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Post by frojoe23 on Sept 28, 2006 13:45:30 GMT -5
Paul Short going off tomorrow 9/29 at Lehigh. Dan Dewitt races at around 2:30 or so I think. Lots of decent East Coast teams will be there: Villanova, UPenn, Pittsburgh, Shippensburg, Lock Haven, Haverford, Elizabethtown, Virginia Intermont. No teams are nationally ranked except for Ship and Lock Haven in D-II and Haverford and Elizibethtown in D-III. VIU is ranked first in NAIA.
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Post by Justin on Sept 28, 2006 13:56:13 GMT -5
Yeah, not a strong as usual because of the Friday race and Lehigh not hosting Districts this year. It should still be a real good race.
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Post by dan on Sept 28, 2006 14:15:08 GMT -5
I'm running in the open race, which goes at 3:15. There are 40 full boxes in the race, so there will be 280+ in the race. I am planning on going out in about 5:00 and trying to get to the three mile in about 15:20/15:30. Then if I can close in anywhere near 10 minutes, I will be in real good shape in 25:30ish.
The last two miles of the course, while a bit hilly, are definitely my favorite, and if I can get rolling it should work out pretty well.
I dunno, though, it is pretty easy to say that 25:30 is legit for me right now and quite another thing to run it. I will give you a run down no matter the outcome- 25:30 or 28:30, but we'll keep hoping for the former.
DAN
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Post by Justin on Sept 28, 2006 14:17:13 GMT -5
Why are you running open? I thought you were top 7 last race.
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Post by dan on Sept 28, 2006 14:22:11 GMT -5
Coach Deb decided to put me in the open race, she didn't really say why. I did finish 6th in the first two races, but we have Steve Rosinski coming back from injury and a few other guys who have been beating me in workouts lately.
I am not that concerned about it. I feel more freedom to run hard with no consequence in the open race because I don't have to worry about scoring. I certainly would have liked to be in the varsity, but we have about 5 guys for the last 2-3 spots on varsity.
I think with a good race I will still be able to run top 7 for the later races this season.
So, I know that didn't really answer your question. I just don't know exactly for sure.
DAN
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Post by Justin on Sept 28, 2006 14:29:01 GMT -5
Oh, I see. Rosinski is older than you right? She will usually go with more experience if it isn't a clear choice.
It shouldn't matter much, you'll have plenty of competition in the Open race.
Go prove her decision wrong and race hard.
Good luck Dan.
Go Lehigh!
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Post by frojoe23 on Sept 29, 2006 7:23:12 GMT -5
Good luck Dan. Go get that varsity spot for Chile Pepper.
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Post by Justin on Sept 29, 2006 13:17:51 GMT -5
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Post by Justin on Sept 29, 2006 19:21:03 GMT -5
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Post by Justin on Sept 29, 2006 19:23:05 GMT -5
Mohamed Khelalfa ran 26:20, not bad for a freshman. Good race.
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Post by dan on Sept 29, 2006 20:51:07 GMT -5
The race went out reasonably, and I was in about 15-20th at about 5:03 for the mile. At this point, I heard someone cheer for Mohamed.
I pretty much pounded the next two miles to try and not be at 16:00 for three miles like normal. I ran 10:20 at 2 and then I was at 15:30 for 3. I was very happy with that split but at that point I was pretty much dead. I had no energy left to move like I normally do. I was through 5k in 16:05.
I ran 5:20-5:25 for the fourth mile, which hurt my time a good bit, but I tried to keep moving.
Fifth mile is usually my best, but there was about a twenty yard gap between me and about 10 guys that I could just not close. I got passed by one or two guys in the last 50m and nearly tripped over myself as I was trying to beat them out. I was crossing the gravel road by the finish, hit a dip after it, and nearly wiped out.
Anyway, I finished 30th in 26:00 right on the dot. I was hoping for 25:30-25:40, but the race did not play that way for me today. I was happy to run well but would have liked to go faster.
I think I just need a few more weeks to get sharp and then I will be able to run much more confidently and hopefully faster.
On a side note, I wore a new pair of spikes today, Nike Zoom Eldoret II, which I just got from my parents today. They are track spikes, made for 5000 and 10000m, but I thought the hard grass course would be alright for them. Big mistake.
I did not wear socks because I wanted my legs to look cool for the photographer and I ended up really pounding the ground. Plus I ran through a few puddles and my feet were really sliding around. I do not like spikes that cause me to think about my feet during the race, and that was definitely the case today.
Oh, well, live and learn I suppose.
Justin was right saying that I would have liked to run faster and that some of Lehigh's guys had sort of an off day.
But just like Coach DeRosa always said, "No one remembers a September champion." I have four weeks until the race really counts, when I run the Patriot League Championships at Colgate, which is a course that is a cross between Frankfort, Broadford, and Glendenning, which will be absolutely awesome for me. I think it will be nice to kind of run on a course like I used to in Western MD, but we will find out.
Well, if you want to know anything else about the race, let me know. I was happy to hear Mohamed finished right next to some of my teammates, about 20 seconds behind me. Justin was correct in saying that 26:20 is good for a freshman, especially on a windy and strange day like today.
Ok, that's all for now.
DAN
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Post by Justin on Sept 29, 2006 21:08:51 GMT -5
Dan,
Great race. Colgate is a great course. It is deceptive in a way. The first 1.5 mi is on a good uphill. A bunch of guys go out too fast and end up dying later. You'll need to make sure you are warmed up and ready to run on the starting line. It was on eof my favorite courses in college, great environment, but that start can make or break your race.
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