it this weekend to bolster supplies. I was on a road trip to Pittspuke to check out furniture and banjos, but I can't cross into Pennsylvania without making a stop for some good, cheap beer. As a side note, I was drinking Yuengling Porter when I decided to run a marathon.

Crawling to the Next Race
Speaking of beer and running, the AkRun 5-K & Pub Crawl has been announced for Aug. 29, and for the first time since it started (maybe just last year) I'll be able to run it. I have a 16-miler planned the day after, but I can't pass up the shirt -- or the beer.

Cheers!