Today I met my friend and former marathon pupil Dave (3:45 first marathon - I must be a good coach! :)) and after a shortened warmup (due to the fact that I couldn't find the start), we proceeded to the start line and everything began again.

The first person I noticed was standing right in front of me. He was about as tall as me but looked lean and mean. I said to Dave - "This guy looks good. I'll bet he beats me" (foreshadowing - true). Then Dave made an astute observation - "Look at Harry Potter over there" pointing to a 12 year old Harry Potter look-alike 5 or 6 rows ahead of me. "I bet he beats me" I repeat (foreshadowing - true). Then after a good luck hand shake, we're off!

The first mile went very fast, both time-wise and pace-wise. Dave and I ran side by side for the first three-quarters of a mile until I felt that to prevent a future blow-up I had to ease off and let him go. He slowly pulled away from me and I hit the first mile marker in 7:02. Way too fast. (Note to self - must learn to start races easier and get *faster*, not the opposite).

The second and third mile went much more according to plan, 7:32 and 7:34, respectively. It was about this time that I noticed I was running with a group of 3-4 people, with one of the people being a short lady with a big butt. She was not unattractive by any stretch, but had a body-type my wife will often remark at the end of races "I can't believe you didn't beat that person!" ... much to my chagrin. She was keeping a steady pace and we worked off each other with each of us leading for 300m or so before relinquishing the lead.

Around the 2.5 mile mark I saw Dave coming the other way and he looked great. His form was smooth and he looked fresh. He had about 1:20-1:30 on me at this point. I figured he would end up beating me by 3 minutes or so in the end (foreshadowing - true). We slapped hands going the opposite way and uttered "no prisoners" to each other.

During the 3rd mile it was all I could do to stay with my short pace-buddy. But at an aid station situated around the 4-mile marker, she unexpectedly stopped to walk and get a drink. This was my chance! I surged to put some distance between us and concentrated on keeping a sub-8 min/mile pace thinking all the while that this was my chance to bury her.

And then it really started to hurt. Was it really worth working this hard just to beat this poor girl whom I had nothing personal against? Yes! I focused on form and concentrated on Posing and keeping my cadence high. I reached the half-way point of the last mile fully focussed when to my greatest of surprises my former pace-making stopped-for-water friend passed me like I was standing still! How can this be? Didn't she stop to walk? Why does she haunt me this way?

I tried to stay with her as long as I could but couldn't. I was defeated. However, not to lull in my own defeat, I pushed it hard to the end finishing in 38:00. Not a great time, certainly way off my best effort, but a small victory on my long comeback trail.

A special note to Dave - it is a fine day when the student beats the teacher. But although I did lose this battle, I still may win the war :).

<<Back to Race Reports Home