After Boston, I spent the time recovering by getting some nice rides on my road bike, and gradually re-introduced running into my week. Before long, I was hitting the track for weekly sessions getting ready for "The Big Three"...President's cup 5K, Lager Run 5K, and The Sunset Classic 5M.
Now I'm not sure if everyone has the same holy reverence as I do for these three races, but as I've written before, I find a race I like and do it every year, hopefully a little faster each time. So lets start with the first race of my summer, President's Cup 5K Open men's championship in Millburn NJ.
If there's one thing you can bet on it's the consistency of this race. It is always packed with talent, it is always fast, and Mother Nature will always surprise you with what she has in store for the night. With a relatively cool temperature (70 degrees F) and relatively high humidity (95%) it was anyone's guess just how much the weather would be a factor. But as in years past there is something special about this hilly race. Not only is it one of the most competitive 5Ks in the state, but one of the fastest too. I managed to sneak in a PR. In fact, the first time I ever broke 18:00 was on this course, and after holding onto a 17:18 PR (also set on this course) I managed to PR again this year with a 17:14. With a time like this I would be standing on the overall podium in many local races. But this is President's Cup, where my PR still placed me at 47th overall, but did manage to earn me the coveted Age Group 35-39 year championship title with a strongly packed field of 59 others. But this was my first 5K in almost a year...surely I could better my PR in the upcoming Lager Run 5K, a flatter, faster course which I train on several times a week. Only problem is, the Lager Run is always 6 days away from President's Cup so there's minimal time to recover, train, and get ready for another PR. This year however The Sunset Classic did a swap, and would be held a week after President's Cup, also on a Monday.
The Sunset Classic 5 Miler is one of those races that you look forward to every year, and then once you are in mile 3 you wish you had trained better...or the course wasn't so hilly...or it wasn't so hot...or it wasn't a few days after a previous fast race...or, well you get the point. All kidding aside this is a race that people tend to shy away from and I'm not quite sure why. Five milers are rare these days, and this one is, by far, my favorite. For one thing it's another night race. I realized the first time I ever ran it how apt the name "The Sunset Classic" was. It takes place at sunset and there's a significant uphill climb at the beginning of mile 2 on, you guessed it, Sunset Ave. As with President's Cup I've run this race every year since 2007 and I have to say, it never gets easier. What has changed is my overall place. I went from 99th place in 2007, to 49th the next year, then 18th, 8th, 10th, 8th again, 7th, and finally to 3rd this year. I even ran in 2010 when the race was cancelled due to renovation of the Foley Field track finish when a small group of us gathered and ran the course. (That year I won... I swear!) But one of my favorite traditions with this race is gathering with friends after the race over a little food and conversation. When we are all together it doesn't matter who came in what place, or who PR'd it's about the camaraderie that runners share on a nice June evening. Driving back home from the after-party is a little bitter sweet. There's usually some nice hardware to display and often a new PR, but this also marks that "The Big Three" is over. But not so fast. Remember this year the Lager Run 5K came last.
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| Lager Run 5K race shirts from 2007-2015 |
In years past, after "The Big Three," there were a few options. A) Take my running fitness and add swimming and cycling to get ready for an upcoming triathlon or two B) Back off from racing, but put my nose to the grindstone training for an upcoming fall marathon C) Refocus on training for my upcoming "River to Sea" stage race, or D) Take a week of easy recovery miles, train through the summer, and refocus on fast fall racing. Sometimes a combination of some or all of that. This year, I went with option D and refocused on The Liberty Half Marathon, where I hoped to PR. I had already turned down an invite to the "River to Sea Relay" (R2C) and had firmly made up my mind (even if I was secretly regretting it). If you are not familiar with R2C here is a link to the Runner's World article written by a team mate and training partner. So, off I set in the blistering July heat, gradually increasing my weekly mileage and heading out for early morning tempo runs. What I didn't expect was a last minute injury of one of my training partners, leaving him out of R2C. I told him if he couldn't do it, I'd step in and take his place. One more tempo run through the pea-soup-thick summer heat and humidity and I was in a van with 7 other runners about to start another year of R2C on tired legs, and not in the shape I wanted to be.
As I ran my 7th (and what I thought at the time was my last R2C in 2013 I tried to go out with a bang. I had run the same stages (1 & 9) every single year. And I was fortunate enough to get faster and faster each year. So for my swan song, I tried ending with times I could look back on proudly in years to come, and as something I thought might stand a year or so before one of my teammates inevitably bested those times. If, and it was a huge if, I ever raced R2C again, I certainly would NOT race stages 1 & 9 ever again. I was done... So on the morning of the 2015 I began Stage 1 in a heat advisory. Knowing this stage of the race better than most I tried to go out strong, but leave something in the tank for stage 9, nicknamed the "frying pan". It's flat alright, but not a square inch of shade in the 1pm August heat for 9 miles of New Jersey's badlands. I ended up PR'ing my stage in an average sub 6 minute pace. 8 times and every time faster. I knew I had something left in the tank, but worried just how much. Later in the day, I raced the dreaded "frying pan" and PR'd. Nine miles in 93 degree sun with an average of 6:00/mile pace. I finished...and felt good! Which was a good thing, as one of my teammates was having a bad day and was unable to finish his stage. Some shuffling of team members, and FINALLY I was running something other than stages 1 & 9. This time the glory stage- 2.5 miles at 5:48 pace into the finish. I had started the day on a bridge over the Delaware River on the NJ/PA border and was now swimming in the Sea of Manasquan, NJ. Seventh place out of 124 teams. And I'll never run stages 1 or 9 again. (Until next year)
R2C had shown me that my current fitness level was better than I had thought. Now if I could continue training through the rest of the summer and improve just a slight bit I could set a new PR at the Liberty Half Marathon in Jersey City, NJ. Another stacked field and another men's open championship race meant a lot of young fast guys and $3000 in prize money left no delusion that I would be placing on the podium in this race. This was the site of my first half marathon in 2007, and then the site of my worst half marathon in 2008, when I vowed not to return. And I hadn't in 6 years. And just like R2C, here I was attempting a PR. The first 8 miles went by like clockwork. I stayed tucked in a nice pack and the strong winds weren't a factor, but as we headed onto the boardwalk of Liberty State Park after mile 8 the winds took a significant effort to try to stay on pace, and I slowly started to drift off the back of the pack. Before I knew it, I was completely alone for the next few miles, battling a fierce headwind that seemed to come from every angle. The fact that you make a 90 degree turn about 20 times in the last 3 miles was no help. I finally put a final surge with half mile to go and passed a small pack, only to have some of them take me in the final 50 meters to the finish. I still earned a new PR of 1:18:46 good enough for 5th place out of the 225 men in my age division.
And now, as I planned to do after the Lager Run, I get to take a little break with just some easy recovery miles...oh wait, the Ashenfelter 8K State Championship is only 6 weeks away.
