Bob Beckert Memorial 5-k 2016

    The Bob Beckert Memorial 5-K Run is a staple on my racing calendar. Our club, Mountain Fitness, serves as a sponsor, and "Team Mountain Fitness" is always well-represented.
     A good chunk of the course is part of one of my favorite running routes, and the size of the race is big enough to have someone to pace off of, but not too massive where you're feeling crowded or lost. It's a local run, with most of the same faces from year-to-year.
     The race benefits a scholarship fund at Watchung Hills High School in Mr. Beckert's name, and there are always quite a few current and former Watchung Hills runners there. The course is mostly flat, but finishes on the killer "Bob Beckert Hill" up the high school's parking lot
      As chronicled in earlier posts, I've been battling a couple of persistent injuries, and really didn't know if  I would be able to run it with any sense of competitiveness this year. However, a relatively encouraging 22:04 showing at the Legal Runaround 5-K on May 26th gave me some hope, despite the creaky conditions of both my knees and right hamstring.
      An early-morning Aleve helped allay the stiffness, and I was content with my first (mostly downhill) mile clocking of 6:45. The field of 105 spread out by that point, and I was back-and-forth with a few young and middle-aged runners over the next mile. I hit what-I-believe-to-be the two-mile point in 14:04, a few seconds slower than my split at Somerville.
      A hanging sky had turned to a monsoon by this point, and me and the rest of the runners were soaked through. No excuse at all, it was a warm rain, and I just tried to maintain my focus over the rolling hills on Mountain Avenue in Warren, before it turns up the high school parking lot.
     I hit the bottom of the Beckert Hill in 20:51, and I remember that it took exactly a minute (longer than I thought!) to climb up it two years ago in this race. This year, between my hamstring and advancing age, it seemed like I was on a slow conveyor belt! I gasped to the finish line in 22:15, meaning it took nearly a minute-and-a-half to do this finishing "sprint." I was definitely "gassed," though, my heart rate read 143 a good 20 seconds after I was done.
    I finished 16th overall, and third in my 50-59 age-group. I wasn't disappointed in the time, I felt I was running as hard as I could from the first step. My only way to improve now is to ease back into some speed work, as much as my hamstring will allow. It's that tricky balance of training hard enough  to improve, without getting injured. I'll try another race in about two weeks, and report back!