Dragons

As I am now the seemingly the unofficial MWF poster while Train appears to be bringing up the TTH line-up (I guess we just keep Mike, J, and Lucas around so we have fast runners on Dragons), I guess I should put something up here. It's Wednesday evening and I am getting ready to hit the hay.

Nothing to really report in the running news because it isn't Mike's 14 mile runs or Lucas' 14 x 1 mile at 5k race pace with 18 second recovery workouts. The knee is still hanging around and I am trying to go easy on it. The nagging is most notable around the house, which I find strange because I would think that just walking around couldn't hurt the joint. Oh well, I was so thrilled that it held up through Sunday's race that I'll go ahead and spot it through tonight -- but tomorrow, it's back to business, pal.

To answer a couple comments: I wasn't in the matching Dragons attire on Sunday and this was because my Running Shop jersey was in a Dragons layout over the weekend and I didn't want to mess with my project. I know it sounds gay but, sadly, working on getting the logo figured and put on the uniform isn't one of my highest priorities these days so I never want to be taking steps back in my progress. Besides, at the Trot I got some underarm chaffing from my jersey and while it might have been an isolated incident, I didn't want to take that risk at a 10k.

As far as the Grand Prix goes, opening rankings have been released and I am sitting in a comfortable 3rd place in the 20-29 groupings. However, this ranking should really be asterisked. On Sunday, I was the 7th finisher in this age bracket (without the racing efforts of Dan Maher (25 or so) or last year's AG Champ and fellow Dragon, J). Also, while the official ranking has me in third, this is because Lucas is holding in the top 3 (along with Mike). So really, we're probably talking, potentially, an optimistic 10th in the Southern Arizona area.

Not that a 38:22 deserves an AG top 5 anyways.

Maybe if I were over 70.

Anyways, while I can work with this 10k starting point for 2007, I am a little concerned that this Valentine's Day (Give or Take) 5 miler is only a week and a half away. Like all real men, I thought it was way off in the distance, but instead, the 'holiday' has come up and blindsided me, kicked me in the crotch, and ruined an otherwise good month.

That being said, I think I will pretty much just 'train through' this upcoming race. While it also is for SAR points, I was much more concerned about having a non-Chernobyl performance at the Sun Run since I hadn't really had a decent showing since last March or so. This lead me to do a little taper (and knee checking) prior to race day. For Vday, I'm not going to worry too much about it. More important things are coming up and I need to focus on putting together and hitting worthwhile workout sessions at this point. I'm still going to race hard, but I will probably just tweak my 10k strategy and take it out in 5:50 and then reevaluate at 3 miles.

So that's the deal for now.

Grand Prix Standings -- Fine Vday 5 Miler -- Fine 2006 Results