5000 meters, ran on an 200m indoor track with people from a local running club who rented the two inner lanes of the track for a couple of hours.
Finish time: 19:28
This was not a goal race. I am training for a 5K, but am not even halfway through a Daniels program, so I pretty much only did strength/speed work until now, and almost no VO2Max or endurance work. But the opportunity was too cool to pass, and I thought maybe I could do it. Even if I did not succeed, it was an automatic PR, and it would give me a reference for my next (and target) 5K scheduled on May 2nd. It was also a chance to meet some guys (and gals) of a running club I’m thinking I might maybe join in the future.
I was in wave 2. The speedy guys were in wave 1 (in the 16s and 17s). Wave 2 was for expected results of 18:30 to 21:30. After talking with everybody I pretty much knew how I would place. There was a young guy, in his early 20s, who was going to go for 18:30. He was going to finish first. Then there was an experimented guy, in his forties, who had run in the 18s in his twenty, but was well aware of his current fitness. He was going for 19:35 (47s /lap). There was a french guy, from France, who(m) I saw run before, and his normal running pace was way faster than mine. He had no idea how he was going to do in a 5K, but I knew he was going to finish ahead of me. Then, there was a rather shy guy, who was going for sub 20, like me. There were also 2 guys who were going to finish in the 21 something range. Shy guy decided he was going to try to follow experimented guy and go for 19:35. Since 20:00 means 48 secs/lap, I figured I could use them as pacers and go for a second faster per lap and shoot for 19:35 also, and if I couldn’t follow, then drop a bit.
Ready, set, go!
I followed experimented guy and shy guy for like 5 seconds and quickly realized they were going out too fast for me. So I dropped immediately and fell in my own pace. A few meters after that, French guy also dropped at about my pace, so I started following him from maybe 20 meters behind. I was pressing my lap button every 5 laps, meaning every 1000m. After a little while, Frenchy and I passed shy guy. Guess 19:35 was a little fast for him. A little later, we passed young guy. He really blew it. I was now third behind experimented guy, and right behind Frenchy. So here are my first 3 splits :
1 – 3 :56
2 – 3 :56
3 – 3 :57
In the 4th I was gaining on Frenchy. I didn't know if he was fading or conserving energy, but I passed him. He didn’t push to follow me so I slowly pulled ahead. I was now 2nd but experimented guy was almost half a lap ahead. I was also breathing pretty hard, and my legs were feeling tired. I was wondering if I was going to fade, but felt like I could probably hold the pace. So I just pushed a little bit in the 4th km, and held that faster pace for the 5th. I was not following Frenchy anymore, so felt like I should go with my gut feeling. I still thought I could hold, but didn’t care much if I faded a bit in the 5th because I had a few seconds in the bank. But I held. In the last lap, I wondered if I could make in sub 19:30 so I pushed just a tiny bit more but didn’t feel like I could push much for a whole 200m. So I went conservatively for most of the last lap, and after the last turn, I had some kick left for the last straight (30 meters maybe?) and gave it all I had.
4 – 3 :51
5 – 3 :45
Finished 2nd out of 7 behind experimented guy (19:13 if I remember correctly) and ahead of Frenchy (19:40 ish) with a time of 19:27.93 on my watch. There was no chip time, and the volunteers (runners from a different wave) clocked me at 19:27, and the another one at 19:28, so I’m happy with 19:28.
I think you have to edit your final time at the end. That, or I'm totally confused... Now I'm going back to read your RR.
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
What I mean at the end is that during the last lap I decided to go for sub 29:30, and did it. Maybe I should just remove the last sentence
MTA: Removed it. I was just repeating myself anyways, and confusing you at the same time.
Wait, did you run a 10,000 meter?
~~~~~~~
Traci
Well that is a great first 5k for you! Congratulations on placing so well! I wonder how that finish time would translate on the road? Probably into a faster time. All those turns must have been slowing you down... I like how you named everyone for us. But I'm not sure the French guy would appreciate being called "Frenchy", though.
Hahahaha, I'm only human!
Hip Redux
Your lap times add up to ~20 minutes not 29 minutes. How much did you drink in celebration? lol I'm confused lol
I'm confused too! I need a beer.
You too, right? I thought I was stupid, but if you're confused, and Traci as well... then Cy has more explaining to do.
Cy, what do you mean by 29:28? Shouldn't it be 19:28?
Maybe it's some sort of French metric time.
That I'm too old for, obviously...
My guess would be in a slower time. On a track, everything is perfect. On the roads, there is wind and hills. Even if there are no hills, the terrain is always uneven,
I have another one on May 2nd, and I *should* be better prepared. It will be in a park (parc Maisonneuve/ botanical garden), so I'll see if I'm faster on the street. But I really doubt it.
It's like new math. Kids these days.
Sorry people, yeah it's 19:28, not 29:28. I'll fix that.