Hyde Park Blast

This is about the 4 mile race I finished on June 30.

So this was it, the race I had spent the last few months training for. Unfortunately, in the last few weeks, the training program sort of went to pot. I slacked off for various reasons, ran fewer miles, finished fewer cross training workouts, ate too much and gained a few pounds back, and let's face it, I wasn't doing any targeted speed training sessions for this anyway.

But there I was at the start line, as ever optimistic about improving my time over last year. Yes, although I am generally a pessimist about most things, for some reason I tend to be overly optimistic about my potential performance in races. My goal time was 32 minutes, or around three minutes faster than last year. Hey, it could happen.

Beyond being faster, I wanted to move up in my age group standings. Last year I was 4th. It wouldn't matter much in the end because they only give awards to the top 50 men and women, and in this big race at my age I am at a disadvantage.

New course this year. They took out the steep hill in the last mile and replaced it with a longer, less steep hill. Some might say they dumbed it down.

It was warmer and more humid than last year. I left the house at 7:30 and jogged to the start, about a mile and a half. I didn't see many people I knew at the start. 3000 entrants for a race in my neighborhood and I recognized hardly anyone. These are not my people. I recognized exactly two people: one, my Congresswoman (whom I am now embarrassed that I ever supported, though I thought she was the lesser of two evils; and two, one of my neighbors (who didn't recognize me).

A woman standing next to me commented on how sweaty I was and we hadn't even started yet. I told her that I had run there from my house. She asked me how many miles I usually ran, and I just gave her that blank look before responding "it depends." How do you respond to that question? It's a question you expect from a non-runner but not on the starting line of a race! I also overheard someone behind me saying she had never run "this far" before.

No, these are not my people. Anyway, I hoped I was standing in the right spot because even though there was chip timing, I didn't want to have to run around too many people.

It worked out okay. First mile was 8:25 (including about 20 seconds to cross the start). A little slower than I wanted to be but I was having to adjust my expectations in the heat. I grabbed a cup of water at the aid station. Then mile 2 was 8:57, a lot slower than I wanted to be, and the goal time was now out the window. At least my knee felt okay. Mile 3 was an 8:47, just hanging on and looking forward to being finished with the damn thing. I was able to pick it up in the last mile for an 8:14.

My watch time was 34:23 and my official chip time was 34:09, 40 seconds faster than last year, but of course, not nearly what I had hoped. Surprisingly, this did put me 3 of 102 in the age group. Okay, a lot of those people were walkers, and apparently a lot of them had never run "that far" before. I do wonder where all the fast old women go on the morning of this race, however.

They don't give out nearly as much swag as they used to at this race. I still use some of the things they've given out over the years: the key chain, the little candy dishes, the sportbags. There was the technical shirt, in a hideous gray color this time, but that was it pre-race. At the finish, you could pick up another "prize"---earbuds with the race logo on them.

I've never been a big fan of this race, so the earbuds seem especially apt considering how I feel about the people who need to run with tunes! But I have to admit that this race has steadily improved each year. So I'll probably keep showing up for it if I don't have anyplace else better to be.