Thursday, January 26, 2006

Twas the night before Terrier....

...and all around the track, not a miler was kicking yet, not even the top seed named Slatts. Spikes were in place, but their laces left untied - it would be 19 hours before the starter's gun was fired.

Back in Auburn this young lad sat in his bed, talking race strategy with his buddy Driscoll - Quinnipiac's flaming red-head. Seeded 29 and 30, the two were ranked last in their heat, but little did the eight others know that these two would not be beat.

The pace would be fast, of this there was no doubt, but when these two cats crossed the line 1-2, all the others would simply be left to pout.

*Yes, I realize I had way too much time on my hands to come up with that little jingle, but hopefully a lil prose goes a long way. That being said, tomorrow night is the Terrier Classic at BU and it looks as if both Driscoll and myself will be in the same heat of the mile. As of now, I'm seeded 29th and Big-Daddy Driscoll checks in at #30, making us the last two seeds of heat three. We at the WHTC are taking this as a slap in the face and are planning to silence the haters.

All kidding aside, it should be a great race and hopefully my red-headed friend and I can push each other to a great race. After last weekend's 3000-meter disaster, my focus is getting a good race under my belt and letting the time take care of itself. With that being said, I hope to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 4:16. I'll update with a detailed race report sometime on Saturday, but if you're feeling itchy and can't wait to see how the race went, check in here for results.

On another note, keep an eye out for the men's 3K and 5K results tomorrow night. I expect both races to be rather fast. My teammate Justin will be giving a 15-lap tour of the BU indoor facility at 3:25 while Ryan will toe the line at 5 p.m. for the Championship edition of the 5K. Both are in great shape and ready to rip an indoor PR.

And that will do it for the meat of this entry. Starting today, however, I'm going to list a "10 random things about me" at the end of each entry until (hopefully) I reach 100 - the goal is to fill some space as well as provide a lil bit of entertainment for those of you reading this. I got the idea from some other blogs that I've been reading of late and thought it was a fun idea. Enjoy!

Today's 10 Random Things About Me:
1. I'm the oldest of four kids.
2. I'm a 'Jr.' and have no middle name.
3. I wear contacts lenses.
4. I don't wear deodorant on race day.
5. I had a mohawk in the second grade.
6. I took ballet my senior year of college.
7. I have a tattoo on my right shoulder.
8. I've been speaking Italian as long as I've been speaking English.
9. I lived in Eugene, Oregon for six weeks until I went broke, got homesick and moved back to MA.
10. My first job out of college was at McDonald's. No word of a lie.

Quote of the day:

The more I hurt, the harder I ran. The harder I ran, the more wonderful it felt.
- Following The Flame, p. 384

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

30 guys in a heat of the mile???

I wish I could get in there to watch this meet - just not a good time of day for those of us with a day-job.

Good luck!

Paul said...

Mario,

Tactics question for you. When you are in a race like the mile later today with 10 people in your heat, what is your focus at the starting gun? Do you a) haul keister to the front, b) stay wide for a turn or two until you can settle into the pack, or c) drop back and look to pick people off later?

Further along that line of questioning, do your start tactics change for outdoor?

Thanks,
Paul

l'emerodromo said...

Ciao Mario,
a quando qualche gara in mezza maratona o maratona?
Come ben sai la scuola Italiana è la migliore in maratona e nel mio paese sei di à fascia se corri sopra le 2h11....
Buona Corsa!