2010 - 10km < 38 minutes + 5km < 18 minutes (Read 4038 times)

I reckon both Noyau, it'll be good to have a proper race in the 3k, and I reckon you can still run sub 20 in the 5k even with a 3k in the legs - but I guess the PB would be out the window - either way you should have fun!

      Thanks a lot, this is the answer that I was looking for

    You are right, it is better to forget about anything else and run for fun, the rest should follow -somehow-...

    nyan

First of the summer 5k's for me last night. It's the same course I've posted on a lot with basically the first half up a 120' hill and then the second half down the same hill. Early this year I only managed 19:08 on the course on a windy day but last night the weather was just Southern California perfect.

Last night's race was part of the local grand prix so although it's a small local race (midweek makes it almost entirely locals) the competition is always good. In fact last night even though there were only 321 people 36 ran under 20, 18 ran under 19, 10 ran under 18 and 5 under 17.

I knew I wasn't going to be pushing 18 too hard last night but I wanted to get close enough that I'd feel it was possible with a few months fairly dedicated training that I'm now planning on. So I went out a little more aggressively than I normally would and hit the first mile in 6:03. Fairly pleased with that but it felt tough. Around the turnaround and back I at least had someone to race with. We picked off a couple of other runners and hit the second mile on the downhill in 6:09. The last 1.1 miles was in 6:19 (5:45 pace on the downhill mile) and I outsprinted the guy I was racing and came close to catching one more guy. We got the same time, 18:31, but he was still a couple of steps ahead at the line.

 Even though I was only 16th overall I took first place in my Age Group for the grand prix points (yay meaningless competition). I was pretty pleased overall. I'd liked to have been faster (wouldn't we all?) but I was happy to give it a full out effort and know where I stand. A little slower than my first run last year (18:23) but let's see what 12 weeks of dedicated 5k training can do......

New to the thread here now that marathon is done. I ran 17:39 (2 seconds shy of PR) and 2:54:58 (marathon PR) in consecutive weeks in April.

The three times I've run sub-18 (all in the last two years) have come in marathon/half-marathon prep. I will target the 5k and 5-mile from now through the summer.  Please add my name to the list of sub-17 hopefuls. I've never had this ambition until now, and feel light years away, but what the hey.

I don't have a 10k to target but there is a quality 5-mile race in mid-July that I am pointing towards. I hope to find a couple 5ks along the way.

I am going to give it another go on Sunday. 

I will be running the Quad Cities distance classic 5K being held this Sunday.  The race info describes the course as "fast and flat" so I think I may have a shot.  (after my trail experience last weekend, I was looking very closely for this detail)  I got a map of the race course so I can run it this Saturday to get a feeling for the course.  I have found that I do much better on courses that I am familiar with, mostly for mental reasons.. 

My goal is to break 18:17 which is my standing PR, but I will be more than happy for any bonus.  We will see... I want to go out in 5:55 to 6:00, and try to run negative splits on the next two miles.

My hopes are high since I had a nice 3 mile tempo at the track yesterday.  I ran the 3 miles in 18:42 despite a decent wind and it didn't feel too hard.

Nice to hear everyone's progress.  Keep up the good work.  Nice race John, good start to the season.  Welcome roots, good luck on hitting sub 17.  Noyau, good luck on your upcoming races.

Good race John, it sounds like you had a good battle down the stretch.  You are definitely back on an upward curve at the moment.

 

I still haven't managed to get a race in yet this year which is pretty pathetic, but I'm hoping to start with a 5k in a few weeks time.  I was supposed to do a 10k tomorrow but I'm skipping it to try and get a bit fitter first.

 

Good running all - noyau, let us know how your track races go.

    3k, 10:35 2nd place

    5k, 19:15 1st place

    Everything was as planned, I race the 3k, with one strong rival (10k sub38 guy). I try to control the race staying in the 2nd or 3rd place. But I did my mistake and surge too early in the last 400, well, the guy was stronger in finish, he passes me in the last 100 meters to win with a 10:32. I may have a chance if I wasn't that hectic, anyway that was my first track race and my first 3k, that wasn't too bad. I think that was even a nice finish to watch -for the  other team of course -

    5k race was 1 hour later. After 3k finish I ate a piece of bread with peanut butter and then jog on the grass.

    With the gun 4 guys went out fast, I prefer to stay in the second group some 200 meters behind. I was tired so I didn't hurry After the first mile I leave the pack and start surging (to a pace of 3:45 per km). I catch the fourth and third guy easily, then attack for the 2nd place. I catch the leader before the last mile and slow down right on his back. I was feeling good then intuitively I start my surge in the last 700m. In the last 400 I was already 50m ahead. I was able to hold my pace in the last 400, and finish comfortably without any thread.

    I enjoy racing on the track. We'll see the progress next year.

    Next race in one week, a local 6k.

    Good luck to all with upcoming races, and John, that's a good start.

   noyau

168th overall/53,000

runInBlack - How'd it go?

The race had a joint start with both the half marathon and 5K starting together.  The half marathoners would run with us for the first mile before turning off.  Between the half marathoners and the 5Kers, I had quite a bit of company for the first mile.

The crowd started to thin out around the 1 mile mark.  I came through with 5:54.  This is right where I wanted to be.

There is slight uphill grade near the 1.25 miles (hesitant to call it a hill, but it sure as hell ain't flat).  I was able to pass several runners on the way up the hill, and then I settled into the place I would hold for most of the race.  The next closest runners where a group of 3 about 200 meters ahead of me.  I would spend the next mile running alone. 

I came through mile 2 at 11:50 (5:56 pace).  Perfect, I thought.  I told myself to stay relaxed and controlled.  I knew we had one more turn and then it would be about 3 quarters of a mile to the finish.  This is where I hoped to pick up the pace.

After turning the corner, I started to turn it on a bit.  I knew we had one small climb and then it was downhill to the track for 1 final lap.  Over the next half mile, I closed in on the group of 3 runners ahead of me.  I slowly closed the gap.  By the time I caught them, one had broken away.  I slowed temporarily to the pace of the two runners that remained.  I ran with them for about a hundred yards before I made my move.  I made my pass on the uphill section and I was able to hold my lead to the finish. 

When I hit the track, I cranked it up and sustained a very fast last quarter mile.  The one runner who had pulled away from the other 2 was about 150 meters of ahead of me as I circled the track.  I came through the finish and looked up to see a time of 18:30.

I was a little surprised to see the time of 18:30 because I knew that based on the splits I was running, I should have been under my old PR of 18:17.  Now, my Garmin shows the race distance to be 3.17 Miles which would put this at least 200 meters longer than a 5K.  I would like to avoid turning this into a Garmin accuracy post (enough of those already of this forum), but given the relatively few turns on this course, I put a little bit of faith in my trusty old Garmin.  I know that the 1st and 2nd mile markers hit exactly when my Garmin clicked over the mile split.  This leads me to believe that something was off in the last mile (whether Garmin error or human measuring error, I can't be sure).  But I will say that it felt like I nailed that last mile. 

Splits:

1 Mi - 5:54.32

1 Mi - 5:55.96

1 Mi - 5:51.01

 0.17 Mi - 0:50.06 (4:55 pace)

Overall, this was a great effort for me.  The result matched up very closely with where I expected my fitness to be.  It is safe to say that even if the Garmin was 100% accurate, I would not have went sub 18 anyways, more like 18:10.  I have 2 more races planned in May before I take a little cut back time and start to build for the fall. 

The sub 18 mark appears to be in sight.

noyau - Good running, thanks for reporting back.  Any tips for the 3k? I have my first ever track 3k coming up in 5 weeks. (A week after the State Street Mile where Ken is hopefully going to come and show me how it's done.) Did it seem like a long mile race or a short 5k? I haven't raced on a track in over 30 years (!) so I'm kind of looking forward to it. My race will be in 4 heats and my likely time puts me either at the very back of heat 4 or the front of heat 3. I suspect the former will get the best performance out of me even if it only comes from busting my ass to not get lapped. Actually that's probably a doomed cause, the winner is usually close to 9 even (9:01, 9:06, 9:05 last 3 years) so I'd have to cover 6.5 laps in 9:00 to not get lapped. That's 5:35 pace or 10:23 for 3k. Doh! 9:06 is 5:38 pace which is 10:30. It's (hopefully) going to be close folks.

 

 

 

    John, that's a hard question, I would prefer to say that it was more like a short 5k. I realize that I was more concentrated on the track, may be just because of the monotony -that may have a counter effect to someone else-. Race was over too fast, so I would suggest that you find a challenging pace for yourself (like a little less then 3:30/km), then try to push it in the last 1 or 2 rounds.

    I use my spikeless mach11 for the 5k, that was good.

    good luck.