I had thoughts leading into the race of trying to hold 5:20 pace and run faster than 2009, but with a recently ailing right knee, I just hoped to have a solid run without much pain. This was also three weeks out from the New York marathon, so sandwiched around the race I needed to log 20 miles. I met with Dr. Culpepper on Thursday and he said there was nothing structurally wrong with my knee but that he wasn't sure what the problem was, so he just prescribed some anti-inflammatories. I'm hoping the knee responds positively to give me confidence in the marathon. I appreciate the thoughts and prayers I have received; there are so many people that need those prayers more than me so it meant a lot to me that people would pray for my health to compete in a foot race.
The weather was great to start in the low 50's and after a few delays at the line, we were off. The pack thinned out faster than in previous years and I was able to run the tangents through the s-curves of Lowe before the turn to Madison. As we climbed up toward the square, I settled into a nice pace behind Brad Schroeder and I was running in 4th. I knew there was a ton of talented guys just seconds behind me and at anytime I could easily slip out of the top ten if I slowed. Brad opened up the gap coming off of the square and just before the first mile marker, good friend George Heeschen passed me as we clocked a 5:18. George and I joked last night over beers that neither of us felt like racing!
I felt a little bit of the bear jump on my back in the second mile, which at 5km pace I have described as 'unforgiving' with the turns and slowly gradual hills. It was nice to see Anne and her pups on the corner of Randolph and White as I was able to snap out of my zone and refocus. If I were going to make a charge at sub 17, I would have to capitalize on the fast downhill of Randolph. My second mile split was a slow 5:32, which put me at 10:50 overall. George had pulled away and would go on to have a great race.
The two-turn combination of Lincoln and Williams is always taxing and I let up just enough that Nike Fleet Feet Racing Team mates Donald Bowman and Erik Debolt nearly pulled even. We topped out on Adams and after a very fast recovery, picked up the cadence and dropped the pace. We were running along at about 5-minute pace and Erik was right with me. He was in great shape coming off of the Army 10 miler last weekend and I knew that he would out kick me if we stayed together until the final tenth of a mile. I decided to push the pace early, instead of waiting, and dropped it down to around 4:50. I put a little gap between us, but as we crossed Lowe and neared the end, he closed in. We were both running all out, pulling each other along. Somehow I managed to hold on and together we ran 16:56 and 16:57.
(All photos courtesy of Carolyn Derting)
Later Erik and I joked that neither of us probably would have broken 17 alone but together we did it! It wasn't 5:20 pace or a personal best, but on a day when I wasn't fully healthy and on that relentless rolling hill course, I am happy with the results and of my effort. Breaking 17 might be easy for some people, but I really have to be in good shape and work very hard to get there.
I was happy to see that all of my friends ran so well today! As always, I am very thankful that I was able to compete and am proud of my 5th place finish, but I hope in the process I was able to remember that the glory of this day is all His.