track

Made my way up to Lewis-Palmer HS in Monument last night for the all-comers track meet.  First time I've raced on the track since my freshman year at Pitt.  GZ does a good recap of what it's like to run a 1500 over here, and I faced a lot of the same pre-race jitters.  Didn't have a time goal for the metric mile, I definitely knew GZ had thrown down a 4:55 the other day but I didn't think I could match that.  I was hoping I'd have enough speed to sneak in under 5, but wasn't sure that was even in the cards.

Big field, probably 15 or so.  Two guys were head and shoulders above everyone else, and they took off.  I settled into the back of the next pack, with some high school kid and the most electrifying runner on the planet.  First lap in 74, then 2:32 for the half.  Faster than I've run in a LONG time.

I was in the hole pretty deep, but with 600m to go I made a strong move on the other two.  The pain and suffering at 1200m was ridiculous.  I tried to hold off the other guys, but they passed me with about 10 meters to go and I had nothing left.  The three of us all ran 4:48, but I ended up in 5th.  Think that converts to a 5:08 or so mile, but had I needed to cover another 100 meters I probably couldn't have broke 5:30.  Running the mile sucks.

Came back for a double in the 3000m.  Was hoping to get another crack at Romero, but he scratched.  Ended up jaking the race to save myself for the Garden, running 10:59 off a 5:48 first mile.

Lots of suffering, but a real fun night at the track.  Two trials qualifiers in the 200m showed up, and that was awesome to watch.  They threw down low 21s for the half lap, pretty awesome in the windy conditions.  Rumor has it there will be three more of these meets during the summer, and I'll try to be at every one.

I would have taken him down if not for those fancy shoes!

In the 3K, I paced off this chick for the first mile, then crushed her over the next two laps.  Unfortunately, there was another lap to go after all that.

Less than three miles total, and my race report is longer than the last four ultras I've run combined.