Pre-RaceI got into a routine all week, where I'd run at 10 AM every day, same time as my races. I stayed in a modified dorm room/hotel at a college about 5 km from the venues, but on easy bus access.
I knew my opponents had run two races each already, with 11 and 13K of racing and not had much recovery. I only had run the 8K XC and had 5 days to recover. Hoped that this would be to my advantage on Saturday. And it was.
I relaxed as much as I could during the week and kept a consistent schedule. Did some touring on Thursday but did not overdo time on my feet. Sleep was a bit of a challenge all week, as I woke up every night at about 2 and would take some time to fall back asleep.
Race DayHere is the course (scroll down half way for the HM course). It's mostly flat.
https://wmaci2019.com/non-stadia-competitions/Conditions were low-mid 50s and a mild breeze/cross wind (6-8 mph), facing it a bit stronger on the return.
They started us in front if the ice rink, which is adjacent to the indoor track (fabulous facility by the way, best indoor track that I've ever been to and they had the European championships there a couple of years ago.). And we were seeded by age, so I was in Corral 2 for 55 and up. We were lined up about 10 rows back. Official timing is gun, not chip, and I don't know why they do things this way. Nevertheless, all the players in my age group were close so no one got a big advantage.
We're off!The first 2K were very crowded, like running Boston or New York where you can't really pass, and just have go with the flow. At a half K we turned north onto the boulevard where most of the race course was on, and had two lanes for maybe a K, before it narrowed into a singe lane separated from traffic by cones and barriers. I moved up some and skirted around walls of runners, must have been in the 100s. Passed Jukka, the Finn, and pointed out the Sergei the Kazakh runner, maybe 50 meters ahead. Jukka followed me as the crowds thinned and we moved up from group to group. My legs did not feel good, and thought that I'm feeling only at 85% (as if 100% is feeling fantastic). But the pace seemed good and my breathing was under control.
Our 5K split was 18:34 gun (18:24 chip). First mile was slow, but were running sub 6s once things cleared.
Sergei was not pulling away and the crowd between us and him had thinned by 5K, and we were now out of the urban/suburban areas and onto a two lane road in a forested park-like area. Jukka took the pacing duties for a bit, and we were now gaining. At just before 8K there was a downhill stretch. And it was followed by a long uphill, first of only two hills on the course. It was just a couple percent of grade and 500 or 600 m in length. As we eased up on Sergei, I noticed that he was wearing capri tights and technical (thermal) long sleeve shirt under his singlet and shorts. It was maybe 55 degrees +/- and we just in singlets and shorts. He was sweating through the shirt and I figured that this had to be affecting him, or would be by the end.
Over just a few dozen meters it was decision time. Both he and Jukka are much faster at 3K (9:43 world record for Sergei last week and 9:47 for Jukka, at best I'm in low 10s shape) and no doubt 1500/5K, and I did not want to mess around with tactical pacing for the next 5-7 miles just to have them surge away as we approached the finish. So I used the altitude training/and living that we enjoy (sometimes rue) to my advantage. It was my good fortune that we were all right there at the same time. My thought here was that training at altitude kind of sucks, especially when you hit any sort of incline--you breathe hard, heart rate shoots up, and pace slows down by 20 seconds. At sea level, not so because can run at a fast pace up a hill and recover more quickly than someone who lives or trains at lower elevation.
So I maintained a low 5:50s pace up and over the hill, and probably put 8-10 seconds on them. I knew this was an effort that I could not carry to the end but committed to hold it as long as I could in the hope that I could have enough of a gap fend them off in the stretch. The 10K split was 36:40 (so an 18:06 5K). At this point we were out of the valley and into flat upland farm country.
I carried that effort through the half-way turn around (a lollypop loop onto a bike path) and passed 15K in 55:04 (18:24 split), but I could tell things were about to get more difficult. By about 16K (10 miles) I had mostly stopped passing runners and was just holding position, with a tall Irishman and Spaniard 20 or 30 m ahead. I was starting to fall back, but had good fortune somewhere between about 17K and 18K when a class 40 Polish runner went by, I think maybe first runner to pass me all day, or at least since 2K. We were having a bit of a head/cross wind and I just latched onto him and drafted, promising myself to stick through a distant stoplight about half K ahead.
My thoughts were don't look at my watch, and don't think about those behind. Just run as relaxed as I can with the Polish runner pulling me along. We made it through the stoplight, and then another, and then some before I had to ease up while he pulled away. We had passed the Spaniard (also 40s) while gap between the tall Irishman and I hadn't grown much. Then another Polska runner came up from behind. And I did the same thing. Then the Spaniard rebounded and went by. Repeat.
20K split in 1:13:44 (18:40, slowing but still hanging onto about 6:00 pace).
The last K was tough but figured that they were not going to catch me. Did a sideways glance at the final turn with half K to go and may have spotted Jukka but he was a ways back. Did not see Sergei (who at the time was gaining!). The last 200 m was like a Tour de France stage, with spectators crowded onto the street. The path to the finish line was only a couple meters wide. I sprinted so I could break 1:18 (exceeding best case expections by 20 or 30 seconds). Even though I was only 50th place or so overall, and the race winners had crossed nearly 10 minutes earlier, I raised my arms, knowing that I had finished ahead of two very formidable opponents. And then the announcer said that I was the Gold Medal 60 year old division!
1:17:49 gun (official), 1:17:38 chip.
Moments after finishing
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AftermathI spent the rest of the day in a sort of muted and stunned state. Happy on the inside but also emotional almost like I wanted cry. Maybe a good thing the awards was 3 hours later. And it was amazing to stand on the podium while they played the national anthem. Someone handed me a flag a while I fumbled around some, and displayed it backards, I did keep it upright and off the ground.
Saturday was just one of those days were everything lined up and worked in my favor.
