Just returned home from another running of this monthly event. The weather was cold (35ish) and raining… I figured this might be a good shot at getting my first win, but I don’t want such a big event (in my life) to be in such a way… Good thing a guy I beat last race, Charlie Mercer, has recovered from an injury and beat me by about 10 seconds (I beat him by 10 last time). So yes, another 2nd. I think the gap behind me might have been a minute or so… <br/><br/>I started the race in 1st, he passed me after about a third of a mile, built a good lead by the mile mark (I went through in 5:57), and pretty much held it the entire way. I definitely had more to give, but every time I’d hit another gear the gap would stay the same… It’s almost as if he felt me back there. I did close it over the last half mile, but I needed a bit more than I’m capable of to get him.<br/><br/>Overall, it was a more even race than I ran last month, albeit three seconds slower. I attribute my poor(ish) performance to not taking my running seriously this past week or so. I’ve skipped a run, ate like an absolute pig, worked until 1am last night, was up at 8 this morning working again… I just can’t be doing that kind of stuff at this level; I could get away with it when I was still “slow” last year, but no more. My weight hasn’t really changed, but I can tell the muscle mass in my upper body is greatly diminishing… My abs are bleh. I need to get the gym in to my routine.<br/><br/>I now have three 2nd place finishes in my last few races… That win has to be just around the corner… Or does it? Summertime = more people out racing + college kids come home. Hrmph.<br/><br/>Ohoh, there were also some folks (they were the race volunteers… major kudos to them for that) giving away free <a href=”http://www.xsblast.com/” target=”_blank”>XS Energy Drink</a>. Promises of “no crash,” “no sugar,” “good for you,” all mean nothing when your product tastes like absolute dung and gives me the nastiest stomach cramp I’ve had in a long, long time. For the record, I <span style=”font-weight: bold;”>never</span> have stomach cramps. It was a carbonated, watered-down fruit drink that was unlike any fruit I had ever tasted. If poo grew on trees and didn’t have seeds, it’d taste similar to this drink. As if that weren’t enough, when they said we could buy it through “any independent <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amway” target=”_blank”>Amway</a> retailers on the net,” they lost me completely. Get your semi-pyramid scheme crap the f out of here!<br/><br/><a href=”http://www.dcroadrunners.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=438:dcrrc-tidal-basin-3k-421-february&amp;catid=11:race-results&amp;Itemid=34″ target=”_blank”>Results</a><br/>