Recap of Recent Races

It's been a long time since my last race report back in May. I've tried to keep my results page up-to-date since then but I just haven't had the chance to write up any race reports. Here's a summary of my results in the main races since I took 3rd in the Shamrock Duathlon:

May 28th - Jim Fixx Memorial Day 5 Miler - 31:58 - 12th place, 2nd AG

This race was hot. I wanted to use it to get back into running fast over longer distances before Rev3 the following week but it turned into a sufferfest after about a mile and a half. As I had done towards the end of the Shamrock Duathlon, I almost threw up - but this time I was only a mile into the race. My best guess is that I was slightly under the weather for both races and simply couldn't handle being pushed to the limit.

June 2nd - Rev3 Quassy Olympic - DNF (crashed on bike)

The Rev3 Quassy Olympic race was supposed to be a longer race to get in some racing before hitting the local sprint circuit hard over the summer. I came out of the water with a reasonable swim for me around 28:20. Rain had intermittently been soaking the course throughout the morning but I came out of transition confident and ready to fly on the bike. Less than a mile into the bike, before I had even got my feet into my shoes, my race was over. I hit the deck at the first turn and sliced open my left knee. I wanted to continue, especially having never DNF'd a race before, but a second look at the gash in my knee left no doubt as to what the smart decision was. I was transported back to the medical tent where the volunteers were extremely nice. One doctor even managed to put the 3 necessary stitches in my knee under the tent in the cold. Later that afternoon I snapped the picture to the right. I was fortunate to only require 3 stitches but it would still take me out of being able to run for a little while.

June 17th - Sherwood Island Sprint - 1:07:36 - 6th place, 2nd AG

This was possibly the best triathlon of the summer for me! The swim was choppy but I came out in around 14 minutes and hit the bike course at full speed. My 23.5 mph split was good enough to move me into the top 10 on the road. From there I rolled off a descending series of 6:21, 6:17, 6:01 miles to finish 6th overall. Unfortunately, I fell just 3 seconds short of catching the winner of my age group. I would subsequently place a close 2nd in my next two triathlons as well! Nonetheless, this race was thoroughly enjoyable and I felt like I put together a complete race from start to finish.

July 1st - Stamford KIC It Triathlon (Olympic) - 2:19:37 - 11th place, 2nd AG

The Stamford KIC It Triathlon was my "A" race for the summer, however I didn't really end up 100% ready for a great time. I had confidence from the sprint two weeks earlier, however, so I went out and did my best. The end result was my first sub-2:20 Olympic race in almost 15 months, dating back to the 2011 Collegiate National Championship. Another solid swim had me out of the water in the mix again and my bike leg continued to move me up through the field, although not quite as quickly as it usually does. On the run the temperature really started to heat up but I pushed through to the finish running just over 40 minutes for the 10k. All-in-all it was a reasonable race and to place 11th overall I was fairly happy but relative to my expected performance in each discipline my swim seemed to fare the best in this race. I ended up 2nd in my AG again, this time to the guy who placed 3rd behind me at Sherwood Island, but it won me a Timex watch, so I was pleased with the result!

July 4th - 4 on the 4th - 23:37 - 4th place, 1st AG

4 on the 4th is just a small, local 4 miler held every 4th of July in my hometown. I had run it twice previously, but never particularly well. In fact, you could call my previous two attempts absolutely atrocious. This time, however, it was different. I was ready for this race and pushed the first mile in 5:38 before dropping off the pace slightly with a 6:11 second mile. By this point I had dropped into 4th but could still see those ahead of me and picking up the pace I dropped the last 2 splits down to 5:59 and 5:46, respectively. Unfortunately I couldn't quite catch them for a podium spot but I was still reasonably pleased with my strong performance.

July 10th - Waveny Summer XC Series Two-Man Six Mile Relay - 33:09 - 1st Coed Team!

I ran a lot of the Tuesday night races in this series throughout the summer, but this was the best result of those, and provides the best story. In previous years I had teamed up with my dad for this event but with him away on a business trip I decided to pair with one of my athletes. A year ago I coached Caroline to school records in the mile (4:58.70) and 2 mile (10:53.46), All-New England in both events. This race is a rather unique format. Rather than running 3 mile legs, each runner runs 3 x 1 mile and teammates alternate miles. I led off for our team and averaged 5:24 miles to Caroline's 5:38s to absolutely crush the coed division.

July 15th - Mossman Sprint Triathlon - 1:04:49 - 16th place, 2nd AG

Again, in this race I swam extremely well, hitting the beach in a shade over 12 minutes. On the bike I didn't have a superb time but was within a minute of my great split a year ago and kept it together on the run to finish with a new sprint distance PR!

July 29th - Greenwich Cup Triathlon - 1:16:23 - 31st Overall, 5th AG

The water has never been calm for any of the 3 times I have done this race but I came out with my best swim here and tacked on a mediocre bike and reasonably good run to post my best time on this course by a couple of minutes!

August 18th - Norwalk Lightfoot Silvermine 11-Miler - 1:05:58 - WIN!!!

Having focused on mostly shorter races over the summer and having a marathon looming on September 16th, I really had to get some longer efforts in. This race was the morning before I drove down to Clemson for the fall semester but I knew it would be a great race to do. the morning was dull and overcast but within a few strides after the horn it was down to a 2-man race. The course was two 5.5-mile laps of a fairly hilly course but I thought I could run around 6:00/mile over the distance. Jake and I quickly pulled away from the field and laid down splits of 5:46, 6:14, 6:04, 5:59, and 6:13 to come through the first 5 miles in 30:16. We passed through the first lap in 33:09 and our pleasant conversation quickly turned silent as we tested one another. Over the first lap I realized that I had a slight edge over Jake on the steeper uphills and the downhills, while he seemed stronger on the gradual inclines and flat. This gave me confidence in the 8th mile to slowly create a gap on a long, steady climb. It was a small gap, but a gap nonetheless. I thought about backing off slightly at the top given the 3 miles left to go, but instinct took over and I wasn't given up that lead no matter what. Prior to the climb we had backed off the pace slightly with miles of 6:10 and 6:01 on some of the faster parts of the course. My "increased" tempo in the 8th mile was actually only a 6:21 split, but the long climb meant it had pushed my HR up well above my Anaerobic Threshold. With my slim lead I had only one option - push for home! Mile 9 offered the steepest downhill on the course, but I knew I had to use it to get away from Jake as the long incline that followed would give him a chance to come back. A 5:52 split didn't give him a chance to, nor did my 5:57 10th mile over some challenging hills. With a mile to go I could feel the victory but I wasn't there yet. A 5:36 final mile, however, closed the deal and gave me my biggest victory to date. Previous races I had won were all less than 5 miles, mostly fun runs, and never by less than a minute. My margin of victory here was a slim 19 seconds - and that was the largest lead I had at any point of the race. In the end I managed to just sneak back under 6 minute pace in 1:05:58. My final 3 miles were, by far, the fastest of the race. For an easy comparison, my splits for each quarter of the race were 16:32, 16:37, 17:01, and 15:48 - 15:48 for the final 2.75 miles, an average of 5:46/mile to finish off a great race!

August 26th - Rocketman Olympic Triathlon - 2:17:48 - 17th collegiate

The Rocketman Triathlon became the first triathlon I have done 3 consecutive years. The overall time here, looks great, however the swim seemed substantially short (I came out of the water in 24 minutes) so it is likely that I would have been closer to about 2:22 than 2:17... Nonetheless, I still felt as though a swam fairly well. My bike split was also reasonable given that my seat was way too low and I didn't push too hard due to that. My goal was to hit the run and scorch through the 10k, but that wasn't to be as the course was already burning up. I wilted to a 44 minute run but it was, surely, good training for my upcoming marathon.

August 31st - Midnight Flight 10k - 37:31 - 10th place

I had never run the Midnight Flight event before, but it seemed like an interesting race. I have never run a race that started this late (11pm), and will likely never run one any later unless I run the Emerald Nuts Midnight 4 Miler in Central Park at New Year. The course for this race was a long downhill before a gradual uphill to the turnaround and back. Consequently, my first mile felt easy in 5:26 before I settled into a rhythm with 6:03, 6:10, and 6:00 miles. Heading back down the distant hill on the return trip I pushed the pace in an effort to break the guy running next to me. A 5:50 5th mile came back to bite me on the climb back to the finish, though, as I struggled through a 6:30 mile before clocking a respectable 5:59 pace for the extra 0.21 miles. Overall, I was happy with my result, although I would have loved to go under 37 minutes again. The final climb cost me quite a bit of time, but I felt strong throughout the race. The conditions weren't ideal, either, with temperatures in the upper-70s to low-80s and high humidity. None of those factors should be a problem in Erie this weekend for the marathon. Look out for a race preview coming soon!