December 13, 2015
36:00, 6th
Results
In a continued theme of running races I've always wanted to do this fall, add the Newport Christmas 10k to the list. Here's why I've always wanted to run this one:
1. The distance and team competition. 10ks are rare these days and it's a great racing distance to test your fitness.
2. Venue. The course runs a long some beautiful areas of Newport that I often visited as a kid while on vacation (Fort Adams, Ocean Drive, Brenton Point).
3. The season. I'm a sucker for holiday races..
4. The Brick Alley Pub. One of my favorite restaurants in Newport. Regardless of the race outcome, it would be fun to hang with my WTAC teammates afterwards.
Pre-race
Warmed up with Shara prior to the race and hung out with WTAC mates, Mikey B and Gazelle. Temperatures were unseasonably warm so I opted to run in a singlet. My goal/hope on the day was to run sub 36:00 minutes. While getting ready to line up at the start, this guy was looking at me funny so I wished him good luck. He then asked me if I ran for Westfield State and if my name was Tommy. Sure enough, it was Marc LeBlanc, a very solid runner and old frenemy, I ran against who attended the University of Southern Maine. We quickly exchanged some pleasantries and he told he remembers many of the epic battles we had back in the day.
First 5k
The gun went of without anyone really being ready for it. I established a steady pace and quickly settled in behind Turtle, Dave Principe. The pace was comfortably hard and I didn't want to blast out and pay for it on the back of the course. I tried to make a few moves on Principe but he countered every one of them. Other trying to establish a solid pace and enjoying the scenery, the first 5k was smooth and uneventful. I believe my splits were 5:36, 5:40, and 5:42.
Second 5k
As soon as I hit the 5k course, I felt like the race needed to end. After all, my nickname is Tommy 5k. I found the second half of the race to be a struggle. There were some small hills to battle and wind off the ocean (Note: it could have been much worse) to battle. It felt like Principe was pulling further and further away and my splits were slowing down. Instead of being the hunter, I felt like I was being hunted. Instead of fixating on who was behind me, I focused on trying to keep pace to still be able to break 36. It would definitely be a close one.. I think my second 5k splits were 5:57, 6:07, and 5:55. After finally ducking out of the wind, I was closing in on the last mile of the course. Unfortunately, I didn't have any gas left in the tank. Strugglefest. Pushing up the final hill by Rogers High School, I tried to keep running hard to push through the finish. I crossed the line in 36:00...close but didn't meet my time goal.
Post-race
-I ran into LeBlanc again and found out he won the race in 34:30. Nice job!
-The Gazelle finished strong and won the Senior Division in 36:50. The guys is amazing.
-Shara ran a huge PR of 38:14 to win the women's race and place 9th overall. She ran a 4 minute PR. Amazing.
-Nice to see Mikey B. back in the game and racing after a fall filled with injurt.
-A bunch of us WTACers ran BLS up the hill to the finish. She must have been so irritated with us.
-A large WTAC turnout for lunch at the Brick Alley Pub to conclude a great day in Newport.
-I was really happy for Shara and did not want to sulk and complain about my time to her. The race was a nice test of fitness and a fun day. Hopefully I'll keep getting better-consistency is the key.
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| Mr. & Mrs. Shara (Photo courtesy of someone in the parking lot) |
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| Shara and three fools (Photo courtesy of Shara) |
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| Team WTAC..minus a few. Fun day. (Photo courtesy of Jana) |
