2014 Rothman 8k recap

After Chicago, I wasn't really planning on doing much racing for the rest of 2014. I thought I would need some downtime to recuperate and rebuild specific fitness for the shorter races. However, the guys at Pike Creek peer pressured me into running Rothman and the USATF club XC championships at Lehigh in December. So, I took a step back and looked at making a schedule for getting into shape quickly for these 8k/10k races. 

I realized quickly that the fitness I accumulated through marathon training and all that work at 5:00-5:30 pace was very beneficial to the shorter distance stuff. Of course, I knew that that would be true to a degree, but I was doubtful that with 5 weeks between Chicago and Rothman I would have enough time to recover and put in any meaningful training. I ended up feeling pretty confident going into Rothman and was hoping for a PR and a good race. 

The race itself was very different than last year in almost every way. It was very cold this year, well below freezing, and the lead pack did not start out fast like it did in 2013. In fact, I think the first mile was likely my slowest. My training buddies Deej and Feeney were also in the race and we were all together in the pretty big lead pack through two miles. There were at least 15 people bunched up and for a fast 8k road race we were running pretty conservatively. I believe were in the low 4:50s for the mile and around 9:40 for 2 miles. 

Lead pack coming to the first mile

 After 2 miles, I made one mistake. The leaders began to drop the pace and break up the large lead pack. I got caught in the back half of this pack as it broke up, and missed the break just enough to keep me out of contact. As a result after 2 miles or so I was somewhat on my own as the lead pack slooooowly pulled away. After that comparatively controlled 2 miles, I ran as hard as I could for the last 3 miles and was able to pick up a couple stragglers who blew up in the last mile.

Coming up the last hill with about 400m to go

I ended up running 24:06 for 6th, which was both encouraging and disappointing for very different reasons. I was pleased with the reflection of my fitness and another PR on this course, but I was mad at myself for just missing the vital break that almost certainly would have pulled me to a faster time. Running a slightly faster pace tucked into a group would not have been impossible compared to running the last 3 miles solo or close to it. Incidentally, I was one place and about 4 seconds out of winning a bit of money, so that was another (albeit minor) reason I was mad about missing the break. 

Anyway, it was pretty good to see that the marathon training was more or less directly beneficial to the shorter distances. This was more of a confirmation of what I already thought, but it's nice to see your training philosophy and theory confirmed by real data. On to the 10k in a couple weekends, with a loaded field including lots of professionals.