Things I can't forget about New Haven and the RBF-fest:
-My ears popping as I drove from the highlands of Hartford down to the coast of New Haven.
-Scanning the street outside City Hall trying to pick Jon out among the crowd. When we saw the cooler hanging by his side we knew it was him and his truffles. The ladies were aflutter.
-Dianna telling me there were only two hills on the course; studying the race map to confirm my race strategy and making Sarah even more nervous.
-Eggplant pizza among others followed by the most incredible desserts I've ever consumed. Dianna's cheesecake was to die for.
-Sarah spilling water all over my shorts at the restaurant and uttering, "Please don't let it look like he peed himself."
-Slipping a door prize ticket in Sarah's pocket.
-Doing math in my head the night before the race to calculate what my pace would have to be over the first 9.5 miles before kicking it up in the last three. Sleep? Not really.
-Rudely awakening Susan and Lara with flashing overhead lights instead of a soft hair stroke and softly spoken words telling them the time.
-The wide open highway from Hartford to New Haven on race morning.
-Lacing up my Asics on the back of Susie's car before the race.
-58 degree temperatures with blue skies and sunshine.
-Helping Sarah fold and pin her race number before the race.
-Briefly chatting with Michelle about her husband in Iraq and my son's time th
ere in 2003.-April Anne, distressed about not finding Dianna, her running pace partner, in the pre-race mass of humanity.
-Giving Sarah a good luck hug just before the gun.
-Running with Jon for the first mile, then briefly losing touch and watching him fade away in front of me, he thinking I was in front of him.
-My first split which I expected to be in the low 9:00s.
-The first five miles of just gliding along effortlessly and loving the morning and streetside residential spectators.
-Having the urge to pee after the first mile but never needing to go so badly like the many men along the wood line in the second and third mile.
-Seeing Dianna pass me in the fifth mile, paced by a tall handsome man in blue from Wisconsin.
- The headwind along the waterfront in bright sunshine that was tougher than the hills.
-Oh, Dianna, there were five hills. Florida boys can remember them all.
-Crossing the split mat and believing I could make it in 1:45:00.
-Seeing boarded up storefronts near an overpass; a former sign shop called Charrette.
-Playing pace tag with "Eh", "Fries" and the red shirted man with a crimped left leg gait between miles 6-9.
-Running through the municipal park with ballfields and soccer fields and hills and trees, just before the race photographers.
-Kicking my pace down by 40 seconds to 8:08/mile in mile 11 and feeling strong yet concerned about my stamina.
-Thinking that I was in mile 12 when it was mile 11.
-The loooong run do
wn wide Whitney towards the finish line.-Susan and Lara cheering for me a quarter mile from the finish.
-The crowds cheering. The announcer calling off names of finishers and me wondering if he'd call my name.
-The long quiet unperturbed and satisfying walk over to the toilets to relieve myself.
-The woman who gave me one of her two bottles of cold water when I asked her where I could find some for myself.
-Blueberry yogurt, beer and Sarah's cookies for our post race banquet.
-The post-race jog to the car to change a shirt and retrieve the camera. I actually felt like I could keep running.
-Taking pictures of the RBF team; Sarah's cheesing for the camera.
-Susan, all the way home to the beach.
RACE STATS
My intent was to run the first 9.5 miles at a comfortable pace then run the last 2.9 miles as if it were a 5K race, all with the goal of making it in in 1:45:00-1:46:00, right around a 8:30 pace.
Here are the splits:
M1 8:43
M2 8:28
M3 8:20
M4 8:19
M5 8:28 (Gu and water slowdown)
M6 8:53
M7 8:41
M8 8:49
M9 8:40
M10 8:48 (More Gu and water)
M11 8:09
M12 8:27
.4 3.26
My time on the Polar was 1:46:09 as was the chip time so everything is right on. Next year I'll try and do better but I cannot imagine a better race than the one I just shared with some wonderful people. The Runners' Blog is a lot more familiar and homey place than it was last week. I love it.
14 comments:
awesome- you guys look great!!
What a great post! So many memories!! And what a fantastic race you had! You go, boy.
It was nice to meet you. What a perfect day!! Great pics too. If you don’t mind, I’m going to try to “steal” some for my post. I hope to see you again next year!!
Thanks for the race report and the pics! It sounds like you guys had an absolute blast.
David it was great to meet you and chat if only briefly. Next time I will be able to chat with you about my husbands homcoming! Fingers crossed! Great post and pictures by the way.
thats so awesome that the little RBFamily got together for the race. one day, very very far from now, when i'm running a sub 10 minute pace (ahhh ha ha ha, pardon me while i die laughing at the ridiculousness of that statement) i too will dream of meeting fellow RBF'ers and running a race together.
but for now, its kinda nice to live vicariously thru y'all!!
i like how running 8:xx is a slowdown for gu...only in my dreams, heh.
It was indeed a great race, David. You remembered so much of it. I tried to hold it all in my head but I was so exhausted at the end, it just all fell out.
Glad you were there to push (pull?) me along faster. :) And I went faster when Dianna found me because I had to keep up with her!
Thanks for the memories and pics, it is so cool to live the event through you! You had a great reace too!
FIVE hills? OK. I'll give you THREE...but FIVE?
Oh wait...by Florida standards, I guess I can see how you could confuse those 'speed bumps' with hills. LOL.
And that part of the race that goes thru the park...with all the lush, green trees, lots of shade and quietness? That's my second favorite stretch of road on the course. (My first favorite being the trip down Whitney to the finish.)
Hope you mark your calendar for next year too!
Great, great memories, David. And I found the raffle ticket...how'd you do that, you sly dog :-)
You sound so happy! yay
Great race David. You've got a great head for detail. I just start making stuff up after awhile.
And I'm thinking hair stroking AND back rub next time around!
All your hard work's paid off! Great race and post. Maybe I'll join you guys next year. Or how about another race - somewhere fun like San Francisco, Miami, Austin, or Vegas?!
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