Wherein AL discusses his return to racing
Today was a good day for running. The morning was crisp and cool and sunny...the perfect fall day. All month I've been thinking "when can I race again?" I've been rehabbing this calf injury and hoping to see some real progress. Last week was the first week that I felt whole, and I pushed it a bit: I logged 35 miles and did some quick days. I felt I was ready for something more. I contemplated running the Staten Island 1/2 marathon, but that seemed too much considering how long my injury down time was. Instead, I chose the LIRRC 10 miler.
The course was, basically, three loops around the mostly flat Eisenhower Park. We started at 9 am with a nice light breeze and 55 degrees. I felt good from the start; it was one of those races where I had to hold myself back, not gallop ahead. I told myself I'd just run nice easy 8s. But it was just too great to be in a race again, and I felt too good. I didn't want re-injury, but 8s were too slow. So I said to myself, ok run 7:40s . That plan worked, mostly, but I kept holding myself back as I was a bit worried. But all was good...
1) 7:30
2) 7:30
3) 7:40
4) 7:46
5) 7:42
6) 7:45
7) 7:40
8) 7:40
9) 7:35
10) 7:07
Total: 1:16.02
A nice little addition to coming back and feeling strong: I placed 2nd in my age and 6th overall. (Obviously, the field did not include any elite runners and no records were set. Still nice to get the little ribbon.)
Nice to be back and I feel good.
Fred-o is up at the G-spot or G-ster (whatever the fuck it is). KICK ASS FRED!!! Say hi to Solo and all for me.
4 comments:
just curious Al...what is your age group?
all jokes aside, great job!!!
By no means a "powerful performance." But it felt great to be back in the mix. I just wanted to run well holding a pace and not re-injur...mission accomplished. All sytems, happily, go. I'll worry about being fast once I've got a few more weeks and a few more races under belt. And, if you must know, Al is over 35 but under 60.
You damn stud you! Nice mile 10 there. Now slow down and get your distances back up. Loser.
Al,
That time rocks. I wish I could run like Gump. How did you feel a few days after the run with your calf problem and all? You are the MAN!
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