Grumpy Racer

I am. After finishing the Get In Gear 10k race yesterday I was happy, even though I knew at least three guys in my age group had finished ahead of me. I thought I had missed my last-year’s time by 18 seconds. Turns out, though, I missed it by 2:18, and would have finished first in my age group this year if I had run as fast as last year. 2:18 is a LOT of time to lose from one year to the next. So now I have to whine and over-analyze in order to put it all behind me.

I prepared for the race as if it were important, even tapered for it, carbed and hydrated, warmed up, the works. At the start I felt great, ready to beat the world, trying to go out at the perfect, sustainable pace. Alas, the pace was sustainable for only a mile, and I slowed some every mile thereafter. First mile 7:02, overall pace 7:33. Tsk. Here are some possible reasons for the slowdown:

1. Temperature: This year the temp was 68 degrees at 9:53 am, which is 20 degrees warmer than last year. This does make some difference. In the spirit of over-analysis, I looked at the times of 10 top runners in my age group and nearby, four women and six men. On average, their times were 1:18 slower this year than last. Most of that can be attributed to race temperature I believe, perhaps some to aging. It may account for one of the two minutes.


2. Age: I’m a year older than last year. OK, that could account for some difference, but not two minutes. In fact, last year I broke my PR at every distance I ran, and I was a year older then too. I’ve only just finished my fifth year of running and could well continue to get faster for another year or two; a sharp decline is not likely.


3. Motivation: Last year I was in a head-to-head competition with Lee for the Minnesota Grand Prix, and did have him in view most of the way in the Get In Gear race, only passing him in the last half mile. That could make the difference; rabbits are good.


4. Trail Mix: I ran a tough 25k trail race a week ago, and no one in my age group who finished Get In Gear ahead of me ran that race last week. Might make a little difference. Am I a little arrogant to think that I could recover from that in a week?


5. Thalidomide: I’ve been off it for a week and a half now, but it could still make a difference. In particular, I read (somewhere) that thalidomide causes a loss of muscle mass. I don’t know the truth of that, particularly for a runner who trains regularly, and my weight has not changed. If it is true, however, then some amount of muscle has been replaced by fat which does not contribute to speed or endurance.

Enough analysis. Add that stuff all up to get 2:18. I’m thinking that 1 and 3 are the big players here. Not much I can do about number 1, but I suppose I should work on number 3. I don’t know how to do that. Run fewer races, so that I really do care about the ones I do run? Food for thought.

The good news is, no pains, no problems; I felt wonderful afterward and still do the day after. Shorts and a sleeveless shirt; definitely should have brought a singlet instead; I thought it would be about 10 degrees cooler. It was a beautiful day. Splits: 7:02, 7:14, 7:30, 25:11 (last 3.2 mi pace 7:52 average).