The Man in Black ReturnedIt's now history for another year -- the last of the Resolution Series runs for 1998 was completed on 3/28 and The FeMan gave it his best shot. The Tacoma Express was not full on this trip. Steve "No Handlebar Tape" Lay had elected to ride with the troublemakers and Liz "Go Till I Drop" Jones missed her transfer. So the jolly quartet headed south on a crisp, early spring morning. The weather had turned a little cool and there was a snap in the air matching the snap in The FeMan's step. This was it. His thumb injury had taken him off his bike and his running was benefitting from the focus. Fresh off a half-marathon PR the previous week, The FeMan was ready and rarin' to go. (Deep in his heart of hearts The FeMan hoped that The Man in Black would opt out or break his leg or something.) But it was not to be. During his pre-race stretching The FeMan saw The Man in Black coming from across the room. And what was this! He had a silver-headed companion. Oh, no! Was this a ringer, brought in to taunt The FeMan? The roads would tell the story. The FeMan continued with his pre-race ritual, stretching, then a couple of easy laps around the track to loosen up, then back inside to stay warm. As the crowd began to gather at the starting line, The FeMan moved out to join up. The time dragged past the appointed 9:00 am start time as goose bumps rose up on The FeMan's back and arms. The starter then announced that the race would start as soon as the police got in their donuts and were in place. Finally, the 10 second countdown to start. Ten, nine, ..., one, go! We were all off. The start was definitely more restrained as the runners moved around the track. Twenty kilometers is a long ways and some of these people were going to run 20 miles. Up that familiar gravelled hill and onto the asphalt. Past the 7-Eleven and on to mile 1. During that first mile The Man in Black came up on The FeMan who dropped in behind and vowed to hang on. And what a ride. The Man in Black was definitely weaker on the hills, as he would drop back, but over the top he could surge. And he could really eat up those down hill sections. He toyed with The FeMan, putting on little surges, but The FeMan stuck with him. At least out to mile 5. The Man in Black put on an extended surge to catch another runner and The FeMan dropped off the pace. A long straightaway led to the 10K turnaround where a kindly volunteer was calling out the splits. 38:10 at the halfway point! Was The FeMan cooking or what! Still, it was 10K back and The Man in Black now had about 150 meters on The FeMan. Time to dig down and push all those self doubts aside. The way back was tricky to keep The Man in Black in sight with lots of turns and twists. When the way was clear he could be seen, gradually pulling away. Two or three other runners came up and passed The FeMan on the way back; one of them was re-passed until he recovered and took The FeMan about 500 meters from the end. A quick glance at his watch told The FeMan that this was going to be a sub 1:20 finish, unless everything fell apart. And it didn't. The Man in Black pulled the best run of his life out of The FeMan as he crossed the finish line in 1:19:30. And, it drew praise from The Man in Black who said that he thought The FeMan had gotten some afterburners on this day. What a day! What a week! The FeMan is reveling in being over 50 and continuing on this incredible journey of self-discovery. QBullets are used in this site. QBullets
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