25K - "Tougher Than A 50 Cent Steak"

My buddy Rudy Pacheco in Phoenix uses this expression to describe something very difficult. He certainly would have used it today. I guess I had a good day if you don't look at my overall time or pace. Now that's a preposterous statement on it's face so I have a bit of difficulty with such a rationalization. But anyone who did the 25K today probably understands.

I had planned to try to hold the same pace I ran the 1/2 in - 6:22, but knew that would be difficult considering that it was about 70 degrees and humid at the start and only got worse. I held on to a sub 6:30 pace through 4 miles but knew in my heart that I was fooling myself. Once I finally let go and dialed it back just a tiny bit I settled into a pace I thought I'd be able to hold for some time, though it would prove tough - tougher than that 50 centy steak Rudy describes. I've never had a 50 cent steak actually, but did have one for $1.99 in Laughlin, NV at a casino. It actually wasn't bad.

Anyway, once again I ran my own race, mostly alone. I had my running partner Brian King with me for the first few miles then he started to pull away just a bit. But a couple miles later he came back to me and we ran together until about mile 6 or 7. He was sick yesterday so he had to drop back. Then I was truly on my own. Time to see if I could start reeling a few people in. Actually, I had no idea I'd be able to reel anyone in. Every mile was like a round in a boxing match against the heavyweight champ. I felt fortunate just to survive each one.

Somewhere toward the end of the second loop or early in the third I passed the third overall female. Also somewhere early in that third loop I saw Leno Rios standing on the corner and he yelled at me to "catch that guy". I looked ahead and saw two runners in sight. Hey Leno, not sure which one you were talking about but mission accomplished because I got them both. Then, toward the end of the outbound portion of loop 3 I passed a couple of guys who were running together.

Not long after the turn to head back in for the final time, I noticed a guy 20 feet in front of me that I hadn't seen all day. I mean, this guy so came out of nowhere that I was wondering if he was pulling a Rosie Ruiz. There was another runner in front of me who quickly passed him and as I passed this mystery guy too I decided to catch up to the other runner and ask him where the heck that guy had come from. I sped up and we talked a bit but I don't think he ever really understood what I was trying to figure out. After chatting briefly I took off. Shortly after that I passed two more guys, along with the 2nd overall female (who I had been following for what seemed like 10 miles). Then at the 14th mile marker I was essentially even with a guy who had beaten me soundly at the 1/2 two weeks ago, and he's also in my age group. Should I try to pass him now, or wait? I decided to make my move. This turned out to be a good choice because I was really starting to labor in the last mile and a half and knowing that he might be right on my heels forced me to stay strong. I passed 3 more guys in the final 1/2 mile or so. I consider myself lucky to have passed anyone in those last few miles. If they were dying, I was just a few steps further from death's door myself. I think the fact that I make no effort to seek out the best temperatures for my training runs paid off today. I also have some pretty tough training runs so I'm no stranger to pain.

I crested the final overpass and it was a home-stretch view in front of me. I doubt I went very fast in that last quarter mile but I gave it all I had. I didn't get passed by anyone but did have some guys on my heels, including the guy I had passed at mile 14. In fact, after the first few hundred yards at the start, no one passed me all day, other than a relay runner at about mile 8.


Here are the stats:

4th in my age group (though that's inflated a bit because they pulled three out for overall masters, and all three were from my age group).

30th overall.

Loop splits: 34:05, 33:55, 33:44. Yes, negative splits all the way through but I don't think the loops were all exactly the same distance.

Mile splits:
1: 6:29
2: 6:30
3 & 4: 12:40
5: 6:59 (?)
6: 6:34
7: 6:35
8: 6:35
9: 6:39
10: 6:33 (10 mile time = 1:05:35)
11: 6:33
12: 6:22 *(my fastest mile again!)
13: 6:41
14: 6:31
15: 6:35
.5: 3:22

Total: 1:41:39 by my watch, 1:41:41 on the chip. It won't age grade as well as my 1/2 but what can you do? I worked way harder today than I did at the 1/2.