Boston & USATF Recap

Obviously the trip to Boston went well and I should have posted these details a week ago but I’ll share a few stories. I’ll go over the race and then talk about the rest of the trip. Finishing 4th and getting my first medal at a USATF championship is a good step in my career and I never complain with a personal best. My time of 7:57.19 was more than a three second best but Coach Ihmels told me not to call him unless I ran 7:55 so we didn’t talk for a day or so. As the race went I only saw one split and I didn’t really have a lot going through my head. I saw 2:38 for the first 1000 meters but I wasn’t sure if that was for me or if that was for the leaders. I was a couple seconds off the lead in the middle of the pack at that point. When Jonathon Riley passed me I knew it was time to move up because he and Matt Tegenkamp were headed through the pack. I followed those two for a few laps but I’m not sure exactly where I lost contact with them. While watching the race on ESPN2 I noticed that I went through 1500 meters at 3:59 and most of the second half I ran on my own. It was a good run but I was disappointed to have traveled all the way to Boston to run that much alone and I really feel like I could have run several seconds faster. Confidence in races is definitely something that I need to continue to work on. For the most part, the trip went as well as the race. Thursday was a long travel day and despite being tired when I landed I had to navigate through Boston in my rental car. My first mistake was traveling with no cash. It made for an interesting interaction with the toll booth attendant at the tunnel. She had to write me a ticket and she was not happy about the line that I caused. After picking up my host for the weekend, Terry Shea, we headed to the Reggie Lewis Center for a run. We did 5 miles together and I did eight 200’s to shake out some of the rust from travel. I felt awful so I headed out for a couple miles to cool down and I apparently made a wrong turn (or two). As a bit of background, the indoor track is located on Malcolm X Boulevard on the campus of Roxbury Community College. I guess I headed the wrong way and I was kindly reminded of this by a middle-aged African-American lady when she yelled at me, “Boy, you best not be runnin’ down this street.” I took my first turn back in the direction of the track and decided not to head this way again after dark. Friday I ventured to Boston from Terry’s house in Cambridge to pick up my packet at the meet hotel and to head to the track again. I took the T and made it around the city without major incident. I got to have a look around and it gave me an excuse to get out of the house. Before heading to dinner with my friend, Erin Dromgoole, I went to the BEST barber in all of north Cambridge. I didn’t catch her name but the shop’s name was Elite Barber Shop and it was located on Mass Ave in Cambridge. It was an experience that I’m positive I can’t find in Central Iowa. She is a great lady but definitely used the F-word more than any other barber or hair stylist I’ve ever met. Somehow it was totally perfect. As is the case with most race days, Saturday was uneventful until after the meet. Erin and I went downtown to meet up with friends from ZAP Fitness and had a good time enjoying Boston night life. Without a doubt, the highlight of the night was hearing about Brendan O’Keefe’s world record in the nude 5k. It’s a story that I won’t soon forget as he had me laughing so hard I nearly fell out of my chair (literally). The only other detail worth mentioning was that some anonymous jerk smacked into my rental car while it was parked on the street. The only damage was a broken rearview mirror and I haven’t noticed any charges from the rental company car so maybe I’ve escaped that one. For those of you anxious to hear the details about my first sub four mile, I’ll try and post that soon. If you’re still reading, keep your eyes peeled on MensRacing.com. There might be some info on me popping up there soon.