Gentlemen, start your engines...

For some reason, the June races this year are exactly backwards from last year's Flushing, Dalmatian, Retread schedule.  So today is Flushing.  As it seems every year, it's going to be a 90+ scorcher, and one of my fellow runners already told me I was crazy for planning on going today.  My response back was "It's only a 5K, it'll be over in like 25 minutes (I hope)."

Flushing is personal, though.  It's really the TRUE beginning of all my running nonsense and J and my running love, in my opinion.  Last year I referred to it as our Daytona, and that importance still stands.  After all, if we don't do this race 2 years ago, we may have never even started running together.  Both of us are going to be trying like hell to beat the other today.  Forget everything that's happened earlier in the year or the last two weeks.  You win this, you have bragging rights (that neither of us would actually ever use), at least until the Crim or the Detroit Marathon. 

I've been calculating every factor I remember from the course last year, trying to find where I left seconds out there.  The heat, the big downhill, and the last stretch are all going to be major factors.  I also need to be careful not to get boxed in at the start, because if I do and he runs free, it will be over before it starts.  I also can't hit that park stretch tired, but can't start too slow.  The slight incline will beat off a few ticks that you can't get back if you won't take what it gives you.

Also, I'm looking at possible family in attendance (mom and sister) and my wife and dog-child will be coming with me.  How can I look them in the eye, as a man, if I'm unable to be the first of us two? 

I may need more than a meatball and avocado sub (though, be assured, I had one).  I must summon my eagle powers...Brenchooooooooooooo!

Yes, it's true....I am Brencho

In case you were wondering...

...I was not able to reclaim my winning ways, and beat J at the Dalmatian firefighter run on Saturday.  Maybe if it were a real firefighter run and I had to carry people along the way while inhaling smoke, my strength and being a former smoker may have helped.  It wasn't like that, though, and if there was a big ladder to climb as part of the imaginary firefighter race business I would have been screwed anyway.

Pre-Race and wearing the lucky Darko jersey

In the real firefighter race I held on as long as I could to pull up on him late, but there was just no catching him.  I also was not able to catch the famous fluorescent man from last year, who blew both of us away and cruised in for a major heavyweight division victory.  This year only his shoes were fluorescent yellow, but wearing normal colors does not seem to slow him down.  All theories that his shirt last year somehow solar-powered his body and/or legs can now be quashed.  His presence made me sign up for heavyweight again, despite saying I wouldn't, with hopes of winning the chubby bunny hop outright, but alas, it was not meant to be.

Also, J's claim of performance enhancing can be questioned as well.  Despite PRing the Retread on a Claritin D, he blew that time away for another PR just a week later, coming in with a 24:19.  That nails down his side of the bargain in us both getting under the set goal of 25:05 (a ridiculous time we've chosen for its mystical powers that we've imagined all in our head).  It also silences any questions that he accidentally "cheated" last time.

However, all was not lost for me.  Even in defeat, I managed to capture a silver lining of a new 5K PR.  Yep, 24:44 (at worst, because there's also a 24:32 listed).  Either way, course PR, 5K PR, and exclusive membership in the sub-8 minute club.  Of course this means that avocado/meatball subs are a performance enhancer, and I'm now the cheater.

Division Trophy "Tron"-styled pose

I know what you're thinking, you're going to try this too.  I'm warning you though, once you start down this dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, at least for the limited time during the summer where Subway is offering avocado.  You'll want to use it for every race, and you'll be going along having a merry little back-to-back-to-back-to-back PR fest, and all of a sudden....promotion OVER!  You won't have time on your lunch break to pick up an avocado from the store, pit it, scoop it, mash it, and spread it on your already closed meatball sub.

You'll even put it on your post-race burger at "Freakin' Unbelievable Burgers"
(which are actually just "OK")

Anyway kids, here's an important message from your uncle Brent......don't buy subs.  Become a pop star (or tell Subway "it's for a duck"), and they'll give you them for free.

Santa Run Recap from the Heartbreak Hotel

I guess it's just a good day for wearing red and white.  Brent here coming to you live after watching my Michigan State Spartans blow another very important game in heart-breaking fashion to Wisconsin, and finding a way out of going to our first Rose Bowl in 24 years.  It's okay though, we're all used to walking around with our hearts ripped out of our chest.  That's all we know.

Before I go sulk for the rest of the night, I do have to say that the Santa run was great this year.  I saw bib numbers approaching the mid 1500's, so it appears that it grew three-fold from last year.  Mike brought his lady this year, and since she has a bum hip right now, they decided to walk it.

Pre-Race

This was probably my last chance to prove I'm still better off the end of this year than last, and not put up some near-30 minute 5K pace.  I knew I was in a Santa suit, and that would slow me down a bit, but I took some extra measures with a belt and safety pins to make sure my suit didn't malfunction this year.  I figured not losing my pants this time just might help.

Santas Everywhere

Even Santas on the roof

Once we got going, I thought it was a pretty slow pace.  A lot of people stopped to walk less than a mile in.  I heard a small child about a 1/4 of a mile in ask his mom if they went a mile yet.  Everyone within an audible distance of that let out a little chuckle.  A lady running near me was carrying a bag and handing out candy canes to the volunteers and spectators alike.  That was really thoughtful of her.  The medics on call were singing on the ambulance's speaker "Here comes Santa Claus. Here comes Santa Claus running down Robert T. Longway."  Nice.  

...And they're off

When we got just past the first water stop I heard a guy yell out 13-something as the time.  I freaked out thinking that I was running like a 12 or 13 minute mile, and tried really hard to speed up.  My mom, brother, and sister came out to see me again this year and I waved at them as I passed the cultural center.  

Action Shot

The last mile me and another guy in a Wings cap were fighting each other off, and he eventually just turned it out on me at the end, and I didn't have enough to get it back.  We had a nice fist bump of recognition at the end, and a good conversation to follow.  He had another friend that was shooting for a sub-35 time and we watched for him as he pulled in around 33.  Then I talked to the both of them, and found out they came up from Detroit.  Hopefully I'll see them around.  I need some new friendly competition since a lot of the guys I used to see are M.I.A.  Anyway, I manages a 27:38 by the clock, and it took me a little bit to get to the start line since I was sitting in the middle of the starting pack.  I'm happy with that.

Finish

After, we went to the Torch for a delicious burger and I had a few Atwater Vanilla Java Porters, which was the peak of this Santa's jolliness today.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to wash away some Spartan depression with a bad 80s movie ("Three O'Clock High") and some Saugatuck brews.

"Our Daytona"

A year and a day ago, J and I began running together.  The Flushing Evening 5K, despite not being my first race will always be the race that birthed this entire adventure.  Sure I had the blog and had two road races under my belt, but it was at this point last year that I was falling off big time.  I did the Crim 5K, so I had that done, I got to run into Spartan Stadium, and I had a nice shiny Al Kayner medal.  What else does a man really need, you know? 

After that there were days where I was supposed to run, but ate too much and didn't, days where I went out for my 5K loop and cut it off at the 1/2 point and said "good enough," or would simply skip it just because I didn't feel like it or thought I had something better to do.  Needless to say, I thought I accomplished enough, I was getting sloppy, and I was coasting in a way that would have ended in just flat out quitting this whole running gig for good.

As much as I like to paint myself as a loner out there on the road, I wouldn't have made it this far without a joint venture with Jason.  I may have even quit by now. Without that shove leading up to the Crim that he gave me last year, in a perfect, best case scenario world, I'd be cutting off 5 mile runs at the half point and still trying to push out the 10 mile Crim distance once a month and wondering why I can't get past 6 miles.  Going to these runs with someone and having a friend to talk about the races with after is just part of enjoying the race. 

We got to Flushing about an hour before the race.  Jason was already registered, but I had to find registration, which was not in the same place as last year due to some sort of cheer leading or gymnastic practice in there.  I didn't get a shirt to commemorate the race, because they were pretty dang ugly this year.  Last year's was orange with a cool logo that glows in the dark, so I'll just stick with that one.  My bib upon signing up was a leftover Loons race bib from April 23rd, so now I have two of those.



Instead of corralling us in next to the school this time, they opened up the fence gate so we could just line up behind the start tracker.  I went no phones again, and the racers just in front of us asked "you putting the pedal to the metal?"  I told them "Yeah, I'm gonna try."  Then Jason started talking about running this last year, and said that it is like starting our running season over again.  Then he said that this race is kind of like "our Daytona 500."  I replied with "Yep, the season starts now, spring training is over."  Hopefully we make the most of this season.

The goal for the race was to improve on the PR yet again.  I'd have to say that was a pretty lofty goal considering this was the first day we had a heat advisory and the temperature at race time was sitting at 91°F.  When we started I got boxed in pretty bad until we hit the road, and I was going a lot slower than I wanted.  As soon as I had some space, I busted out a little bit too fast for the first mile.  Unfortunately there was nobody to tell us times at the mile markers like last year, so I had no idea where I was time-wise.

I was pressing pretty hard, and I fell off a bit in mile 2, but there were a lot of people stopping to walk.  I would say half the field stopped running within the first mile and a half because of the heat.  I was giving it about everything I had, and a woman even ran by me and asked if I was doing alright.  I'm sure I was breathing heavy and red in the face, but I had places to go.  Also, I was attempting to actually win the heavyweight division, which is pretty much a joke for me, because heavyweight divisions start at 185 and the biggest one is 225 and over.  Honestly, you can just be tall and get those weights.  When I was running and that weight in college, I would have beat our division's winner by 3 minutes.  If I get down there again, I might be unstoppable.  Too bad there's not a higher weight class for now, though.

Anyway, I fought off mile 2 and got some water, because it was just THAT hot.  I never need water on a 5K, but I needed a sip and a splash down at this one.  Despite the slow-down, I was still sure I was making record time, and just had to push out a good last 1.1 mile.  So I ran down the hill about as fast as I could following this group of teens running with some sign and trying to stay up with them as they sped up.  I ran down the final hill past my mom and sister that came out to cheer me along, and turned the corner to see 26:58, and as hard as I pumped through that last stretch I didn't make it in time.  In all fairness I was impeded by a girl that cut me off a bit as I was passing a guy and almost ran her over.  That would have been a bad day for her.  I did break past her and him after, but she overtook me again at the end.

The final chip time ended up as a 27:34.  As Maxwell Smart would say, "Missed it by that much."  I was still surprised I wasn't faster than that, because it felt like I gave it everything.  Even walking back to the car and back up the hill was a chore afterwards, so I know I wouldn't have had much more to give.  I'm happy with it.  I've been really consistent lately, too.  The last three 5Ks have been within 6 seconds of one another.  We'll see if this is a temporary peak or not as the summer goes on.

This is also the first time I actually beat Jason in an official race (the Al Kayner when he took the wrong turn doesn't count).  He just seems to struggle more with heat that I do, and that's pretty much the only advantage I ever get.  Otherwise, he's still beating the time I put up yesterday by a minute, as he still continues to improve as well.

More this weekend, I hope, and I'd still like to do a rundown compare and contrast of the Martian/DXA2.  We'll see if I get to that before it's completely irrelevant.