The 8th Annual Bobby Doyle Summer Classic 5 Mile

 The 8th Annual Bobby Doyle Summer Classic 5 Mile was held Sunday, August 9. This was the fifth of seven USATF-NE Grand Prix races. I took a leisurely drive through the biggest little state in the union, arriving about an hour before the race start. Parking was easy and I jogged over to the school to pick up my bib. I chatted with Jean Cann for a few minutes and went for a 20 minute warmup. I saw a group of CMS folk and I went over to say hello. The group was offering ribbons to wear honoring Jennifer Lewis-Hogan, a CMS teammate that passed a couple of weeks ago. I pinned on a ribbon, said a prayer, and headed for the start line.

I had never run this course before and did not know what to expect. I positioned myself at the 30+ minute section. I crossed the start line about 6 seconds after the gun, however, my chip and gun time are the same. Mile 1 passed quickly in 6:02. I felt like I was working too hard, maybe a bit dehydrated, for the balance of the race. Mile 2-5 were 6:12, 6:08, 6:21, 6:22, and there was this residual , 0.1 mile for 0:31 seconds. Garmin clocked me at 31:35 for the distance. The official clock had me at 19:31 for the 5k split and gun time was 31:40 for the 5 miles.

The bad news is that I was about 10 seconds slower per mile that I should have been.
The good news is that I beat my 2014 Ribfest 5 mile gun time. (5k 19:38, 5M 31:47)

The CMS senior team placed second and I managed to squeeze out 6th place in the 55-59 year old age group for 5 Grand Prix points.

The requisite excuses/rationalizations.

I did not manage to fully train during July. I crashed and fell off my bicycle, well I couldn't unclip and fell with my bike, banging up my knee. I am working now on my basic foundation by adding more miles through doubling, leg strength, and generous application of naps. The strength work I performed early this year was beneficial. And as always, a good training plan, thanks Amanda, prepared me to run this year, a bit quicker than last.

Next stop...the Seasons 20k in Acton, MA!