Dover Foxcroft Foxcroft Academy Alumni 5K August 4 2007

I ran the Foxcroft Academy Alumni 5K yesterday with Dad. This race was the one Julie wanted me to run with her back in 2001 that started all this craziness: the long race reports, running in rain/snow/cold/heat, and searching the internet for training tips. Things that may make me a bit "odd."

I woke up around 5:00am, and Doreen got up 30 minutes later. We were on the road to Dover-Foxcroft by ten minutes to six. The day before I packed my running shoes, change of clothes, three bananas, two energy bars, two gu's, two water bottles, a Gatorade, and two Mountain Dews - which were all used during race day. My goal for this race, sort of an ultimate goal, is to run the 5K in 19:59 or better. That comes out to between 6:26 and 6:27 minutes per mile.

We arrived in Dover around 7:30am. I signed up for the race, and ran a quick one mile warm up run. At 7:55am the race director, Mr. George Rolleston the chemistry teacher I had my Junior year in high school (1982 and 1983), called everyone to the YMCA parking lot, and gave his before race speech. We then got in line at the red fire hydrant across from the YMCA. Mr. Rolleston gave the ready, go command and we were off.

I started in row two, maybe 10 to 15 people in front of me. I had to weave to get by a couple youngish guys, and then stuck with the lead group of 10 to 13 for 50 seconds. I actually only wanted to sprint out the first 30 seconds, but got a little carried away. I eventually eased back some, letting the lead pack pull away. Nobody caught up with me. During the speech, George Rolleston told us the one mile mark was at the first entrance of the Fair Grounds. When I arrived there, I saw I had been running 6:09. At the time I thought that the mile marker must be wrong. I didn't think I was running that fast. After the race, Doreen and I drove that first mile, and found that it was in fact correct.

Another mile marker G Rolleston gave us was the one and only water stop. He said it was "around" 1.5 miles. It was right after the Essex Street Bridge - the one that was repaired last year, causing the 2006 course to be different See last years race report here: http://dhartley86.vox.com/library/post/dover-foxcroft-foxcroft-alumni-5k-august-5-2006.html

I reached the water stop at 9:24. During the race, I figured that was pretty good. I knew 1.5 miles was a little less than half way through the race. If I wanted to run the entire race in less than 20 minutes, I figured I would need to reach the 1.5 mile point in less the 10 minutes: mission accomplished.

The rest of the race was a blur. I just kept running as hard as I could. I remember running up the hill after the water stop to where Merrit Square used to be. A person caught up with me and we exchanged the traditional, 5K racer conversation: "looking good," "keep it up." He then asked me if the rest of the course was up hill or down hill? I said "both." He took off.

Once making it to the bank there was a nice down hill stretch. I kept telling myself I was running hard. I never got the "I need to stop" feeling. Over the last few days I have been mentally preparing myself for that feeling. I eventually made it to Winter Street. We meandered through a few streets until we arrived back at the YMCA, where I ended up finishing the race in ......

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... for suspense.....

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20:15!!!

Bummer. I don't know what happened. If I ran the first 1.5 miles in 9:24 (6:16 pace), that means I ran the last 1.6 miles in 10:51 (6:47 pace). My effort level didn't feel like it was changing. I ran "hard" the entire way, and didn't feel like I hit a wall at the end. Apparently I fooled myself though, because I was running slower by the end.

After the 1.5 mile mark I didn’t really know any other mile marker, so stopped paying attention to my watch. Also I ran by myself most of the race. It was a small race. I should find races that mark every mile (most of them do), and also one that is large enough I will have people to run with, but not so large that the start is very congested. I think around 200 people or so is the size I am looking for. This one had a little over 60 people.

The weather probably slowed me down also. It was very humid and hot, even though the race started early at 8:00am.

After all those excuses, the real reason I missed my goal, I think, is because I ran that first mile 20 seconds faster than my goal pace.

Here are the results: http://www.sub5.com/results/results07/Pony%20Pride%205K%20Results.txt Dad did very well, finishing in 25:37.

My next race is September 16 - the Portland Trails 10K. Thanks for reading.