Just a 5K
This is not my A race report, but it's still significant...to me at least. This is only a 5K race report but I have been training for (H)IM St. George since the NOS last year. I also did the get faster plan for a few weeks, then transitioned into the HIM plan. Last week I finished week 19 of the HIM and ran a 5K as the first actual race of the new year. This is my second season training with EN, and I am starting to get the feel of the workouts (translated: my relationship with pain has changed).
My training this year has been solid, and I am a little stronger on the bike and lighter in weight than I was last year. I wanted to believe that I am ready for IMSG. But I needed to run a race to prove to myself that I was better, faster, fitter (not just a year older) than last year. I wanted to do this before I did St. George so that I can tell my mind, "see, you can do this" when I hit that dark place on the run course.
So, as I have practiced, I got up race morning 2.5 hours before the race and ate 1.5 cups of apple sauce. I will eat more like 3 cups before my HIM next weekend and will also add whey protein, but for a 5K I'm going light on the nutrition. I also drank from a 24oz. bottle of perform and ate a gel about 40 minutes before the race started. I did an easy mile, then did 4 x 40" strides to get warmed up.
I lined up on the second row at the starting line. 748 runners towed the line, and I didn't want to get stuck behind the runner who thought they could.... At the gun I was off and chasing the lead pack. I knew enough of the runners to be sure that some would finish a couple of minutes before me, so I didn't try to make any pretense of pacing them. But I watched as some of the less experienced runners tried to stay with the leaders only to come back to me before the first mile ended. At mile one, I was just a second or two under my goal pace.
The course was undulating, so I made use of the downhills to accelerate. On the uphills I tried to increase cadence and accept that my level of effort was going to go up. I kept an eye on my garmin for clues about my pace. I had my pace set with that little runner friend that tells me if I'm ahead or behind. Funny thing was there seemed to be significant measurement error; the watch would show I was ahead, then behind, then ahead. So if I didn't like what I saw, I would look later and maybe things had changed in the virtual world. By the end of the real second mile, it was pretty much me and a pack of younger guys. The lead pack of insanity was well of out reach, but I was still surrounded by people who were going to be age-group contenders. =
At mile 2.5 it was me chasing a tall, young guy in a yellow shirt who had run an impressively steady pace for the entire race. The rest of the pack had fallen seconds behind me. I heard myself admit that he was young and I might not be able to get past him. He was obviously experienced.
With about a a quarter mile left, my watch said I was still behind my electronic pacer. "It's now or never" my mind said. "Either pick up the pace or admit you can't do it." At that point, I'm really glad to have competition. We turned the last corner and headed through the stadium gate toward the finish on the track. "Here I go," and I ran by the last runner of my pack, the steady runner, wondering if this was going to be a dog fight. As I passed my steady friend I could hear him say "oh, crap!" I didn't wait for a response.
As I charged ahead, I heard the emcee announce the last runner crossing at 18:45. "Wow, I bet I can cover that ground in less than 15 seconds," I thought. I have to say it is amazing what the body can do at the end of a race when the goal is in sight and all you have to do is kill yourself for a few more seconds. It was like me, the finish line, and nothing else. I don't think I would have stopped to pick up a sack of gold coins. I was so focused that I even forgot to look at the clock. I have to say, there is no feeling like entering the chute and not being caught from behind. You all know what I mean.
In the chute, we all shook hands and had that glorious moment that athletes have at the end of a hard race when everyone knows they have done their best and done well. At home I checked my time and found that I was under 19 minutes and had beaten my old PR by a second and improved my prior year time by 8 seconds. It's been another great year training with EN. Whatever happens in St. George next weekend, it's not because I didn't train.
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