The USATF New England Open & Masters Track Championships are an interesting event because the fields haven't been very deep in recent years. Since this event isn't part of a series, isn't used to qualify for anything, and doesn't have an cash on the line, most of the top runners in the area don't run it. However, having the title of New England Champion is pretty cool, so you never know who might show up. I won the 5000 meter in 2013 where the only real challenger was Nick Welch of New Balance Boston who didn't have his best race. I was coming back in 2014 to try and defend my title.
Online registration closed on Wednesday, and it looked like it was shaping up to be, more or less, a 2 man race for the win between myself and Alex Hall of BAA. I was actually pretty excited to race Alex which he called me out on right before the race (slightly embarrassing but funny at the same time). The first time we raced was in 2001 at the New Hampshire Middle School Cross Country State Championships. Being the cocky kid I was, I thought I had the race locked up before it even started, but Alex kept the race much closer than I anticipated. Although I won our inaugural meeting, it would be a very long time before I'd be able to repeat the feat. The next time we raced was in 2002 at the NH Class L High School Cross Country Championships were Alex absolutely crushed me. That was pretty much how the rest of our meetings went. We raced half a dozen times, all of which were Championship races, and he beat me every time. Our final race was at the 2005 New England Cross Country Championships when I placed 6th, 1 second ahead of Alex who finished 7th. It was easily the best race of my high school career, and I had finally been able to take him down again. He had clearly gotten the better of me all throughout high school, but I took some solace in book ending what I thought would be the end of the rivalry. Here we were though.....eight and a half years later.....racing in a Championship race.
When I arrived at Regis College, my hopes for a fast race slowly began to dwindle. During my 2.5 mile warm up, my legs felt flat, and temps were rising into the low 80s. Most of the issues I've been having over the last month were still lingering which wasn't doing much for my morale. After the warm up, I went to the starting tent to get my seed number and saw that there had been some race day entries. Sean Duncan was now seeded right behind me. I had seen Sean's name in results, but we had never actually raced. He ran well at the Boston Marathon this year though and looked fit. I thought there was a good chance it was going to be a tight race, but that didn't really change my race plan. There was a lot of talk around the starting area about running slow due to the heat and just hanging back to see who took out the race. A few minutes before the gun went off, I decided I was going to try to keep the race honest. This was likely to be my only 5000m on a track all year and one of my best shots at a fast race. My plan was to take the race out at 15:00 pace and see how things played out.
The Race:
The race started out as expected. I didn't really push the first 100 meters to see if anyone wanted the lead, and when no one took it, I settled into 15:00 pace out front. I don't know exactly what happened behind us, but it seemed like Sean and I were pretty much alone after a lap or two. Alex has been training for much longer races including running the Boston Marathon this year and only recently started focusing on shorter distances. He's been winning a bunch of local road races, but I don't think he has done much, if any, targeted training for the 5000. So, unfortunately, we didn't get to mix it up.
The first 3K of the race was uneventful. I kept rolling at 15:00 pace, and Sean was right behind me. Once or twice, I tried to surge slightly when the pace started to lag, but he stayed right with me. As we went through 3K just a bit off 15:00 pace, I felt like there was no hope of running a fast time. I didn't feel horrible. I just felt flat. At that point, I decided to stop worrying about the time and start worrying more about trying to win. So, I really eased back on the pace, and by the two mile mark, Sean had taken the lead. My goal was to sit back for two and a half laps, recover, and try my luck at a 400 meter sprint. That didn't pan out though. With 800 meters to go, Sean really picked up the pace and that was all she wrote. I tried to keep the gap from getting too big, but in the end, I gave in mentally.
Overall, I was disappointed with my effort. It ended up being a race of half measures where I never fully committed to going for time or going for the win. As a result, I didn't accomplish either. I absolutely can't fault Sean. I would have done the same thing from his position. He ran the smart race. If someone is going to take the lead at a pace you're comfortable with, following is the clear choice. That being said, I doubt I would have had much of a shot at the win even if I did run a tactical race. He's in good form and ran a great race. I could blame it on the heat, the fact that I was leading, or that my legs weren't feeling great, but in reality, I just wasn't ready for that race physically or mentally. It's very disheartening to come back and run the exact same time I ran last year especially when I felt like I was ready to run much faster. I guess they can't all be career days though. On to the next.
Sean gave an interview with Level Renner about the race here
Results:
Full Results Here
Picture from Krissy Kozlosky's site.
No comments:
Post a Comment