A Midwestern Tour

The past few weeks have been pretty great for me. I ran my first race in a year (yes, a year), and first race as a professional on June 11^th at the US 8km Championships. It was the first time I lined up to race (other than the time trial at Princeton a few weeks before) since the 2010 NCAA outdoor 10k. It has been a journey for me getting back into race shape, and I still have a ways to go! Nonetheless it is like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders being a professional athlete and actually being able to compete again. When you have long layoffs like I had away from competition, you kind of get lost in training and lose sight of what it is all for. To be quite honest, it is very hard to visualize your goals at the end of the tunnel when the train isn’t even on the tracks..!

If you have not been following results, I came in 8^th overall in 23:30 at the 8k Champs. And as much as a relief as it was to be racing again mentally, physically it was uncomfortable. I haven’t pushed my body like that in, well – a year! I was venturing into unfamiliar territory, and I know it will take a couple race efforts to get to where I want to be. I was actually talking to a friend yesterday about my race and I told him that I expected to run about 23 minutes, but if this was NCAA cross-country still and I had opened with a 23-mid I would be ecstatic. My cross country PR for 8k (while at Michigan) is only 24:02, so I think this race gives me a pretty awesome starting point leading into the rest of the summer.

Because the US 8km Championships was in Carmel, IN – my parents, sister, and brother-in-law all drove down to watch. It was great being able to see my family and have them there for support. After the race I got to go home to Ann Arbor for a few days and visit with more family, and friends who I hadn’t seen for a few months. While home I got to enjoy my Grandma’s lake house, a couple pit fires with friends, My sister’s new puppy “Manco,” and enjoyed some cheap and delicious Midwestern food.

Manco

After all of that, I made my way down to Peoria, IL for the Steamboat Classic 4 mile road race. Broe grew up in East Peoria, and is the elite coordinator for the race. He is a hometown hero in the Peoria area and there are posters of him in all the local establishments.

Broe: East Peoria's Golden Boy.

The way the race went, I have to say that it was just ok for me. I ran 18:40 for 4 miles and came in 7^th overall. I left a little disappointed because there was big prize money for top 5, and an additional time bonus for sub-18:30. I thought both would be possible, but just did not have it in my legs that morning. I think I was a little tired still from racing the 8k the week before and felt pretty sluggish from the gun. I remained in the pack until about 2 miles and then started to fade off the leaders. In hindsight I was also disappointed in myself for not sprinting 2 miles and picking up the $500 bonus for the leader at halfway! That would’ve made a mediocre race a bit easier to stomach. I do have to comment on the hospitality of this race – it is incredible. Thursday we had a dinner, Saturday a brunch and a dinner on a Steamboat Cruise down the Illinois River, and Sunday there was a group “boredom” run as they call it. The reason I talked about all the prize money I missed out on in this race was to set you up for the whopping $18 I won as the first place finisher in the 18^th annual post-Steamboat Classic “Boredom” Run. Yes, I kicked past Fagan, Lemoncello, and Young – who all beat me the day before… I don’t even feel bad about it.

Overall, I am taking away experience with professional road races and a great starting point for things to come from my week-long tour of the Midwest. They weren’t the best races I could’ve had, but certainly not the worst – and they are stepping stones towards greater fitness and things to come.

Next on my list is the Peachtree Road Race, also the US 10km Championships, in Atlanta on July 4^th.

-Lex