Sunday, April 27, 2014

Ravenswood 5k

My 5k PR was 19:02. I ran this in 2008 shortly before all my overtraining issues began. 19:02 is a number that has haunted me for a long time. It represented a fitness level that I thought I'd never reach again.

I was excited about this race and felt very confident that I'd PR. I was certain of it. The only question was by how much. I thought I had a chance of breaking 18.

I had followed the weather closely for the last few days and noticed that it would be windy. I hoped the forecast would change, but it didn't.

I've recently started training with the Track and Trough group here in Chicago. I met many of them for the first time at the race today. Great guys. We did a short warm up and lined up towards the front.

The course ran through a part of town called Ravenswood. It's a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood and it was a nice change of pace from the typical city race.

The first mile came out at 5:46. I was fatigued already and my breathing was labored. But overall the pace felt appropriate. It felt like a pace I could hold onto for the remainder of the race. And it would have put me just under 18:00.

I didn't notice much wind because the wind was coming from the East and the first 2 miles were South and West. The fatigue was in full swing, but I hung on as best I could in the 2nd mile. The 2nd mile is usually where I really struggle in a 5k. My splits for past 5ks usually go "fast, slow, fast". But despite the pain, I didn't feel the need to slow down. I attribute this to the mileage I've put in over the last few months.

Mile 2 came out to 5:51. Even though I slowed down a few seconds, I was pleased with this. I thought I had enough gas in the tank to pull a big negative split and get that sub 18. I'm always able to dig deep at the end. A strong last mile is my thing.

Shortly after mile 2 I turned East and I was blasted in the face by wind. Just nailed by it! I could tell that I had slowed dramatically. It was a steady stream of strong wind. I did my best to fight it, but I could tell the wind was taking its toll. It didn't help that I was breaking away from a pack of 5 guys and there was nobody ahead of me.

I spend most of mile 3 in no-man's land, fighting the wind by myself.

With a half mile remaining I pressed the pace as best as I could, but I couldn't really speed up that much. With such strong winds,  just being able to maintain my pace was an accomplishment. I did break away from that pack and I passed a few stragglers here and there. I didn't get passed in the last mile.

With a quarter mile to go I kicked as hard as I could, but it was hardly a kick at all. I was just trying to maintain and keep pressing forward. I knew I wasn't gonna break 18:00, but I still wanted to leave it all out there. I crossed the finish line completely exhausted and knew that I left it all out there.

Mile 1- 5:46
Mile 2- 5:51
Mile 3- 5:51
0.1- 0:40

FINISH- 18:10 (5:52 pace)



I PRed by almost a minute. A PR that has stood for 6 years. The wind got me pretty badly in the last mile, but Josh Cox says "No complaining when you PR". I like that rule.

For a local race this was a very competitive race. I finished in 37th place, and the top 15 guys were under 17 minutes.

Overall I'm very happy with today's result. I know I can do better, and I still think there's a lot of room for improvement. I haven't started speed training yet. The purpose of today's race was to get a measure of my 5k fitness off base training alone. I'm curious to see what I can run in the fall after a few months on the track.