Broad Street Run 2013

This Sunday for the 2013 Broad St Run I continued to amaze myself. I played a round of golf on Saturday and walked my bag the last 5 holes which I wasn’t sure was smart because it could hinder my performance. I got a fairly decent night’s sleep (aside from a 2 am wake up call) and was feeling alive on Sunday morning. I dressed in only a tee-shirt and shorts which was a mistake pre-race because it was a chilly morning. I did a lap around the area and some brief stretching to get prepared. I was hydrated as I hardly needed to drink any water and didn’t need to use the bathrooms which I think was a huge indicator that I was geared to go. I met up with Bake and the McGrath’s pre-race which was surprising because of all the people in the area.

My goal was under 60 minutes and my strategy was to go out hard to make up some pace and then see what I had left in the tank. I was in the red corral, which was up front, and I had no problem with the start of the race. I went out in a 5:35 mile which got me plenty of breathing room and a nice cushion to work off of. As the race progressed I kept clicking off sub 6 minute miles and was wondering when I would start to fall off. Around mile 6 I could tell I was slowing but was still under 6’s which had me extremely optimistic. At the 8 mile mark my feet started hurting and I hit my first mile over 6 with a 6:02. Moving into the last mile I found myself checking my watch more frequently (I didn’t check it once in the first 8 miles other than the splits) because I was out of gas. My feet were hurting me and I couldn’t sprint but I still closed the last mile in 6:11. I finished in 58:35 (chip time) which was good for 146th place. I felt great through 7 miles, started cramping a bit after that, and my feet hurt for the last two. Other than that though I was feeling like a champ. Results here. My splits were 5:39, 5:39, 5:46, 5:50, 5:43, 5:56, 5:53, 5:51, 6:03, 6:11.

When I got back home I popped a blood blister and was walking around gingerly. It was Cinco De Mayo and I was celebrating a nice time with a few drinks during this beautiful day. I’ve also become wiser and more experienced with my drinking as I was in great shape all day and woke up this morning feeling fine. Only story from yesterday was when Ian and I really had to take a piss and decided to go into Woody’s (gay bar) because it was the only place around. Ian was completely against it to start and I underestimated the experience. The bathroom was completely empty when we went in and within 2 seconds, 3 dudes were in the bathroom making comments and asking if we were gay or straight. It was a bit terrifying when my dick was in my hand but we both made it out alive. I was also harassing people throughout the day who were wearing their Broad St medals around because 12,000 place finishes shouldn’t be flaunting medals 8 hours after the race. All in all it was a good day for me and I will continue to get better in all aspects of life.