This past Sunday was the 4th stop on the New England Grand Prix circuit. Lincoln, Rhode Island's Twin River Casino was once again hosting the 5k Championship. I spent the prior day enjoying a somewhat easy jaunt with Mark Bailargeon and Dav Pavoni at the Harpoon Brewery 5 miler in Downtown Boston's Seaport area.
Last year I tried doubling the 5 miler and 5k the next day. This year I was coming off my 3rd marathon in six weeks. Despite the fortune of not having to deal with much in the way of post marathon soreness, I was sure last weekend's effort still had firm grasp on my ability to deal out any 5k speed.
Although there's nothing more refreshing than putting down beers won at a summer race, wisdom dictated I take it easy at the 5 miler and live to fight another day. So with that in mind I decided to cruise thru the 5 miler and head off to Lincoln with the best set of legs I could possibly bring with me. If all went well I could help the Harriers score in the Grand Prix.
So for the 2nd day in a row: a 6am wake up call. This time for a trip down to the Rhody 5k with Norm and Brian Fuller, Ian Wright and myself. The rain and clouds dominated the early AM skies and kept our hopes high of a good day for racing...a rarity for the Rhody 5k. We get there a good hour early and have plenty of time to take care of business, stretch and do a long warm up. Not to soon after the sun broke thru and the heat and humidity came busting out. Its going to be another roasting at Rhody.
The warm up and strides went well. The legs seem ready to go. Time will tell how ready I am for a 5k. I haven't raced anything under 10 miles since January at the Smith College All Comers indoor track meets when I tweaked my IT-Band and knee. I suspect I will able to get thru the first mile okay but I will be unable to hold off lactate buildup for too long and my legs will drop into survival mode - a fate similar to last year.
The gun goes off I feel in control, relaxed and running a smart pace so far. The slight uphill out of the parking lot doesn't even register in my mind. I lock into a position that I think will bring me thru one mile on target. I hit one mile in 5:26. I feel okay but the effort feels a little faster than a 5:26. As the downhill completes and we make a right turn at around 1.25 miles, I'm getting that 'I'm not holding on' feeling. Sure enough, I start looking in desperation for the 2 mile mark. It seems like its taking forever. It nearly does. 11:12. Just what I feared; what I pretty much expected. It won't be getting any better from here on home.
I spend the next 6+ minutes trying to run relaxed and carry as much speed as I can, relying more on running economy than a surplus of strength, confidence and, well..., ability.
All in all not a bad effort considering seven days ago I was wrapping the marathon trifecta. In fact, today's time was a couple clicks better than last years' 17:37.
As a team we finished a decent 6th in the open division, and a respectable 3rd in the masters competition.
11th Annual Rhody 5K Road Race
New England Grand Prix Championship
June 6, 2010 5 Kilometers (USATF Certified #RI07004RN) Lincoln, RI
Timing By: Granite State Race Services steve@gsrs.com
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1 1/66 M2029 14:55 4:48 Patrick Tarpy 27 M 326 Yarmouth ME 2 1/105 M3039 15:14 4:55 Matthew Ely 34 M 306 Natick MA BAA
3 2/66 M2029 15:22 4:57 Patrick Moulton 28 M 313 Providence RI BAA
4 2/105 M3039 15:26 4:58 Justin Freeman 33 M 331 New Hampton NH RUN
5 3/66 M2029 15:29 4:59 Casey Moulton 28 M 333 Pelham NH RUN
6 3/105 M3039 15:30* 5:00 Jim St Pierre 39 M 335 Dracut MA RUN
7 1/95 M4049 15:35* 5:01 Joseph Koech 41 M 329 Chelmsford MA RUN
8 4/105 M3039 15:41 5:03 Daniel Princic 30 M 286 Woburn MA WHIRL
9 5/105 M3039 15:43 5:04 Dan Smith 31 M 108 Cambridge MA GBTC
10 4/66 M2029 15:44 5:04 Ben Schmeckpeper 27 M 318 Charlestown MA BAA
11 5/66 M2029 15:47 5:05 Marc Leblanc 29 M 323 Natick MA
12 6/66 M2029 15:48 5:06 Brian Fuller 21 M 295 Ludlow MA GSH
13 2/95 M4049 15:50 5:06 Kent Lemme 43 M 298 Williamstown MA GSH
14 6/105 M3039 15:52 5:07 Ryan Carrara 33 M 159 Hudson MA NBB
15 7/105 M3039 15:53 5:07 Kevin Gorman 33 M 347 Norwood MA CMS
73 21/95 M4049 17:30 5:38 Robert Landry 41 M 293 Ludlow MA GSH
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MALE OPEN TEAM RESULTS
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1. RETAILERS UNION (RUN)
15:26 15:29 15:30 15:35 16:13 ( 16:21) = 1:18:13
Justin Freeman, Casey Moulton, Jim St Pierre, Joseph Koech, Ben Ndaya,
Paul Reilly
6. GREATER SPRINGFIELD HARRIERS
15:48 15:50 16:38 17:11 17:30 ( 17:45) ( 18:26) = 1:22:57
Brian Fuller, Kent Lemme, Ron Lombardi, Carlos Rivera, Robert Landry,
Peter Fratini, Brent Coon
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MALE MASTERS TEAM RESULTS
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1. WHIRLAWAY RACING TEAM
16:25 16:25 16:31 16:44 17:03 ( 17:18) ( 17:23) = 1:23:08
Henry Scollard, Scott Anderson, Mike Cooney, Bob Dabrieo, Paul Doe,
Reno Stirrat, Paul Hammond
2. CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS
16:27 16:47 16:58 16:59 17:08 ( 17:13) ( 18:10) = 1:24:19
Tim Vanorden, Rod Viens, Scott Clark, Dan Verrington, David Quintal,
Ernest Brake, John Pajer
3. GREATER SPRINGFIELD HARRIERS
15:50 16:38 17:30 17:45 18:26 ( 18:50) ( 19:18) = 1:26:09
Kent Lemme, Ron Lombardi, Robert Landry, Peter Fratini, Brent Coon,
John Matthews, Norm Fuller
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