Run a 5k in 20 minutes

I could feel it already during the warm-up. I was rather slow, weak and kind of unfocused. My throat was not yet completely OK, and I had a feeling that I had a slight fever during the day. And it was extremely hot for me, although the start was at 7:30pm. Anyway, I was sure it won’t be that great this night, but still was looking forward to the race. I started quite in the front, not so much hidden in the pack of slower runners as is my usual strategy. I guess I felt like I dont want to waste any energy dealing with traffic. I thought I went out not that fast but still came to the first mile mark at 6:32. I felt like my legs are from jelly, my arms have some invisible weights attached to them and my throat was dry as sand. I slowed down to try to find a more sustainable pace, but it seems there is not any. Menthaly i kept pushing harder and harder, but objectively I was slowing down. I could see my wife and friends cheering me up in the first of the two laps, but it was like running in a tunnel during the second lap, and had no idea where they were standing, although they all claim they were screaming loud like never before. The second mile was exactly 7min, and the third must have been even about the same. I came to the finish on the 49th spot (out of 482 finishers) quite wasted. I was completely exhausted, but not in a sense that you collapse, rest a bit and then can move on, but more like completely drained out of all my strength, so just lifting my hand with a bottle of water was already quite a feat even hours after the race. I felt like this next two days, which is very unusual for me. Next morning I got out for a recovery run and I could barely keep 10min/mile pace, coming home more tired than relaxed. but I am sure i’ll be better again.

I do not feel tired after the marathon anymore, but I have been sick for a couple of days. I ran only once this week, so it is hard to predict the result. Maybe it will help that I will not start that fast as usual and I may profit from it in the end. I am decided to push it the best I can, but if i do not improve this time I want be dissapointed. I am just looking forward to a great run, to meet all those people again and get cheered when passing thru the finish. And yes, I am looking forward to get the T-shirt too ;-))

I realized that my road shoes are not good enough for the great challenge of the dances with dirt. So I decided to go to my local runners store and get new shoes for the trail. I was helped by a very friendly guy, obviously a top runner of some sort. We chated about the shoes, trails and road running, mostly me talking – he mostly listening. But very friendly, helpful and patient. I also registered on the spot for the Sunday 5K race. Well then I told him thank you and good buy.
Next day I met him again at the race hanging out with couple of other guys and gals from the Playmakers team. So I asked him if he came to run or just to watch. He said that he decided to run after all. I asked for his age group worried that he may be just the one who will make the difference between placing 5th or worse for me … and yes, he is of same age, as I later learned he is actualy 1 day younger than me. So then there was a bit of jokes, that I will watch his back at the start, since it will be the last time I will see him … most probably.
Then I ran my own race … as he did his … I tried to find him in the results, but it was quite a riddle for me, who this guy was. Just today, studying the pictures from the race and googling all around the world I found out that the guy’s name is Grant Robison and he actualy did win the Sunday race in time 14:59. Moreover, he is former NCAA 1500m US champion and 2004 Olympian …

... but not there yet. I ran another 5K yesterday. It was supposed to be my last speed test before the marathon. I was hoping to run a good time and boost my confidence which has been shaken in last weeks by the knee injury. The course was flat and consisted of two loops around the Capitol in downtown Lansing. The weather was just perfect, cloudy and some 60F. I started quite fast coming to 1st mile mark at 6:28. I probably got scared of the pace and slowed down on mile two. There was a couple of people slowly passing me, but I tried not to care and just concentrate on the pace. I came to mile 2 mark at 13:18. Somehow I felt dissapointed that I slowed down that much, but I felt like I have nothing left. So I just kept running the best I could. Last half a mile was a little bit downhill and people started to push it harder toward the finish. Few youngsters and older guys came from behind. i tried to stay with them as long as possible. One of them was too fast and nobody could catch him, two others were slowly dying … I decided to kick it in the final turn and the last 100 meters which were again a little uphill. I still managed to pass 3 or 4 runners just before the finish line. I finished on the 37th place out of 418. To my great surprise I later learnt that I also placed 5th in my age group and thus won my second point into the playmakers ranking. yay to me !!! ;-)))

This race was a bit tricky since the start and finish were up on the 50-60feet hill. I was not sure how fast should I start, so I hid myself in the crowd staying somewhere around the first third of the whole field (600+ runners). After the start I could recognize one of my rivals, 66 years old Bill Keller who is an excelent runner with 22:40ish times, some 100 meters in front of me. So I decided to push it a little bit down that hill, but not really too much. It seemed that everybody started quite fast. However when we hit the flat ground I started moving forward, passing people by 3 or 4 at a time. I came to the 1st mile mark at 6:38 which did not seem that bad considering the hill. I was continuesly improving my position, but the gaps seemed to be larger and larger and closing on somebody became more difficult. Around the mid-way point I decided not to push it anymore and save some energy for the last climb. I wanted to stay within the striking distance of 2 or 3 guys who were some 10-20 yards in front of me. Together we came to the 2nd mile mark around 13:26 which seemed to be a promising time, but I really was not sure how much longer can I keep the pace. It seemed that one of the guys was loosing ground and the other was getting farther away. I decided to keep behind him no matter what … but my knees started to shake and my coordination was deteriorating. When we came to the last climb I was just about to give up. i tried to work with my hands and give it the final kick but there seemed to be just no fuel left. There was nobody in sight except those two guys both of them much older so they were no real competition for my age group ranking. But I just felt horrible seeing them advancing forward with me staying behind. There was last sharp curve and final 100 yards to the finish on the flat road. And I do not know really how, but just when I got to the top of the hill I felt like I am flying, doubling the lengt of my steps. Maybe I got facinated by the digital clock where I saw some unexpectedly good time … i just sprinted across the finish line, passing both of my companions with whom I was figthing the last mile. And there it was 21:06, 54th overall and 7th in my age group … no points today, and not even anywhere close, since the 5th guy ran in 19:40something. So I still have some time to make up, but I believe I will get there … in the end it is just a matter of time ;-))

... in Mason, MI. It is the third race of the 12 race series. It starts downhill and ends uphill. The rest is flat. I have not seen th ehill yet so I am not sure about my pacing and goals yet, moreover I am not sure how will I feel with my half-marathon in my legs from this last Saturday. But my morale is high and I am determined to kick it once more. I just hope we do not have any stupid group meeting in my work late in the afternoon.

... for the fifth place in my age group. This is absolutely incredible and beyond any expectations for me. It was my plan for the whole season to get at least one point in one of the 12 races of the Playmakers Series, but I would never ever think that I can get it already in the first one.
There were some 700 runners and I started somewhere at the end of the first 200 people. It was very hot and I felt like the sun is baking me alive. After the start I tried to control my pace, but it was difficult since I was passing so many people and always had to squeeze in between a couple of runners when I had a chance or I had to run on the grass … so the pace was going up and down until the first mile where I arrived at 6:52. That I thought was way too fast for me, so I tried to slow down a bit, but I was still moving forward and passing other people. I was getting very thirsty and my mouth was getting dry like a paper. There were some refresments at mile 2, but I thought that it is not worth it anymore and that it would only slow me down. I passed the 2nd mile mark at 13:52, which was still by far much faster than I would expect. I tried to kick it for the last mile, which started with a decent climb (~30-40 feet), but for a while I had troubles to keep the pace with the others. Going downhill was again better, although I had a feeling that my knees are shaking and I may fall at any time. My mouth was so dry, that when I closed it, the tongue got stuck to my palate and it was a bit of effort to open my mouth and breathe again. I had no guts to really kick it for last 1/4 mile but I tried at least to push harder. I passed 2 more runners shortly before the finish. I crossed the finish line at 21:30 which was beyond all my expectations, since my current PB (if I do not count times from 12 years ago when I ran 21:14 as my best) was 22:35 from a 5K I ran 4 weeks ago. I came in the 68th position and 5th in my age group. One of those guys I passed shortly before the finish ended up 7 seconds behind me and on the sixth place in my age group. Had I not passed him, that one point would be his. It was really close.
Anyway … I am getting closer to the magic 20:00 time … but not there yet, and I am sure it still will hurt to get there ;-)

It will be back on campus in East Lansing. It will be the first race of a Playmakers Series which has 12 races in total. So I expect quite a huge crowd and no chance for place anywhere near the top, but I hope to improve on my seasons best for 5K. Week ago I was feeling very fast and light, but had some minor troubles this week which at least slowed me down. Maybe that will help, since I will be much more relaxed. I will aim at 22:00, but I will be happy with anything better than 22:30. Lets see how it goes !!

During the warm-up I felt rather weak, but the race went quite well. I started from “deep in the crowd” which maybe was too conservative position. Right after the start we went through the parking lot where the parked cars created sort of a bottle neck and the pace was too slow for me. I tried to get more into the front, but the progress was not as good as I hoped for. I think I panicked a bit and pushed harder than I would normaly do. After 1/2 mile the field was stretched enough already to allow comfortable passing of slower runners. I was at mile 1 mark at 7:30, which was not that bad, but also no extra miracle. I decided to keep the same pace for the next half a mile still passing a lot of people along the way. the course then turned on a forest trail with some minor rolling hills which I surveyed on foot before the race. That was the time I decided to kick it a bit and I virtually flew over 10 runners who slowed down at the top of that tiny hill. I did not have many other runners to catch up anymore so I was just trying to hold the pace till I came to mile 2 mark at 14:44. I remember that I was so focused that I could not calculate my pace nor predict my finishing time. I just felt that I am quite fast, but was not sure if I dont die before the finish line. The last mile was almost a full loop around the lake, so one could see already the finish. I closed up on a group of 7 runners, but for a while I could not get close enough to attack them. Then half a mile to go, the course was slightly rising, maybe 10-15 feet over 500 meters, and somehow everybody seemed to slow down, except me. So I passed the group which I was unable to close on in last five minutes just during a couple of seconds. There were some more “stray” runners in sight which motivated me to keep pushing catching some of them before the finish. And suddenly there it was, the finish line and the usual yellow digital clock showing suprisingly 22:36 when I passed by. This means I made the last mile in 7:00, quite above all of my expectations, beeting my Iceman time of 23:55 by 79 seconds. Concerning the overall place, there was 73 out of 648 runners+walkers faster than me, which puts me at 11.4 % of the results list, not exactly 10% which I was having in my mind, but comparing to last years results, I was not the only one who improved over the winter. We will se next time ;-)

... since I had to skip the last weekend race. The weather might be just perfect, i.e. around 48F. There should be around 600 runners, and I would like to attack the top 10% ... i.e around 60th place. The time goal is still the same to beat 23:30. Then I will be happy, anything better would be a great and unexpected bonus.