Monday, April 6, 2009

Opening Day!

Even though it looks like the end of Ghostbusters II outside right now, it's still that grand ol' American tradition: Opening Day at The Yard. Since the game got bumped back to 4pm start, I'm going to leave the game by 6 to get to FHR, and then after running am contemplating staying around to watch the NCAA Championship game (tip set for 9:27 or something).

WEEKEND RESULTS!

First, congratulations to everyone who raced this weekend, there were a ton of great performances, some amazing PRs, and some pleasant surprises. Collin Anderson ran a great race at the American River 50 Mile in Sactown. And I'm really glad that Barf got back into racing at the Race For the Future 5k in Canton. Great start to the season for him, back on track.

Cherry Blossom was chock full 'o performances. Kyle, who interestingly finished 22nd last year with a time 1:15 slower than this year's time, was 24th at 51:11. That's awesome. I'd say if Kyle keeps improving and went to Broad Street, he'd probably run 50:30. Arjun and I went out in 5:24, which I thought felt pretty easy but was just too fast for what I was looking to run. Arjun kept the pressure on and it paid off - 1st 5 miles were 28:09 and 2nd 5 were 28:16 for a total of 56:25. That's 59sec faster than last year and is proof that he is in good shape heading into two weeks to go for Boston. Terence and Zero also had great races. T is experimenting with starting a little more reasonably and picking it up through the race, and it paid off. Z had written down on his goals sheet that he wanted to break 60 this year, and in presumably his last chance for the year he knocked that out - 59:14!

Tim Parker was running well, particularly for coming off a vaca week to Miami. I'm not sure what he finished at, because he didn't show up in the results. Kris Simms, who ran 1:02:36 there last year, had scaled his goals down following the early season appendix surgery. He must have run a pretty even race, and finished at 1:00:33. I'd say that's pretty promising with less training under his belt. Matt Stanford rocked another 2 minute PR at 1:01:03 and Tom Stott rolled to a 1:04:05, averaging a few seconds per mile better than his half from two weeks ago.

For the ladies, Denise was first for us at 1:05:04. CLAIRE smashed it, running over a 3 minute PR at 1:07:04. Diane was RWS (racing while sick) but ran extremely well, and Jen Koshy ran a few minutes quicker than Club Challenge, so that's always good. Sara Spears also was a few minutes faster than her CC time, and 10 minutes better than CB08.

This week's Purple Drink Athlete of the Week belongs to the person who indicated her goal to be "PR at 10 miles, run under 1:10 if possible" - because she crushed 1:10. I'd say she also is on the right track for a big performance at Boston. So congratulations to Claire Lears!

I'd mark this weekend as a great success, and everyone should be pretty psyched about their performances. Oh, and because I forgot to shout it out in the email, a special note about Alex Viana and his quest for Cat3, he raced twice this weekend, doing a great job in the Saturday road race and picking up some valuable skills in the criterium on Sunday.

Go Orioles!

10 comments:

BG said...

I think Ray, Egon, Winston, and Peter need to set up their NES Advantage and slime up in the giant Natty Boh guy, walk him over to the Yard, and rally Baltimore's positive energy for the O's. That would be sick.

Too hot to handle,
too cold to hold;
they're called the Ghostbusters
and they're in control.
They were throwin' a party
for a bunch of children,
While all the while,
the slime was under the building.
So they packed up their group,
got a grip, came equipped,
grabbed their proton packs off their backs,
and they split.
Found about Vigo,
the master of evil;
try to battle my boys?
That's not legal!

RM said...

And maybe in the process stop the rain! It's so nasty out right now!

THE KRIS said...

i'd like to thank fbg for knowing the words to that bobby brown classic.

also, tim and i finished together, so my time is his time so to speak.

THE KRIS said...

oh, and thanks to brennan for being the best spectator ever. seriously, he's a pro who is able to cheer you on at several locations (possibly at the same time) throughout the race. i think i just invented a new profession... "professional spectator". as i've also just appointed myself his manager, give me a call before your next big race, and i'll book brennan for you.

Terence aka LT said...

YES!!! I agree... He was at perfect spots. I almost stopped and hugged him when he said I only had 1/2 mile to go. You the MAN B...

///MM said...

Dude- check out Kip plastered all over the Annapolis Striders page:
http://annapolisstriders.org/

scotty doesn't know said...

fo real! - much thanks to melissa and brennan for the help along!

Terence aka LT said...

Yes, can't forget about Melissa. Much props

brennan said...

I am available to cheer whenever the Orioles are on the road. Kris will be getting 20% of all of my earnings, which is sure to be close to nothing and in fact will cost him money.
And on a side note...how bout dem O's? First Place in the AL!

gladfelter said...

Go O's!!!