The weather the entire weekend was perfect.  The locals were claiming it was getting "a little too hot", but for a Texan like me, it might as well have been heaven.  I don't believe anybody could complain about the temperature at race-time however.  It was a balmy 70 degrees and wind was non-existent.  The weather was perfect for a fast Mile to ensue.

Coming into this race, I had been feeling very confident about my training and where I was physically.  I had recently received some good test results from the F.I.T. Lab and was beginning to feel much more comfortable running "at pace" and faster.  Even with all of this, I had my instructions.  Coach Hayes wanted me to focus on going out conservatively and closing hard, winding up the last 400m with negative splits each 100m.  I felt this was a great idea seeing as my finish had been ... let's just say ... "lacking", in my last 2 races after having gotten out to great starts and feeling good.  This is how the race unfolded ...

The gun is up, the gun is off, and the race begins.  There is some jostling for position (more so than usual) as we come off the line and head into the first 100m, but I make sure I run tall and strong and take control of my position.  I settle into 4^th as we come off the first turn and it feels like we are flying.  At 200m, I realize that I feel this way because we ARE flying.  The rabbit and Andrew Bumbalough have gone out in 27 high and the rest of us are through in 28 low.  The pace feels quick but comfortable.  However, this is not the race plan set forth by Coach, so I quickly pull back the reigns and settle into a more relaxed pace behind another competitor.  By 400, Andrew has a 3 second gap on the runner I am following and that gap continues to slightly grow to 4 seconds as we go, positioning unchanged, through the second 400.  This is fine by me however because I am still on pace for my own race-plan, coming through 800m in 2:01.  Just before the end of the second lap, I see the runner I am following beginning to fatigue.  Just as I am about to make a move around him, Matt DeBole beats me to the punch line and swings around us.  I am quick to follow.  I queue off of DeBole’s pace over the next lap, as I know his intention is to run under 4min and that he has been very close many times before.  All the while, I never think of the now lone-Bumbalough out front as the rabbit has dropped off.  I am running “MY” race, and as Marty Liquori did many times throughout his career, I knew that if I was patient and closed as hard as I wanted to, that he would come back to me eventually.  Coming off the last turn onto the homestretch of the third lap, I swing wide a bit and start to push my eyes ahead of me to two things.  First, the clock.  I am still on pace.  It looks as though I will come through 1200 right around 3:02 … perfect.  Second, I know gaze directly in the center of Andrew Bumbalough’s back 5 seconds ahead of me.  I decide right then and there to start winding it up as I make a move around DeBole. I hit the bell lap in 3:02 as I thought and begin to focus on running smooth and relaxed while winding at the same time.  Another runner goes around me as we head into the back stretch, but he is not dropping me and Bumbalough is coming back to the both of us.  200m out from the finish, we are within 2 seconds of Bumbalough.  Here I focus on form and running tall, feeling as if the win is definitely within my reach.  As I dig down for the final push, I dig just a little too far.  I strain instead of relaxing.  I head into the last 150 holding on instead of letting my body stride out and finishing up.  I cross the line a disappointing 4^th in 4:01.

After the race, I am not happy, nor am I upset with the performance I have turned in.  It is definitely a big step back in the right direction.  By going out conservatively, I have taught myself what it is like to close with a negative split again.  I wanted to cover the final quarter a few seconds faster than the 58-59 I did, but I will count it as a small victory instead of a small defeat.  I will look at the positives and accept what God has given me on the day.

I do this and it gives me a good perspective coming into the final two weeks of training before the USA Championships.  My body is coming into its own again and I am feeling confident about the steps I will take in the next couple weeks.  I will show up ready to get tough and race at USA’s.