Getting the 3rd lane assignment, I was pretty slow off the line, just wanting a position on the rail so I could go to sleep and not worry about all the pushing BS. There was plenty of that anyway for the first 800, which saw several Mackenzie-style inside passes to keep punks off my biz. Though slower than I wanted, the mile went by fairly well in 4:52.
Robert was on the phone with Oliver at this point, who had called Robert to check in on the fate of a fake 4x800 Cornell relay named "Team Oliver Tassinari." Robert told Oliver that my next quarter was 76, which brought Oliver to tears (of laughter). He will pay for his insolence.
A few 76's later, my day was essentially done. I did manage to close in 34 to outkick some kid I vaguely recognized from Aim High. This tells me what I suspected all along -- namely I could have run faster, but was burdened by how hard running that fast felt after not working out. I subsequently got frustrated and apathetic and slow.
There are plans in the works to get more comfortable with 35's and maybe take another shot in January.
Final time: 9:23.
