Human Race 8k

There is a "common wisdom" in the running community that says a brand-new masters runner gets faster for five to seven years, and then begins to yield to the ravages of age and gradually slows down again. April will be five years, and I was rather hoping that I’d be one of those who might get seven years of improvement in speed rather than five. But if so, today didn’t demonstrate it; I finished in 36:59, a minute and 46 seconds slower than last year. Why is that? Here are some possibilities:

• Thalidomide: When I took it three years ago I was convinced that it slowed me a little. I did skip last night’s dose, but it may take days or weeks for the effect to wear off completely.
• Motivation: I won my age group in both the Grand Prix and Runner of the Year last year. It was a LOT of work. Do I need it this year?
• Just not a great day. Last year it was a great day.

I think all three. The motivation one bothers me the most, because I really did want to beat my time from last year. But even the first two miles, where I wasn’t tired, I wasn’t able to run as fast as I ran those same miles last year. So there’s something going on besides just motivation.

Whine whine. Third of twelve isn’t bad; I’ll settle for that today! It was a good race, I enjoyed it, and so did my sweeties, who made good times of their own.

I ran hard to the water stop at mile 2.5, then was unable to drink much water because I was breathing so hard. After that I walked for brief stretches. Splits: 7:22, 7:14, 7:36, 7:46, 7:07. Temp 41, wind S at 18. Shorts, LS shirt, wind jacket, ear cover, mitts. Gloves might have been better than the mitts. Breathing: three footfalls per full breath almost all the way.

Easy week coming up, only 30 miles. That’ll be good.