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| Max's Race June 28, 2008 (Read 283 times) |
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posted: 6/28/2008 at 3:43 PM
modified: 6/28/2008 at 5:25 PM |
I ate a pretty big supper at 7 last night so I wasn't very hungry this morning. I slept good with about 7.5 hours sleep and awoke at 6:20. Ate a banana then took a shower and got dressed for the race. It was 70 degrees and pretty muggy at 90% humidity but todays course was one of the fastest and i had circled it on the calendar since January so I was going to try to break 20 today.
I ran 1.3 miles slow warmup at 8 am (1/2 hour before the race) and fekt okay though it would be nice if the temp was 10 degrees cooler. I then ran 3 minutes at race pace finishing up about 22 minutes before race start. Then I got in my car and got my racing flats on and chip. I took some ice from my cooler and held it to my chest to cool off. I took no vivarin today. I was hoping that my heart rate would be lower on mile one and that would help me to a faster start.
Right at the start lineup I saw Gerard Wilbrink...who had run 19:35 a week or two ago..I told him I was going to pace behind him if thats okay...he said yes...I said "Are you going to try to break 20?" and he said "yes" and mentioned his last race he had splits of 6:18, 6:20, 6:22 which was the perfect race for him. That sounded pretty fast but I was glad he was there. Gerard was standing by another guy - about 45-50 years old who was also going to try to run with Gerard. They pointed to a short 12 year old boy in yellow shorts near the start line and said he was also a 20 minute runner. So I had lots of targets.
Well I felt decent and hoped that I could keep the pace in the humidity. The starting horn went off and I started at a nice clip...not too fast or slow...and watched a bunch of runners go around me quickly. I saw the youngster in yellow shorts quickly racing out about 6 seconds ahead of me but did not see Gerard yet so I thought I was good for pace. After about 90 seconds Gerard passed me on the left. I quickly filled in behind him.... somehow another masters women got in between us shortly thereafter so it was clear there are a lot of runners who like to pace. Gerard had a good clip but it was nothing I couldn't handle....around the 4 minute mark he threw in a surge and got a few seconds lead on me. I was in a group of about 6 or 7 runners and I could not make my way back to him so I was concerned. I finally concentrated and reeled Gerard back in over a stretch of a couple hundred yards. It felt like we were going a little slower than 20 minute pace so I was a little worried but I had to trust Gerard.
Then I saw the mile mark approaching....I was very happy to hit the mile mark in 6:18...a new personal best for the 1st mile of a 5k race....I am 9 seconds ahead of sub 20 I thought....nice start...but the 2nd mile hurts and I knew I was going to have to get to 2 miles in sub 13 to have a shot...and knew the long uphill would slow me down soon. I tried to keep the same pace but as I said I knew I would slow some on mile 2...at about the 9 minute mark we hit the uphill....I caught Gerard as he was starting to have some trouble....I passed him about a quarter way up the hill and he said "your on your own now" and I gave him the thumbs up and said "thanks"....I latched on to a 40 year old runner who I knew was about a 20 minute pace guy and went up the hill smoothly. I was tiring but had run much steeper hills last week and knew I would gain a second wind on the way down the hill.....so I got to the top.....grabbed a cup of water for the 1st time this year and tossed it into my face....then I ran the downhill hard and went passed my 40 year old pacer.
I thought I was keeping a good clip and thought I would be under 13 at 2 miles....I saw the 2 mile mark coming and continued to run hard to try to get as far under 13 as I could to give me hope for the last 1.1 mile...I was again very pleased to hit 2 miles in 12:48! A 2 mile record by 13 seconds. Now the wheels were turning in my head though I knew I shouldn't think it just is the way I am..I was trying to figure how fast I needed to run mile 3...It would have to be about 6:35 which seems quite doable but I was leaving nothing to chance today. I remembered how I said I would run the last mile like the devil was chasing me...I kept thinking I need to put this to bed today so I don't have to train so hard anymore. Kill myself today so I won't have to hurt so much tomorrow. I hit 16 minutes and I must passed the young kid with yellow shorts as a volunteer said "nice job you are a little guy your not supposed to be this far up in the race" . I was running much too fast now...Desire is what propelled me...I wanted to get it over with.....17 minutes....I don't remember much of anything really. At around 17:30 I think I knew I had sub 20 for the 1st time....I wanted to get as far under 20 as I could since the race was using chip time....leave no doubt....and also I thought I am not going to want to run this fast again for a Long time so I might as well bury my old record by as much as possible.
I came to the last quarter mile and I was close to 18 minutes so it was pretty much official as long as I didn't pass out on the course.A girl was leading me by about 10 seconds but she was pretty strong. I drove towards the finish and saw the clock in the 19:20s! I didn't have much left at this point but came across the line in a final time of 19:35! Unbelievable! The camcorder was there ... my sister in law taped my finish I was so pumped! I was ready to do my somersault when a race volunteer asked for my chip so I had to wait to do my gymnastics until I got my chip off!
My sister in law taped the finish so I am going to get this sucker on youtube when I open an account there!
Amazing....Worth every mile and all the sweat and hours I trained the past 4 years! |
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posted: 6/28/2008 at 4:18 PM |
Congrats!!! We knew you had that sub 20 in you. Now when are you going to break 19  |
| Son, when you participate in sporting events, it's not whether you win or lose; it's how drunk you get. -- Homer Simpson |
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posted: 6/28/2008 at 5:06 PM |
| Outstanding MichiganFlyer - way to go. |
Race Reports and Training Summary
"You've got to get to the state in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing" -- Arthur Ashe
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posted: 6/28/2008 at 5:06 PM |
| Nice work, you earned that. |
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posted: 6/28/2008 at 5:31 PM
modified: 6/29/2008 at 1:02 PM |
H$ll yes! You did it and you crushed it! I knew you could do it. Fantastic!
I was thinking about your race while I was running my 20 miles this morning. I just knew you had it in you! Heck now sub 19 is in your sights. I know you will get that one this year also.
Again, congrats on a fantastic race! Great pacing I might add!
Definitely, put the video up on youtube. I want to see it. It has been a long time coming but you did it. Pat yourself on the back and take a break. Your hunger for racing will come back quickly. Savor the victory for now and you will be right back out there ready to break 19:00 before you know it! |
| http://runningahead.com/profiles/69d214e40d824ad0b0a73c925d655a13 |
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posted: 6/28/2008 at 6:39 PM
modified: 6/30/2008 at 5:21 AM |
Ok, I'll admit it. I skipped right to the last paragraph to find the great news. Wow! The barrier has been broken!
This was a well deserved victory and it has been fun being along for the ride. Now it's time to go back and carefully read all the details.
Well done! |
Masters PR's:
40's - 5k 16:39; 10k 33:48, HM 1:15:27, Marathon 2:43:12
50's - couch potato
60's - 5k 19:02, 10k 38:35, HM 1:26:33, 30k 2:06:26 |
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RunAsics view log |
posted: 6/28/2008 at 8:54 PM |
Awesome race! Congratulations on crushing the 20 min mark! All you had to do was listen to us telling you to hit the mile in 6.20 or less...  Celebrate well then start planning how to go sub 19... |
"Only a few more laps to go and then the action will begin, unless this is the action, which it is."
5k PR: 18:15 (2008); 8k PR: 30:19 (2008); 10k PR: 39:04 (2008); 10M PR: 1:04:18 (2008); HM PR: 1:28.03 (2008) |
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posted: 6/29/2008 at 1:25 AM |
| Great job, Mich! We all knew you could do it! |
2008 Goals
Sub-19 5k: ALMOST...19:02 (4/12/08)
Sub-40 10k: DONE...39:54 (5/26/08)
Sub-90 HM: DONE...1:29:56 (4/6/08) |
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Roth Runner view log |
posted: 6/29/2008 at 8:04 PM |
Great Result Michigan!
You deserved to get so far under 20 after all the hard work in the last few months.
Next up, sub 40 for 10k then?!! |
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posted: 6/30/2008 at 2:54 AM |
Great job. Congrats. Report long but excellent. Everyone should read it without skipping to the end. I did not
skip. I was tempted. |
Run until the trail runs out
2008 TARGET 150 MONTH
2009 TARGET 40/40 |
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| view log Potato Grower |
posted: 6/30/2008 at 11:13 AM |
| I've been following the sub 20 5K thread for a while now. Way to stick with it. Congratulations. |
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posted: 6/30/2008 at 7:09 PM |
| I too have been following your quest for some time. In fact, I used to read this thread on coolrunning. Gratz on, as someone else put it, crushing 20. |
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