Newburyport 10 mile road race
I came into this race with no expectations as I had just done my RR on saturday and it was 90 degrees at race start time of 6:30. Before the race I texted a friend who had done the RR with me and asked what time should I shoot for looking for a little advice. I got back 80-85 minutes 
I asked are you serious and I got nothing back no sympathy. Well I figured no way I could do that legs are dead and it hot and I melt in the heat.
So lined myself up at the complete back of the race, there was no one behind me. The first mile I took it easy to warm up and then said I would pick it up a bit and just try to finish without to big of hole dug. Well about 1.5 miles in I see a fellow teammate from my local tri club and I say hi and think well I can't let him beat me so I went a little harder. Pretty soon I see another teammate, same thought process same result and pretty soon that was my mantra. About mile 5ish I see another club member who just rubs me the wrong way and now I say F**k Him he can't beat me and he is a decent runner. So there I was, telling myself at the beginning I would not go to hard and now I am going hard.
At that point something switched in me and I finally got the HTFU attitude that has been eluding me for a bit, I am running the uphills like a mad man all the while borrowing a line from Jens and telling my legs to shut up. I just keep trying to go hard, getting water and every table and drinking some and pouring some on me, lots of people out with hoses and I ran through them all to keep cool.
I was picking people off left and right, mark a target then take em out, over and over again. I came to the home stretch and gave it all I had and crossed the line in 1:27 I almost made the 1:25 that was sent out to me.
Here are my mile times
1) 10:01
2) 9:15
3) 8:51
4) 8:43
5) 8:45
6) 8:26
7) 7:57
8) 8:17
9) 8:14
10) 7:57
I passed about 700 people and I neg split the run by over 3 minutes!
I was so stoked at the end and was even more stoked when I downloaded my times as saw for the most part I was going faster every mile and I did not melt in the heat.
Thanks for reading
Comments
Steve,
That's awesome. You kept getting faster and faster. Did you have a special hot dog aid station?
Dave
Nice work Steve. Its amazing where a little attitude can get you when focused in a positive way. Keep this experience in your memory bank: "I get stronger as the miles go by." You never know where that memory will help in the future.
@ Dave, while walking through the food line at the end I did ask if they had any hotdogs, they looked at me funny I gave me a turkey and cheese sandwich.
@Jeremy, with timberman coming up I need to remember that mind set.
Very well executed!
If that's what happens when someone ticks you off, I hate to see what gives when you really get mad!
Super, super nice run, my firend. It was H-O-T, and that's no sh&%. Makes it more impressive. Congrats.
Gotta tell you, doing the IM RR ride with the Boyle's on Saturday, we each passed a mobile hot dog stand 4x. After the ride we compared notes and, sure enough, we each thought of you going by there every time. And no, none of us stopped for one.
Nice job channeling that sentiment into some increasingly faster miles in the heat.
Turkey and cheese sandwich? What is that?!