My First U.S. Championship

Leading up to the Caumsett Park 50K, I felt my training had been pretty consistent. As the race drew nearer I realized I wasn't as sharp as I had expected to be. However, flying into La Guardia was a magical experience. Luckily, I had a seat on the left side of the plane and was able to see the Statue of Liberty. I can't explain why, but after becoming a U.S. Citizen, this landmark has become very iconic to me and my immigration journey.

Raceday: I awoke to some lovely nasal congestion. I hadn't felt quite right for a day or two. I hopped into the car and drove to Caumsett in much warmer temperatures than I expected. However, as I opened the car door I realized the wind would be a little bit of a thorn in my side, for my roughly 3 hours of running which was approaching.

The race started and I immediately stayed with my pre-race designated pace of 5:35-5:38 p/m. Mike Wardian and another guy decided they wanted to go a little quicker so I let them go without a fight. I remember feeling proud of myself for such accurate pacing through the first few miles. Towards the end of the first 5k loop the course makes you go around two tight turns. While normally not a big deal, I felt a twinge on the second one in the area of my hamstring/Quad. At four miles I really started to tighten up so decided to stop and stretch. This immediately helped and I started to get back into the zone. Everything was okay until the end of the 3rd lap (of 10 - around 10 miles) when I again aggravated the same area, on the same ruddy turn. At this point I knew I was catching the guy in 2nd so I pushed on. I did move into second but knew it was just a matter of time until my leg would get too tight to run at a competitive pace. And that is what happened!

To cut a long story short, I ended up second in 3:04.22. While disappointed with my time, I am very happy with the way I ran on the day. I felt pacing, nutrition and overall strength were all very positive signs of better things to come. I guess the winners of the selection races gain a spot in the World Trophy 50k. Then the runners are selected based on fastest 50Km time in a selection race (including last years World Trophy race). Therefore, I am currently ranked in 5th place after three races. I am unsure as to how many selection races remain, but it looks as if there will be at least five more. As my time would have placed me fifth (although the WT50K was a much more difficult course); I feel optimistic of making the U.S. team for Galway on August 29th. I will certainly be much fitter as the years goes on.

So what's next? I am back training and now move into my speed phase. Although, I am still going to keep up a pretty good amount of weekly miles. My next race will probably be the Azalea Trail 10K in Mobile, Al. I am hoping for a time between 30:00 - 30:30 but that will depend on how my training goes. I am very focused and feel ready to hit some quick miles.

The clocks change this weekend, Spring and baseball (Go Royals!) are just around the corner - Life is Good!

Cheers,

Malcolm