Aug 3, 2013
Reading, PA - Gabriel arrived from Poland somewhat damaged, but full of confidence. He was not crippled. He was sore, but he felt pretty recovered. A week of solid training led him to enter the Half-Wit Half Marathon, hosted by the nutty Pretzel City Sports Company. What the hell... after Poland, a half marathon in Reading, PA, should be a breeze, right???
That's where the half-wit reasoning came to be... on the warm-up, Gabriel noted he had no energy. He had no giddy-up. Just malaise. However, he noted a couple of young harriers on the line and figured, oh well, he may have a battle on his hands.
The gun sounded and Gabriel set off in about 5th place on the opening descent, with no rush to take the lead. However, within a mile, Gabriel had to make his presence felt and took the lead into the single-track, per his personality. He felt like he pulled away from everyone, and once the trail hit the Mt. Penn Mudfest course, he was full of confidence... and then his hip flexors barked. They were not in the slightest healed.. and by 4 miles, he had been caught. Gabriel dared not look back, but internally picked up the pace up a pretty steep climb. Whoever had caught him could not climb with him, but was very good at the technical downhills and flats. Ugh, Gabriel had to work.
Finally, at the first water-stop near the halfway mark, Gabriel stopped to take a gel and some water... and this is where he was caught for the second time. However, Gabriel led up the stairway to hell, not letting the pursuer pass, and then scampered off uphill, not wanting to relinquish he lead, regardless of how much he wanted to drop due to his hip flexors.
Gabriel got some breathing room, got a gap, pressed hard, and disappeared into the single-track, pretty much knowing he would not be caught, but fearing the damage done. He won in 1:33:27, not a course record, that was not possible today due to the pain, but a "w" is a "w"...
No comments:
Post a Comment