Hey friends,
Well I figured I would wait a few days to post a recap of my race on Friday because of how poorly it went. If I would have posted that night it would not have been pretty in the least bit. As Phoebe Wright tweeted a few days ago: "Progression of a bad race: WTF was that! Ok regroup. It wasn't that bad. Ok it was. Go cool down. I retire. Out of retirement. Delete race." That pretty much sums out how I felt on Friday.
The race atmosphere was pretty odd in the first place and I'm not sure why. I showed up and checked in and was handed a room key and vague directions on where I was going. Also, since the rooms were actually Michigan Flint college dorms we were handed a roll of toilet paper too, which as all runners know is almost as essential as a pair of shoes. I got into the room and Tony Jordanek was in there and another room (which I was told was supposed to be mine) was full of Ethiopians so I made myself comfortable on the couch. Pretty much did the usual pre-race sitting around until a couple of hours before race time and Tony and I figured we should try and figure out what was going on because there were no directions coming from anyone. This culminated in us sitting in some recliner chairs in the lobby and watching a rousing game of Family Feud on TV until warmup time.
Did the usual warmup and finally about 15 minutes before race time we get some directions on what is happening. The race has introductions and we all line up. Gun goes off, after a false start nonetheless, and we are all off and running. This by far is the most stacked race I have been in all summer with big names like Ben Blankenship (multiple time Big Ten Champion, OTC member), Craig Miller (Big Ten Champ), Jack Bolas (Big Ten Champ), Nate Brannen (multiple time Olympian), Tony Jordanek, Macklin Chaffee and Dan Clark, not to mention a handful of Ethiopians. The race goes out pretty honest but this is where it gets weird, looking around I notice there is no running clock, no quarter mile splits/marks and really no fans at all. It is eerily silent with the only noise being heavy breathing, the slap of shoes on the pavement and the howling headwind. After about the first 600 or so meters the race tightens up again and 14 guys are running in unison just waiting for another person to make a move so it can be covered. The move doesn't really happen until about 1200 meters in (as most mile races are ran) and the move is very quick and sudden. In a matter of seconds I am gapped hard by about 9 guys and at this point I am faltering. My body feels heavy and I have no response to the move just put on, which is really a first this summer for me. I cross the finish line and instantly am washed over with disappointment. I am a distant 10th place and my legs are rubber.
I go upstairs and grab my stuff and end up running into Jack Bolas and he convinces me into doing a cool down which I think helped me take my mind off my race. I got to know him and Miller a little bit and just talk about our respective colleges, future and current plans and really anything else that came to mind as most runners do. I did have to refuse the medal at the finish line though seeing as it was the Block M of Michigan haha, I couldn't have that hanging around in East Lansing.
My next race is going to be the Grandma's Mile in Duluth, Minnesota on September 8th.
Official results from the race can be found here: http://results.active.com/events/healthplus-crim-festival-of-races/onemileprofessional
Follow me on Twitter or Instagram: @JoshMcAlary
Until next time my fellow runners.
---Josh
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