Notes
WashU 5k
First race in a little under a month. Had a good feeling of what I could run based on my previous workouts. Was seeded much slower than I expected. However, I decided that the best way to fight it is to destroy the time. Unfortunately, my regular running shoes were soaked from yesterday's run and I did not stuff newspaper to help dry it early enough, so I had to use my other running shoes that were super old. Definitely felt the pounding, but figured 15 minutes of it shouldn't hurt me that much anyway. The plan was to just go out near the front because there were 35 people and I did not feel like being boxed in or having to play catchup.
Started off near the front as expected with Jared and Weem around me. Felt fine for the first mile and was in a very good position as well. The coaches near the start of the race kept shouting 76 for each 400, which I did not believe, but just ignored it anyway. Weem made a move for the lead and I covered it immediately, not wanting to risk falling behind in the race. Despite not wanting to take the lead until near the end, I ended up running side by side with him for a bit until a yellow shirt guy decided to take over there. For the next mile or son, the leads ere being switched and I was getting tired. Third mile, it was just mostly me hanging on to Weem for dear life because I was losing steam and I figured if I just stick with him, I'll be able to run a fast time. In fact, with 600m left, a coach said to a runner near me that sub 15:30 was possible, which was what I was aiming for. So, that kept me motivated and pushing past the aerobic pain that was continually getting worse until the bell lap. Jared was behind me the whole time, but I never really noticed because of the rule of never looking back during a race and he started to kick hard. He was gaining so much ground at this point and seeing that kind of broke me for a bit. Snapped out of it and started kicking hard myself. Caught a few guys that passed me earlier and finished 6th overall. Jared killed the last lap and ended up winning the race.
Positives: Really happy with the second mile because that's where I lose the most focus and slow down the most, but I stayed tough. Yuge PR. Destroyed my seed time as I wanted. First outdoor 5k of the season so far. First 4600m of the race was great. 6th overall.
Negative: Last 400m was not good. I should not have broken from Jared's kick and instead have been motivated to kick hard myself. I have to convince myself to dig deeper next time.
Overall: It's a good start to the outdoor season and I still have a lot left in me. Was heavily underseeded, but that just made me want to run even faster. Did exactly as I expected three Tuesday's ago.
https://www.runningahead.com/logs/4bbe0b63c0d04ca4814ad12e5ec1b1ca/workouts/da849ce424554778aae8dd08360ef440
Feeling very confident for Nationals and expecting to score some points for Men's Distance.