Training April 26-May 2, Broad Street Run

M - 12, core

T - 10

W - 11 - Met Patrick and Dylan for 8 times 2 on, off on grass in West Fairmount Park. We ran fast without straining. Lots of wind. Kind of cold. Lots of school groups and kids making fun of us.

Th - 9, easy

F - 8, easy

S - 4, strides

.........................

Sunday, May 2, Broad Street Run - The weather report was not good: hot, hot, hot. This is when you scratch your plan and adjust.
The Broad Street Run, a 31-year-old 10-miler in Philadelphia, is known for good competition and fast times. The point-to-point route on Broad Street rolls slightly but has no major hills, and most inclines are followed by a similar drop in elevation. Before I got injured in January/February, and after I had dismissed the idea of returning to the Frederick Marathon to defend my title, my spring racing season was going to begin with the National Half Marathon in March and end here the first weekend in May (on the same day as Frederick).

Instead, Broad Street had become my first, and perhaps only, race of the season. As such, there were two good reasons to race here. One: Recent training suggested I could PR, or run faster than 53 minutes. Two: As the course is similar to the Chicago Marathon's, I liked the idea of collecting some data a few weeks prior to entering a new marathon cycle.

I believe that on a good day I was ready to run 5:16s (52:40). Today, though, guys who are running at a higher level than me ran the 5:16s ... I ran the 5:23s ... then the 5:33s ... then the 5-highs.

I tucked into a group and tried to relax but the first mile was still too fast (even if it's mostly downhill): 5:11. Mile 2: 5:23. Mile 3: 5:24. I was happy to be racing again. I was happy to feel stronger than a lot of people around me after missing so much training time (more than I have in 10 years) in the winter.
I was in a pack of 4 through halfway in 26:57, well off the goal. I knew a negative split was not going to happen, but for maybe 5 minutes I thought I might be able to double it, pick a lot of people off, place well. No one in the top 50 ran a negative split; most, in fact, ran 90 seconds to 2 minutes slower on the back end. And that's exactly what I did: 56:02, 50th. At Mile 7 I really tried to grind it. And I guess I did, though not successfully: 5:48, 5:58, 6:00 coming home.

Let's face it: The fire hoses were out. Let's face it: I'm a hat and gloves guy.

Did I compete well? It's hard to say. I expected to finish much higher than 50th. A lot of guys dropped, so maybe this was just a really competitive year?? Needless to say, some will falter and some will persevere.

All I really know is that it's done, and that I haven't thought much about it. After the race, I recall Jake joking, "So are you happy you made the trip?"

Yes, you know ... For some reason I am.

Bad blisters prevented a cooldown. I got in 12 for the day and thus 66 for the week.

I'm heading home this weekend to see my parents and do the hometown race. My training is heading in the right direction.