Langley 8k Race recap: GLORY BOY edition

...I was running at McMullen on January 1st. Some women I passed (maybe once or twice) made the comment to me, "Boy you're fast". Now sometimes I would sheepishly grin or say something that was like, "DERP yep", but this time I was thinking, "you are right I am fast"!

So often I had seen people or running clubs try to steer away from the notion that they don't cater to the fast runners, but to everyone. These are complaints from slower individuals. That maybe the club focuses too much on those who are running fast, and not highlighting the other individuals. And it really gets to a point where people have to sometimes defer their abilities. I got to thinking about that. And would I want the work that I have put in and the result that I got, to not be championed more than say a middle of the pack runner. Well my answer is F THAT. 

I'm not putting in 30 minutes a day to strengthening my IT Band, and to come back to where my fitness was, and not have some sort of accomplishment that I am better than most runners. If that makes me  GLORY BOY, then you know what then it does. It's not like I was a great runner growing up. Or a great runner in college. Or a great runner overnight. It was something that I had to attain, through years. And after that I believe that I can crow that I am better than the vast majority when I enter a race.

Of course my non GLORY BOY status of PRs through the years:
HS: 20:45 5k; 5:30 1600
2001: 20:00 5k
2002: 18:45 5k
2003: 18:30 5k
2004: 18:12 5k
2005: 17:47 5k
2006: 17:25 5k
2007: 16:39 5k

And at that point I became a GLORY BOY. It took time and it took effort. I wasn't a good runner, and it didn't use the motivation that there were others that were better me. I put in the effort. So what am I trying to say, I'm not really sure. But if you're good at something, you should be able to express it and not have to worry about hurting others feelings. We don't do this in school. We triumph the academic abilities, we should do in athletics. This isn't a hobby that I participate in. I spend to much time and effort for it to be a hobby. A hobby is collecting stamps.

Now to the race. On December 19th I took a day off from running because I had the flu. From that date till February 2nd was 45 days. In that time I took six days off because of the flu and eight days off because of my IT Band. That means out of those 45 days I ran only 31 days. Now out of those 31 days I ran only 17 days where the runs were quality (meaning I was running where it wasn't baby steps to test out my body). In six and a half weeks I had 17 quality days of running. I decided on Wednesday to enter the Langley 8k. I looked at last year's results and saw that the winning time was 30:00 and that the course was described as hilly. Not sure where my fitness was and not sure what hilly meant, I entered the race after feeling good for almost 13 days of running in a row.

The entry fee was 5 dollars. Now when I come to a race, I don't care for a bib or race t-shirt. But I do care for a lead bike and some police on the roads. And that should be a harbinger of things to come. The race started at 10 in McLean, VA at Langley HS. Whose nickname is the SAXONS. I am assuming that their mascot is the Monopoly man. Now when I got there a) it was cold, b) I forgot my gloves, and c) there were members of the drama?/fashion club? setting up something at the auditorium. There were weird runners and then high school girls mingling around. I was looking somewhat normal. I had to go to the bathroom and decided to navigate the labyrinth that was the school. I made a wrong turn and one of the girls came up to me and said "do you need some help". And right there I aged about 10 years. I'M NOT OLD I CAN STILL PARTY.

I did my warm up and it was about 20 something outside. I followed the course and it was going to blow. Oh it was hilly. I came to a fork in the road and had no idea which way to turn so I took a right. Ah Christ! Is what I thought. If we have to run this part it will suck. Basically it was like they made an 8k course behind the Harris Y, but it was much more hillier. I ended up feeling that despite not having expectations, I should be able to run under 30 minutes.

I went back into the HS and was stretching, trying to get warm. I saw someone that looked familiar. Was it Boriana? I wasn't sure. And I wasn't going to say HEY BORIANA and then find it wasn't her. But it was her and we chatted for a little bit.

The race started a little after 10. I wore the trysports long sleeve shirt and was off. My hands felt like bricks of ice. At the start about three Hispanic guys shot off. I really had no idea what to expect. I wasn't feeling that great, but not feeling awful. I ended up running with these two guys for a mile and a half. One guy was saying he was running this as a threshold run which made me want to say DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE, he did remind me of a poor man's Lamperski. Anyway the hills came and go. We ran on roads where the volunteers did a somewhat adequate job. We came to a turn around. I saw Boriana as the third women, I shouted to her "you got this Boriana those other girls are hurting" but it probably came out like this "yogtisborngirlshrutsdfhskjg".

Now at this point is where we were suppose to turn right, instead we went left and that's when the fun began. I remember one point I looked at my garmin and it said 4.25 and I knew there was no way in hell we were that close to the finish. I knew we made a wrong turn when I saw one guy ahead of me, stop and have his hands up in the air. Well let's see how far we are going to run now! The thing about this race was the lack of road closure. In that I ran on some parts where there was no shoulder and cars were right next to me. That I crossed one street at my own risk. Oh that is great!

Anyway after realizing that I was going to run longer than anticipated. I worried. I really didn't have that much in me did I? I was proud that my stride held up for the entire time. The course was extremely hilly. I came back in the school, followed the way everyone else went, which was wrong. After that some guys behind me started to yell after they were finished that whoever measured the course RAWR RAWR RAWR. This would have been the perfect time to troll them and say "it's up to each individual runner to know the course", but I didn't. Instead I did about a mile cool down and left.

I ended up running 5.85 miles at 5:50 pace, which given the lack of fitness I have is good. I figured that in the month of February I'm going to race myself back into shape. If I had run an 8k, it would have been just under 29 minutes. Not to shabby with the hills in this course. In fact I never felt tired or fatigued due to the hills. My stride never went south. So that means it's just around the corner. I guess I have work to do, but as a GLORY BOY that's what I signed up for.