A Tale of Two Races

Since I've last updated this thing, I have pretty much completed my 5K
racing season for the year. While I didn't break 16 minutes this "season" I did lower my PR by a few seconds, which at least shows me that I haven't completely lost my speed. I do still feel that I could break 16 if I were to dedicate myself to it for a few months, but it isn't something that I really enjoy doing so I'll probably skip that. As I mentioned a few times on Saturday before, after, and possibly even
during the race, 5Ks hurt and I hate them. Yeah, I know. Nice attitude.

On the 4th of July I ran my first 5K this year and finished in a disappointing time of 16:46. I did win the race and justified the time with the excuse that there wasn't anyone who really challenged me at all during the race after the first mile. My splits were 5:15, 5:30, and 5:30(ish), so overall it was just a sluggish performance. My legs felt really heavy for about the first mile and I never really felt like I was
running smooth the whole race. I'm not sure why this was surprising to me, as I have done very little fast training lately, but the confidence was still a little shaken, and thoughts of being washed up were slowly creeping into my psyche.

Despite the negative thoughts, I was able to get in a good week of training after the 4th of July race. While I didn't do any runs that would translate to 5k specific training, I did make it a point to incorporate strides into my post run routine a few times during the week. One thing that really stuck with me after the first race was how heavy my legs felt during that first mile. I think it was related to the fact that they just aren't used to running that fast. I wanted to make sure that the same thing wouldn't happen again the next time.

So this past weekend was my town's annual festival where they block off the downtown area and have all the food booths, beer tents, carnival rides, etc. It's a nice little event really. As part of the festivities, they added a Twilight 5K to the mix 4 years ago. Since then I have been able to win it all 3 years with times of 17:56, 16:53, and 16:43. I realize that there is nothing spectacular about any of those times, but it is a small race so that has been good enough for the win each year. For some reason this year, I was expecting a faster crowd and my hunch was quickly confirmed when I arrived at the registration table on race day. There was a local runner who I've raced many times throughout the years in various races throughout the region. While I usually can take him in the longer races he has me in the speed department so I knew that if I wanted to extend the streak I would have my work cut out for me. While I'd like to say that this is a friendly rivalry it really isn't. I've tried to strike up a conversation with this guy a few times in the past, and he wants nothing to do with me. Plus, he has nipple rings. To be honest, that annoys me.

The race starts out on about a half mile downhill slope and I knew that if I wanted any chance of a decent time I would have to go out hard, as this same hill comes into play in the last half mile of the race as well. It was a pack of 3 throughout the first mile, (the guy I knew about, a younger kid, and me) and we came through mile 1 in 5:03. Things felt much better than last week and while my breathing was heavier than I would have liked, the legs felt fine. Since that first mile is almost completely downhill followed by 2 miles of mostly uphill running ("hill" being a relative term of course), 5:00 was just about right on target. Shortly after mile 1, we dropped the high school kid (a nice kid, who wound up finishing 3rd and is on his way to Holy Cross for Cross Country season in a few weeks…I think I'll have to worry about him next year), and the other guy put a surge in and put about 10 yards between him and me.

Things stayed that way through mile 2, which I came through in 10:23 and I was really starting to feel it at this point. The guy in front of me was showing no signs of letting up and I didn't reallydidn ’t think I had another gear to go get him. It was all I could do to just keep the gap at 10 yards and give myself a chance at the end. At about 2 and a quarter miles, we took a turn where we had about a quarter mile of a slight downhill slope. For some reason, coming off of the corner, the leader took a really wide turn, while I cut it hard and I pulled even with him. We ran together until we made the final turn and headed up the biggest hill on the course, that pretty much lasts the entire last half mile. At this point, I figured if I wanted to have a shot at the win, I needed to push now. This guy has about 4 inches on me in the height dept. and I think if it came down to a sprint, he would beat me pretty handily. So I charged up the final hill trying to put as much distance between him as possible.

My legs were hurting in a whole different way during this last half mile. My quads were screaming at me and my lungs were on fire. I just kept thinking that any second now, this guy was gonna come up on my shoulder for one last push before the finish line. Even as I came through the 3 mile mark, I still didn't feel secure that I was going to win. Finally the finish line came and I could look back to see how close the race actually was. Once we made that final turn and headed up the hill, the guy must have just died, because somehow we went from being in a dead heat, to him finishing 28 seconds behind me. My final time according to my watch was 16:18, although the official timer got me at 16:22, a new PR either way.

Due to the course layout, this isn't a particularly fast course and with the late start, temps are never really optimal so it does give me hope that there is still room for improvement. Also, and this is just a gut feel, somehow I think I might have broken through some mental barrier during that last half mile. I was hurting like I never had before in a short race and somehow managed to push through it. My last mile was only a 5:30 or so but since most of that was uphill it was a well-earned 5:30. I'm still not a great 5K runner and I doubt I ever will be. But maybe, just maybe, I'm learning to not hate them anymore. Of course that's easy to say now, since I won't have to run another one for another year or so.