Hot is SLOOOW!!!

OK, last week I reported that Hot was FAST! It's funny how things change in one week.

Thursday was week #8 of the Westford Academy Summer Series. It was 84 degrees when I showed up at 5:55 at the school. I was worried that I won't make the 6:30 start because for no reason what so ever, Rte 495 South from Rte 93 was moving at a crawl. I checked in and started seeing the usual cast of runners. Allen Hall, Rick Porter, and the rumor was out that David Katz would be showing up. David has been running really well over the last couple of weeks and if he showed up he'd be the favorite to win. Allen came over to me and stated that he saw David running over from a couple miles away. I guess I'm running for 2nd place. In addition I noticed that there was a high school kid there from last week who ran with the leaders for most of the race. So the race would be between David and this kid. I'm now thinking about 3rd place. Then Allen points out another guy who ran 2:50 at Boston this year. OK 4th place and that my final offer!!

Paul, lined us up and got us going with a "Very QUICK" gun. It shocked most of us. The guy who ran the 2:50 at Boston took the lead right away and ran away. David Katz took up 2nd and Allen and I were running in 3rd and 4th place respectively. The high school kid tucked in behind us and just drafted. Allen and I started yelling out to David to go catch the guy up front. "He's slowing down", "You can do it", "come on old man". David just replied "NO WAY"!!! We went through the mile in 6 flat. Fast but not as fast as last week. I pushed the pace trying to break Allen but every time I surged he matched me. The tuna salad I had for lunch was starting to bubble up in my stomach. Then around 1.5 miles my left Achilles felt like someone drove a knife into it. I immediately backed it down and let Allen and the kid go ahead of me. I limped for a couple of strides but was able to get back under control after about a quarter mile. By the 2 mile mark Allen was 100 yards up on me and the kid had 50. As we climbed the hill I was able to pull myself within 20 yards of the kid and by the time we hit the dirt road I was even with him. I knew that if it came down to a sprint to the finish I was toast. So for the next 1/2 mile I pushed as hard as I could coming down the hill. It didn't work. He matched me stride for stride. As we turned into the school we had 300 yards to go and I was in trouble. The kid turned on the jets and I was left sucking his fumes. I checked my watch and noticed that I wasn't going to set a PR on the course (for this year), but had a chance of breaking 23 minutes. I pushed as hard as I could and just barely made it with a 22:57.

What happened? It was hot but, not muggy. Allen struggles with the muggy but not the heat and he ran a 22:32, which is his fastest run of the year. Way to go Allen. David, got 2nd over all and P/R'd with a 21: 38. Again, congrad's David. I will never eat tuna salad for lunch before a race again. In addition I did a 9.3 mile run on Wednesday which I think beat me up pretty bad. I have to learn to take it easier the day before a race.

So I guess I have to qualify Hot and Muggy is fast, not just Hot.

Next up is Alton Bay 5K on Saturday.