I have to start off by saying that I was definitely going into this year with more of a neutral energy than in years past. In the weeks leading up to RTB i was pretty disappointed in the fact that from all of the members we've had on two full teams in the past, that we couldn't easily find 12 people that would commit to the weekend. But after last year I found myself wondering if I really had another one in me. With that question in the back of my head I was off to Burlington to catch the Van to the start line.
Almost immediately upon meeting up with the other folks who were new to the team (all 8 of them) I started to feel that excitement that had been waning a bit for me over the last couple years. These folks had signed on to something that looked both exciting and challenging with only our word that is was worth it as any real proof. In the end I have to say that maybe the energy of some new blood was what made the difference, but it was one of my more memorable RTBs since the first one and I am very happy to have been a part of the team. What started as an obligation turned into something I would have been very sorry to have missed.
Recaps for my three legs of runner 8
Leg 1...6.61 miles at about 8:30pm
I was glad that I had run this leg in 2008 and had written something down. This leg was a flat as I had logged and it was very hard to keep it in check. I decided that the best way to make it through all three legs was to keep the HR in the mid 150s and I managed to do that and average 6:12s with ease.
Leg 2...9.23 miles at about 4:30am
I had some difficulty waking up for this one and looking back I am not sure I did until a couple miles into it. This was the leg that I was most concerned about as it climbs for about 5.5 miles before dropping down the other side. I remembered it being a steady climb, but once I was going it actually rolled a bit as it climbed and as it was I managed to avg 7s through the first 5 miles. Unlike the last time I ran this I actually had something to work with on the way down rolling 6,6,6:20 for the last three miles. I ended up averaging 6:31s.
Leg3...6.69 miles at about 12:30pm
This was the leg that had me in the most disbelief. I don't think that I have had an RTB yet that I have had much left in the last leg. This time around I was was ready to go. I thought I could avg 6:15-6:20, but I decided to watch the HR and see what that had me running. This leg had a bit of a climb to mile 3 and then downhill for most of the second half. By mile three I was averaging 6:08 and aside from the 5:40 off the back of the hill managed to be just over 6 minutes for the rest of the leg. I definitely left it all there because I started kicking a little early because I couldn't remember if the leg was 6.4 or 6.7. I ended up averaging 6:02 for my best leg of the relay.
Again, I really hate to sound all hokey and sentimental, but this was an awesome year and I really am looking forward to next year when we can hopefully get a few of the old faces back with a few of the new.
For a link to the St. Lawrence Alumni All-Starz Blog click here.
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