The Sayville Summer Series continued on June 19th with the Shwachman Diamond 5k Dash for a Cure. This was the first race that Dori and I ran one year ago. I won't bother posting our times from last year, if you scroll back through prior entries you will find them. It is enough to say that there has been some pretty decent improvement. My first split was 8:10, second was 16:30 and the third was 11:06. Yeah, I dropped off pretty hard in mile three. Had I managed to keep up a consistent pace for that last mile i would have broken 26. There is always next time I suppose.
Kevin - 19:53
Dan - 27:36
Marc - 32:22
Dori - 36:11
The second race of the Long Island State Parks Summer Run Series was last night. A 10k at Sunken Meadow. More years ago than I care to admit I ran cross country and Sunken Meadow was our home course. I don't think that helped because I knew that at some point during the 6.2 miles I would have to force myself up Cardiac Hill. I hate running hills, I always have. To be more accurate I hate running uphill. The downhills are a pleasure.
Prior to the race I had set out a goal of around 58 minutes. More of an arbitrary number than anything else. I figured if I was able to leg out a 5 miler in 49 last week I should be able to tack on an extra 1.2 miles in under ten minutes. Oh stupid me.
The starting line was the cross country course starting line. I did not know the exact route of last night's course and I was curious to see if all 2,070 people running were going to have to funnel over the bridge that passes over the moat. If that was the case I decided the best strategy would be to really leg out the open field between the start and the bridge in order to keep from getting caught up in the pack. Sound in theory at least. Not so great in execution. The horn sounds and the pack starts off.
We did not cross over the bridge. We keep going past it. At one point a group of girls on my left ran into a police barrier. Why there was a police barrier in the middle of the race course I have no idea. Instead we go past it to the furthest entrance to the boardwalk. Unfortunately I was nowhere near the front of the pack at that point and was stuck in the human cattle drive as we slowed to a crawl to get onto the boardwalk. The same process repeated itself as we exited the boardwalk. First mile in 10:00 thanks to the crush of humanity and having to steeplechase over a bench or two.
After exiting the boardwalk down by the golf course we ran back towards the starting line, past the bridge again and into the moat. I hate running uphill. I hate running in sand more. Second mile and the clock says 20 flat. While the pace is a bit slower than I was aiming for I congratulate myself on being consistent. We do the short incline to exit the moat and for a moment I wonder whether the sadistic bastard race directors are going to make us run up Snake Hill. Luckily as we get out of the moat we are directed to the right instead of the left. No Snake Hill then.
We loop the picnic grounds and start the steady incline towards Cardiac. I make a mental promise to myself not to walk up the hill. We leave the picnic grounds and enter the woods. It is here that the first victims start dropping off around us. The steady incline and the sandy trail combine and people start walking. We make the abrupt left up to the start of Cardiac and the collective moan that rises from the mass of humanity around me is the opposite of inspiring. Both sides of the trail are taken up by people who are walking. Those who are trying to run have to thread a needle up the middle of the path. For those who know, Cardiac is a monster not only because it is a bit on the steep side. It is a monster because just when you think you have reached the top you realize that it is only a brief respite with another steeper climb in front of you. It was at this point where the pack really just gelled into a solid mass of walkers.
I finally get to the top and a guy who looks just like Glen Danzig is cheering everyone on and telling us it is all downhill from here. In the immediate future Danzig would be proven to be a liar. The downhill was a pleasure and I tried to use it to make up some lost time. It would not prove to be enough though because as I hit the three mile mark back in the sandy trails behind the picnic grounds I see my time is around 33. Not good. Not good at all.
We cut through the picnic grounds and around a parking lot. We round a curve and are confronted with a very steep but thankfully pretty short uphill. Thanks for the inaccurate information Danzig. The course now follows the ball fields back to the main park road. We hit the four mile mark and I don't bother looking at the timer. Actually I couldn't see the timer because I had taken my glasses off the wipe off the river of sweat that was pouring down my face and blinding me.
The course cuts down the road above the bridge that would take you to the beach fields. So now I mentally start to worry again. Are those sadistic bastard race directors going to throw us at Snake hill now? We are headed right for it. I pledge that if we are running up Snake I am going to quit this stupid running thing and just let myself get fat and diabetic. Luckily for my blood sugar and waistline we head over the footbridge instead.
Back over the field, passing the starting line again. Back to the end of the boardwalk by the golf course. I hit mile 5 in about 57. Absent Red Bull actually giving me a set of wings, my chances of finishing in less than an hour are slim and none. We run back down the boardwalk to the opposite end. Back over the field, passing the starting line yet again and into the finish chute. It was brutal. It was disappointing. It caused my blisters to get blisters.
I cross the finish line and don't even bother looking for Kevin. Instead I head to the beer line for my maximum of three dixie cups of warm miller lite.
Kevin - 46:28
Dan - 1:10:02
In spite of the mental and physical beatdown that Sunken Meadow was marathon training continues. Fundraising continues. Between donations made on-line and off-line I have raised $500 for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. It is my goal to raise at least $3,000.00. Thank you to everyone who has already donated. Every donation, of any amount, helps this worthy cause.
Take a moment to make a donation to Memorial Sloan Kettering by visiting Daniel Jimenez's Fred's Team Fundraising Page
Take a moment to make a donation to Memorial Sloan Kettering by visiting Daniel Jimenez's Fred's Team Fundraising Page
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