"So, You Were the Fastest Kid in School."

Yea I was fast! I owned the first 50 feet of Saturday's Town Crier 10k. I was moving with a fluidness in stride that was almost effortless. I in fact later heard someone say that it was Michael Johnson like... Not this guy.

I'm not making this up!!I had been training for this race like I had never trained. I was putting in 120 mile weeks, I had been hitting the gym doing core work, I was even eating raw eggs like Rocky!

I exploded into the lead; a burst that surprised everyone. I was already writing the headline in Michigan Runner. I began writing in my mind this blog entry. Should I blow kisses to the crowd at the finish? Should I cross the line with my near robotic mannerism and just offer a half wave? Should I blow a snot rocket? These thoughts filled my mind as I looked around.

I began to rethink my race strategy... None of the other runners were going with me... They were all hanging back letting me do all the work. This is a 10k, I certainly didn't want to peek too soon. I decided to change my strategy on the fly. I eased up a bit and the first runner passed me. I could see a renewed focus and a sudden increase in confidence this guy had... He realized that "yea, he could hang with Rico..."

I guess I gave him hope. I guess I was giving the others in the lead pack hope as well. One by one guys that I had already debacled through the initial phase of the race, were pulling up along side me. I realized that I had made a tactical error. My old coach's voice was in my head.

"Never give the other guy hope..." was all I could remember (later I remembered that he also said "maybe you should try a different sport") him saying... I could see each of these guys dig a little deeper, knowing that they had reeled me back in...

This doesn't really have a happy ending... Not one of those... Anyway, I ran a little bit too much like Michael Johnson as it turned out...

On a brighter note my 5k time was finally fast. Check out the results below:

http://results.active.com/pages/searchform.jsp?rsID=76551

You could say that I was step for step with Smitty... One of my best races, as I was right there with him; yet he never saw me...

Don't forget to thank the volunteers.

Rico