 posted Oct-27-2007 01:47 PM
  
Background: As some of you know, I have been in base aerobic training for the last 6 months. I started Daniel's Marathon Training A plan two weeks ago and signed up to run a 5K here in town this morning in order to get an accurate VDOT and see where I stood for my training paces, etc. I have done almost no fast running for the last six months with almost 90% of my runs being done at less than 75% Max HR but my mileage has been very strong. I have averaged over 70 miles a week for the last 6 weeks. This meant that I was very unsure as to what to expect in the race today but was hoping for the best. My PR (set two and a half years ago) was 20:42. I hoped to break it but was uncertain as to how much I might be able to do so by. My goal was a 20:10 (6:30 pace), I would be thrilled to break the 20 minute barrier, and my pipe dream was a 19:45. So, here we go...Pre-Race: Got to bed pretty early and didn't sleep very well. Tossed and turned most of the night and woke up every 15-20 minutes the last couple of hours. Finally rolled out of bed about 6:00am, went into the living room, piddled around until 6:30am then got dressed. Ate a few peanut butter crackers and drank a bottle of water and then DW and I left the house right at 7am. Got to the race, parked, and got my registration number by 7:20. Stood with DW for a few minutes before going to warm-up. Ran two easy miles warm-up with a couple of striders that seemed to take me easily to 7:00 pace. I took that as a good sign. Went in and used the restroom and then it was 7:50 and time to line up for the start. The Race: Probably about 300-400 runners. Many of them students at Texas A&M University where the race is taking place. No chip timing so I lined up pretty close to the start. I knew there were some fast guys there but I also knew that most of them were in the very front and it wasn't so crowded that it would be a problem for people to pass that needed to. Turns out that I was lined up pretty well where I needed to be. Weather is perfect with about 52' temps. and virutally no wind. I was in shorts and short sleeve t-shirt which turned out to be just what I needed with the weather. Gun goes off and everyone takes off like shot out of a cannon. I try to get in stride and rhythm and am able to do so pretty easily. I am reminded how much I like 5K's because I get to see all the poorly paced people run like the dickens for a mile and then die a slow and painful death as they slow to almost a stop. Sorry, I know that's sort of cruel to say but it's just so predictable that it's funny to me. I glance at my Garmin about a minute in and see that I am running 5:57 pace. That's not good. I ease up a bit and let a couple people pass me. I want a good time but I also want to finish this race strong. Mentally, I need to finish this race strong. I need to prove to myself that I have a legit shot of breaking 3:10 come February and I need to start mentally running races with that strong mentality to be able to do so. I look at my watch a minute or so later and see that I am now running 6:55 pace. Great, so I speed back up. The course is fairly flat and two loops. There is a pretty long uphill at the 1.5 and 3.0 mark. I keep telling myself that I eat hills for breakfast. For some reason I actually believe me this time. My watch beeps for mile 1 - 6:34. A tad slower than I wanted but I feel really strong. I try to hold that pace. At the halfway point, I see my wife and she smiles. I am reminded of how much I adore her and that sweet smile. I am still feeling strong but notice per my Garmin a couple times that I slow to 6:40-6:45 pace so I try to lengthen my stride and stay in a quick rhythm. I know I am well past halfway and still feeling pretty good. Watch beeps for mile 2 - 6:30 Not bad. I quickly do the math and know that holding this pace to the end would net me a 20:15 which would be a strong PR. But I also know in my mind that I am much stronger than many of the runners around me and this is where running 85 mile weeks kicks in. I spot the guy ahead of me about 50 yards and start reeling him in. I pass 8-10 runners in the last mile and am only passed by one. He sprints by in kamikaze fashion and I can only wonder how he had so much left in the tank at this point. Going back up the hill at the end is painful but somewhat fun. I am going pretty quickly now and it hurts but not so much that I can't keep going. I speed up a little bit. I love passing people. I turn the final corner and hear the crowd cheering. There have only been a handful that have finished in front of me but I can't see the clock because people are are standing in front of it. I would look at my watch but I am running too fast to trust myself to do so. I know I have run a good race. But how good? I finally see the clock at the end and it says 19:28. 19:28?!?!?!?!?!? I quickly check my Garmin which shows the same time but only 3.03 miles. Those crazy race directors. The course is a little short but I know I still set a PR. But by how much? My age group is 0-25 and all the guys in front of me were 25 or under so I know there will be no age group award for me this race. I'm ok with that. I'm anxious to get home and figure out what my time will be.
Math Time: I get home and see that my last 1.03 mile, I averaged 6:15 pace. Plugging that into a pace calculator shows that if I had kept that 6:15 pace for the last .07 mile then I would have run a 19:54. I have no doubt I would have done that since my watch actually shows that I was running close to 5:00 pace the last tenth of a mile before the race ended.
Total time: 19:54 (6:34, 6:30, 6:15)
I have shattered my old PR by 48 seconds.
I have broken 20 minutes for a 5K.
I have finished a race incredibly strong.
I am a happy man today. Look out Boston, I'm coming after you. Thanks for reading!
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