After the last Al Goldstein race two weeks ago, I decided that my goal is now to chase down a 21:40 5K.  Sounds random, but that would break the magic 7:00 barrier.  Some calculators say that 21:43 would still be 6:59, but that sounds weird, so 21:40 it is.  I figured if I keep chipping away and getting two-second PRs, I’d get there by the end of the summer.

No better day to try that than one with a dew point temperature above 70°, right?  I do adore inhaling lungfuls of air infused with so much moisture that you can’t help but choke on it.  And to really maximize my chances of a PR in these tropical conditions, why don’t I break one of the cardinal rules of running and wear a pair of shoes fresh out of the box?

I bought these on Tuesday.  There was no time to try them before the race.  Yes, I could have worn another pair, but I was too eager to try these out.  I know this is the T7 Racer, and it’s billed as a competition flat… but if I only looked at the specs, I wouldn’t categorize it that way, I’d consider it more of a lightweight trainer.  Anyway.  I ran to the park in them, and they felt okay, but not particularly mind-blowing.

Then, out of habit (even though it made no real sense since this was about an hour before the start), I threw in a few strides as I approached Lakeside.  And that is where these shine.  They felt so snappy and responsive!  It made me very happy.

Those two dudes in front of me parked themselves there two minutes before the gun.  As a chronically early person, I was pretty much the first one at the start line.  All the more time for me to wonder why the hell I keep doing this to myself, because I am going to throw up and the race hasn’t even started yet.  (Ben can attest to the fact that I really did say this.  Repeatedly.)

Mile 1: Zoo Hill.  I’ve always said that I don’t mind the hill in training, but I hate it in races.  Now I think that’s not quite true.  When I’m not racing, it seems to go on forever, but if I’m running faster, it’s over with a lot sooner!  Even though near the end of this mile, when the hill was but a memory, I decided that 5Ks are stupid and I vastly prefer half marathons.  There was someone at the first mile marker calling out splits, and I passed him just at 7:00.  Perfect!

Mile 2: This is downhill and always the fastest section of the park for me, no matter what race distance I’m running, or the point at which it shows up.  I tend to slack off a bit because of that, relying on gravity to do the work, so it’s a good thing I had my snappy shoes reminding me to keep up the turnover!

Mile 3: Looking at the splits from my Garmin, I can see that this mile actually has a greater elevation loss than the previous one.  I can’t understand that — I struggle even more in this mile than the first one, when I have to contend with the hill.  I mean, I know it’s at the end of the race, but it still seems disproportionate.  My cadence did drop a bit, which could be attributed to fatigue… but when Arnie zoomed past me around the 2.5 mile mark and said, “ALMOST THERE,” I managed to tell him to shut up.  If I have the energy to talk, I should be able to run faster.

Mile .1: Someone was calling out splits at the third mile marker.  I passed him as he yelled, “21 minutes!”  That’s a 7:00 pace exactly.  And then I saw the clock, and realized how close I was, but… not close enough.

My Garmin recorded 3.11 miles in 21:42, 6:59/mi.  (Actually, the watch itself said 6:58.  Hmph.)

Officially?  3.1 miles in 21:41, 7:00/mi.  7:00!  Really?!  Are you kidding me?  GAH!!!  I was quite annoyed when they posted the results and I saw that.  For some reason, the initial list didn’t have AG placements on it, so I counted it myself to see whether I’d placed in the top three.  I had a major blonde moment and forgot that they use five-year AGs; I was counting F 30-39, in which case I would have landed in fourth place.  So I cut out on the awards / medal distribution and ran home instead, missing my moment of pseudo-glory.

Now someone can feel free to come slap me upside the head for being just the teensiest bit annoyed with myself for not pushing harder during that last 1.1.  I guess, after three sub-22:00 5Ks in a row, I should probably accept that it’s more than just a fluke… but I can’t help thinking that I won’t get another chance to come this close, and I’m irked that I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity when it was right in front of my face.

Yes, I am criticizing my performance in a 16-second 5K PR.  I’ll shut up now.

McMillan predictions!

1mi — 6:14.8
4mi — 28:11 (7:03/mi)
5mi — 35:57 (7:11/mi)
10K — 45:02 (7:15/mi)
15K — 1:09:46 (7:29/mi)
10mi — 1:15:16 (7:32/mi)
HM — 1:40:24 (7:40/mi)
FM — 3:31:17 (8:04/mi)

Is this guy on drugs?!?!  I’m going to run the Fifth Avenue Mile under 6:15 like a hole in my head.

Approaching the finish! Photo courtesy of Linus

Argh, so close!  Excellent job!  I am sure you'll get it the next time!  Sweet shoes!

D'oh!!  This reminds me of when I needed to run to run a sub-1:45 HM to qualify for a seeded start in a marathon, and I ran a 1:45:00 HM.  

LRB -- A, shut up about the mile.    B, 21:42 to 21:36 is six seconds, so that's a world of difference!  (The training thing, though... once the miracles stop happening, I'll actually have to do 5K-specific training.  Wah!)

Docket -- thanks!!

Baboon --yep, that sounds like something that would happen to me!  I shouldn't really complain, though -- I didn't imagine I'd get this close on my first try.

 

I thought you knew, I suck at math.

So do I.  I used a calculator to double-check. 

Just hang on till it cools down, and you'll smash right through that 21:40.

Still, knocking 16 seconds of your PR is great, once the weather cools down you'll get your sub 21:40

Thanks, guys... I have to actually RUN a fall 5K in order to do that, which might be tough since apparently I'm doing a slew of HMs.  How did that happen?