Run 4 Kerri

Last week I ran a giant race in Southern Rhode Island with stacked competition. There aren't many times I can say this, but I was once again in this situation. Run 4 Kerri was a much smaller race than Blessing but still a great one and I was looking forward to it again. I was unsure whether to run it or not as the summer was already packed with races and I had Block Triathlon the day before, but I really wanted to update my 4-mile PR. Eventually I made the decision to sign up for this great race, and it was definitely the right one. Saturday evening and Sunday morning weren't as pleasant as a usual race-morning is, but after warming up I was ready to race.

Previous Four Mile PRs
Last year, after taking two years off from the distance and gaining plenty of speed, I ran a massive PR of 22:42, a pretty good race when many others suffered and were way off in the heat. I felt that I was faster than that in March, and gave it another shot at lowering that time at the Ocean's Run, hopefully by quite a bit. This was a fast and all-out effort for me, so I was hoping it would go well. The course was a flat misquamicut loop, nearly perfect for seizing PRs. The 2016 Ocean's Run was a complete disaster: I was yelled at by a course official and the course ran 0.3 miles long, resulting in a much slower time than I actually ran, which was a huge disappointment because I had crushed it at this race. I ran a 21:38 GPS split for the 4-mile distance, but officially ran over 23 minutes for the long course. This was another reason to run Kerri- to put this awful race in the past with a new PR I can be certain about.

Race Plan
I love many race distances, and while the 4-mile distance is a little different, it's still a great one. However, strategizing for it was a little different. While I had planned out what pace I wanted to run in Blessing months in advance, it wasn't until the days before the race that I figured this one out. I didn't know which distance to base my pace off of, and how close my pace should be. Considering my 16:12 effort at Sailfest on July 10th, I figured I'd shoot to be just a few seconds off that pace. I ran a 5:13 pace there, so I figured a 5:15 pace would be ideal, but I didn't really envision myself breaking 21. The main goal was not to break 21, but to run as close to 21 flat as possible. Seeing how the first mile is shaded and slightly downhill, it wouldn't hurt here to go out fast. I wanted my first mile to be between 5:05-5:10, then try to run mid 5:10s for the rest of it. I'd likely lose some time on the neighborhood hill but could hopefully make up for it on the downhill with 0.4 to go with a strong kick.

Pre-Race
Ate breakfast a little closer to race start, but still with plenty of time to digest. Also ate a little lighter. We got there, short warm-up on the back of the course, final bathroom stops and it was pretty hot. Wasn't brutal like last year's heat, but wasn't going to be fun. At least the first mile was mostly shaded. We got up to the line, and I did a few strides. Eventually, we were about to go off. I lined up in the second row, which was a big mistake and probably cost me a few seconds.

The Race
We were off, and I had lined up too far back. I quickly weaved through 3-4 people and found my place. I wanted to be 5:10 or just under for the mile and kept thinking about that. The first quarter mile was okay but then I already felt a little tired. The first mile wasn't feeling great like I expected. Will Sanders led far in the front, followed by a big pack, then our group was next. I went back and forth with the top female. I was running about 5:08 pace for most of it, which was great but didn't feel quite as easy as expected. I passed the first mile in 5:07 with a group of five or six. Not feeling strong, but certainly not dead just yet.

We soon made the first turn. I started to feel fatigue in my thighs and calves and also noticed my feet were really warm. I moved to the front of our pack and saw the leaders way up ahead. I noticed a general tick down in average pace, but it was going as planned, except for how I felt. I felt like I was going to be retaken by the pack again, but I was actually pulling away from them a little bit. By the next turn, I wasn't really part of the pack anymore. Now was the brutal open sunlight section that dragged on before the turn into the neighborhood. I had broken off so far away that I was running solo now. I was happy with that- I didn't really like running with any of them and didn't know anyone in the group. I hit mile 2 in 5:17, just before Scott Mason and others passed by in a blue car (the third of five photo locations he would be in during the race).

Now it was really tough. I was on a solid pace but felt like I was slowing a little bit. I could see the top pack, still pretty much intact, way off in the distance and much closer was Sanders, running on the far right side of the road. I was definitely gaining on him but wasn't that close to catching him. I also wasn't running tangents. The open sunlight and the fast pace made me tired and I was slightly out of it, crossing the center line a few times. After what seemed to be a long time, I finally made the turn into the neighborhood, happy to get off this sunlight section but the frequent turns that led up to the hill weren't exactly a huge improvement. I was now closer to Sanders than the pack behind me was, but not super close to either. After a few turns, I eventually reached the hill I was dreading- a short climb, but one that slows your momentum. It wasn't actually that bad, and I wasn't extremely tired (at least compared to before) after it. Mile 3 was 5:19, still close to 21 pace. Just had to hang in there for another (tough) mile.

I could see sanders before each of the turns in the neighborhood, but he was still a good 20 seconds ahead. I had completely lost sight of the top pack, and wasn't checking behind for the next people. I had dropped a few seconds in pace at the top of the hill, but tried to pick it up a little. The neighborhood section was awful and dragged on. Finally I got to the last turn, anticipating the downhill. Last I kicked hard and had a great finish, but I felt weak and crappy at this point. Like Blessing, I didn't push it extremely hard at the end but picked it up and coasted in a fast pace. I saw Sanders finish just under 21, and I was next in 21:10 (21:12 gun). 8th Overall, because many of the elites didn't show.

I was really happy with this effort. Rarely every do I run almost exactly what I planned, and that's what I did here. I was way under my ocean run's split and last year's time, so this was a pretty big PR. I took second in my age group and got my second milesplit interview. Onto Bobby Doyle.