Start of the 800

This is the second part of the three date Strictly Running series. My original plan was to do all three events, since the heat was not going to make a great time possible in any of the events, even if I saved up for one. My “warmup” consisted of 24 hamster wheel laps (2 miles) on the indoor track at Gold’s gym, which I figured was still better than the 100 degree temps outside. When I got to the track there were already a few people there, and the final group was about 10 or so. I’m not sure what happened, but there was no official SR rep there or a time clock by 630. Luckily a guy volunteered to start the events and keep track of laps.

I had never done the 3000 before but decided I would try to race this event all out. I knew I’d be cashed anyway for the other events in the heat. I had figured out a 1:27 quarter pace would put me on pace for 11 minutes, which (under ideal conditions) is what I would hope to run. With the start I felt pretty good, trying not to go out too hard. Hit the first 400 in 1:31, second at  just over 3 minutes. The mile was just over 6 minutes, but the heat was really kicking in by then and I started hurting big time. Basically sucked wind the whole last 3.5 laps. Made a point of not getting lapped by Omar and Matt who I knew would crush the field. Barely did that. I was able to muster a little sprint in the last straightaway, finished around 11:34, 3rd place.

Angel’s video of the 3000m: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jeXksT5lBw

After the 3000 I was completely overheated and feeling near death, so I decided to skip the 800, which was less than 10 min later. The race was cool to watch – Angel went out fast with SR runner Randy Finn, both crossed just a shade over 60 sec. Eric McMichael then threw down a ridiculous kick in the last 150 to overtake both of them and finish around 2:10.

I was still half alive at the 1500 start but I decided to give it a go for the sake of a workout, if not for time. Went out trying to go slow but found myself getting passed a lot , which my fragile ego apparently cant handle. Tucked in behind Crazy Legs Schmitz for the first two laps, and was right at 4:30 with a quarter to go. Made a point of trying to break 6 minutes and was able to sprint to a 5:55. Not bad considering how wiped out I was from the 3000.

Now I’m just hoping the weather gives us a break for the Capital City Safe 5k on Friday night in downtown Columbia.