As mentioned in the dailies, today I ran a 5K in 19:12.  That is a 33 second PR.  (tl; dr - that's the gist of it).  I really didn't see this coming, and I had no reason to believe I had this in me.  New Coach has changed up my training quite a bit.  While my weekly mileage is still in the 50 range, I am doing shorter runs but running more frequently.  Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday doubles in a row have become normal.  Not to mention I am also biking and swimming more.

My tempo interval targets have been 6:15 pace for 2-3 minutes, but I've only been able to hit 6:25 or so.  My tempo blocks have been solid, in the 6:40-6:50 range.  Still, nothing I've been doing suggests I could hold a 6:12 pace for 3.1 miles.  I was hoping to PR today (19:45), though I thought that was a stretch goal and would have been thrilled with 19:59 again.  It's just fun seeing a 19 on the clock.

Turkey Day races seem to bring out all the fast runners.  I figured I was just racing myself, and prior results pointed to that as well.  Race started promptly at 6:45 so folks could finish and get to the Manchester Road Race.

I lined up behind a bunch of kids from area track teams.  They went on to take most of the top 20.  I kept my effort "5K easy", which is still a good effort but not 5K painful.  I held that effort for the first half of the race.  I was holding a comfortable pace in the 6:teens, but I didn't push harder because I was expecting a fade and didn't want to blow a sub-20.  I finally started to feel it about midway through mile 3.  I had something left in the tank though and was able to speed up the last half mile.  Never in this race did I get that "This sucks, it needs to end, I am going to die!" 5K pain.

I had been checking my pace but not my time on my watch.  I could see the finish line clock from about a quarter mile away but couldn't quite read it.  I could see the minutes in the teens and the seconds ticking up from 40, and figured I was going to miss a sub-20.  Too far away without enough time.  I thought "No big deal...I'll take 20 and change."  I was kicking it hard to the line, trying to finish strong.  When I got close enough to the clock, I saw it click from 18 to 19 and I thought, "Wait, what??"  I crossed the mat and let out a big "WOOO!" with some fist pumps, not knowing exactly when I crossed the mat.  I stopped the Garmin and it read 19:14.  So, I assumed a short course (been there before).  Nope.  3.10 on the nose.  Official results had me at 19:12.  Normally I'd e-mail the wife to let her know how I did, but I called her for this one.

Splits were 6:18, 6:12, 6:15, 5:11.

I really didn't expect this and I don't know where it came from.  Obviously you never know how you are going to do when you line up for a race.  Had I known I was in 19:12 shape, I absolutely could have squeezed 13 more seconds out of this race.  I ran the first two miles carefully.   Maybe today I caught lightning in a bottle, just had a great day, and this was an anomaly.  Could very well be.  But my next 5K is next weekend.  I never expected to be knocking on the door of 18: xx this year, but you better believe I am now gunning for it.

1/25 in my AG, which won me this snappy trophy (also served as a nice family Thanksgiving dinner centerpiece today, I shit you not).

21/618 OA

Congratulations.  Now that you know what you are capable of doing without entering the pain cave, when will you try your next really really hard attempt?

Someone didn't read all the way to the bottom of the report.  NEXT WEEKEND!

Truly impressive performance, to get this kind of improvement in a 5k. Testament to the level of fitness you built up during marathon training. Or the new coach & training methods. WTF do I know, I am completely clueless about this stuff. But while you can have a bad day for a number of reasons, I don't think you can "catch lightning in a bottle" - if you ran that fast, that's how fast you are. And as you know the great thing about 5k's is that you need virtually no recovery, so you can take what you learn in a race and quickly run another and make adjustments. This stuff is fun, marathons are bullshit. Now go get that 18: xx.

Great racing Boon! It is nice to see you finally get your just deserts after all of the running you have put in. And with a VDOT of 52 the equivalent race times are like a forest full of dangling gold plated carrots!

I know that you felt great, but I'm not sure you should've raced this any differently so don't beat yourself up too bad over those13 seconds. That's a ton of time at the 5k level, and had you raced the first mile any differently it may have changed the outcome for worse. Thankfully, you won't have to wait long to find out if you can run a 6:05 for 3.1 miles.

Congrats man, this result has been a long time coming!

Given your love for bling-bling that trophy is perfect. You should almost put a string through it and wear that bitch around your neck.

Thanks, guys!!

 

THAT'S A 3:07 MARATHON, BABY!!

OF COURSE I headed right over to the ol' McMillan predictor and had a good LMFAO at my other race equivalents.

Normally when I cross the finish line of a 5K, I am in a world of hurt and bordering on puking.  I wasn't even close to that yesterday.  This was also a rare 5K in which I feel I left time on the course.  With an unexpected 19:12 now in my pocket, I'm playing with house money and have nothing to lose by really laying it out there in my next one.

 don't beat yourself up too bad over those13 seconds

I know, but 18:59.

I'd say 18 is as good as got.

Great race. Maybe previous races were too close to your marathon and the shorter workouts have helped you recover?

Congratulations!  I think with the change of focus from the marathon to the IM, you are running less or equal miles, but doing other XT that is actually helping your legs heal while working them hard.  And the new coach, all made it possible.  Your legs have been ready for a while; you just needed a good day.  ANd you had it!