Millenium Mile

If anyone read my 2010 year end review, they would know I said I don't dwell on the negative. Well, I'm full of crap! I am dwelling on the negative. I ran like a jack ass today. I was really pumped and thought a 3:59 was possible. I based this assumption on the fact that my best friend,Elijah, ran 4:01 in 2001. He ran 4:19 on the track that year. However, when he ran that time he had only run 4:21 on the track at that point in the indoor season. I really thought I had a realistic shot. He went negative that year running 2:02/1:59. I ran 4:12 that year 2:08/2:04 also going negative. Of course the results say I ran 4:16, which is not true.
Well, after Elijah died of cancer in 2007, I vowed to myself that I would go back to the Millenium Mile, if I was ever in good shape, to try to crack 4:00 in his honor. This was the year. I ran 4:20.07 2 weeks ago at a BU mini meet, so I figured I had a realistic shot. Did I mention they screwed me in those results too?
The race really started yesterday when I made myself crazy with anticipation and I was so anxious that I layed in bed all day and didn't do a damn thing. I made myself feel like I was sick. Today I woke up feeling much better and my body felt great. It was on! Fyffe, Jess, and I drove to the race and arrived early. We got a good warm-up in and I still felt great. I was psyched and ready. I got up to the front of the race start and was set to run 3:59 or bust. Well, I busted. I went out too fast and hit the 800m around 1:57. I was already starting to struggle a bit. This was way too quick! I figured, it's downhill, I can't rig in a downhill race, right? Wrong! I hit the 1200m in around 3:00. I should have been licking my chops. 59 second 400m here I come! Instead I ate a lactic acid sandwich and rigged to a 4:11. I fell from 4th place to 6th place. I felt like dropping out with 200m to go. I almost walked across the line. That sucked! To add insult to injury, the results said I ran 4:13, I was 8th, 3rd in my age group, and they even added a year to my age, 34!! In reality I ran 4:11, was 6th, 1st in my age group(taking out Fyffe) and I'm "only" 33! Oh well. Maybe I could have run 4:02-4:03 if I ran smarter. I should have gone out in 2:02. You live and learn. There were a couple positives today. Fyffe ran an amazing 3:54 coming in 2nd. AWESOME!!! I did get a nice beer glass and hat. I did get a good workout in and it was fun despite my disappointment. Time to move on. I'm over it.