Bill Menees's Blog

On Saturday I ran three races.  I primarily did it as a “stunt” because I’d never done three distance races in one day before, and I didn’t know anyone who had.  The races and results were:

• Donelson-Hermitage Dash 10K @ 8am – 1st overall.  41:13 (6:38 pace).
• Halloween Hunt 5 Mile @ 11am – 60th overall; 4th in my age group.  37:06 (7:26 pace).
• IRFTP Halloween 5K @ 5pm – 16th overall; 2nd in my age group.  20:55 (6:44 pace).

Overall, that was a pretty good day of racing.  I’d originally intended to “save some energy” during the first race.  But I had the opportunity to win it, so I had to go for it.  I intentionally trailed the leader for 5.5 miles, and then I was able to outkick him over the last 3/4 mile.  That was fun (an overall win always is), but it sapped all of my energy for the next race, which was a little over two hours away at that point. I survived the 5 mile race and went home to shower, nap, and eat.  I felt better for the 5K that night, but I still wasn’t 100%.  It was an interesting and educational day though.

On Sunday morning I got up and watched the live feed of the New York City Marathon.  Both the men’s and women’s races were exciting because neither one played out the way folks thought they would.  Paula Radcliffe (the women’s favorite) ended up 4th, but no one wanted to count her out of it until the very end.  But the shocker of the day was Meb Keflezighi winning the men’s race!  He’s the first American to win in NYC in 27 years.  It was awesome, and it was a great day for American distance running.  Ryan Hall (2008 US Olympic Marathon Trials winner and current US half-marathon record holder) finished in 4th place.

On Tuesday night I got a tip that Ryan Hall and Bart Yasso (Chief Running Officer for Runner’s World magazine) were going to be in town on Wednesday to do a group run at the Nissan headquarters right down the street from where I work.  So on my Wednesday lunch run, I jogged over to the Nissan building and joined in the running group with Ryan and Bart!  It was a lot of fun.  We ran almost 5 miles, and I got to talk to Ryan and Bart about all kinds of things.  It was definitely the best lunchtime run I’ve ever had and one of my most memorable runs overall.

Here are some pictures of today’s run with Ryan and Bart (thanks to Pamela Hobson):

• Me and Bart - Ryan's in the background talking to Sara (his wife).
• Me, Sara, and Ryan - He grins on the opposite side of his mouth from me, which makes him a much faster runner.
• Me "outkicking" Ryan at the finish - Bart Yasso ran ahead to take this picture with Pamela's camera.

I’m not sure what the rest of my running week holds, but I’m looking forward to it!

Labels: Running

# posted by Bill Menees @ 9:07 PM