Knocking off a bit of rust

[ksrunner]

This past weekend, I ran the Farmstead Stampede 5K. My goal for this race was to compete better. I feel that I've been a bit too conservative in my previous two races where I finished in 18:11 (road) and 18:56 (cross country). My other goal was to score a few points in a Grand Prix competition that scores the best 10 performances out of about 20 races. I am not the fastest runner in my age group this year, but with seven races remaining, Ken and I have each run three races and I am just two points behind. The door is cracked such that if Ken skips a race or two, I might step in and win some free race entries for next year -- though I will have to step up and win at least one race if he only skips one of the last seven races and I cannot place worse than second. Ken is training for a marathon, so I think it is possible that I might step up and win a 5K towards the end of the season if my training goes well.

For this race, I didn't want to have any mental excuses that would allow me to be too conservative, so I made sure that I got what I felt was a good warm-up and then headed for the starting line. I took my warm-up over the last 3/4 mile of the course to insure that I would recognize when I was approaching the finish line. I just jogged easily until I felt that any tightness in my legs was relieved and then turned and headed back -- gradually picking up my pace on the way back until I was approaching race pace. I went to my car and pinned my number on my shorts just in case I decided to run without my singlet. I also found that I'd forgotten a hat that I like to wear to keep the sweat from my eyes and the sun off of my head. So, I decided to tie a bandanna around my head to keep the sweat from my eyes. As a fashion statement, the bright green bandanna was probably a bad move, but it would be functional. I hadn't seen Ken yet, so I thought I might even pick up the overall master's win, but after I had done a couple of strides, I turned to my left and there he was. Apparently, we have different warm-up routines, because I never see him until right before the start. Ken's a nice guy. I like him, but of course I would also like to finish ahead of him. We exchanged greetings and shortly after that, they started the race.

The course is laid out like a big rectangle. We start on the road on the   east side running south. The south leg is a paved streamway trail about   a mile long. The only knowledge that I have of the course coming into the race is that the first turn onto the steamway trail was a big bottleneck last year and that there was a big hill shortly after you get on that trail. You exit the streamway trail onto the west side of the rectangle -- running on a paved path that parallels the street and you stay on that path all the way back to the finish. The north and south legs of the rectangle are just short of a mile long.
 
After the horn sounded, I got out well and found myself tucked into a pack with a lot of the area's best runners. There were several guys present who regularly run under 16:00. There was also one guy who went out very fast running a bit ahead of the pack. The turn onto the streamway trail turned out not to be much of a problem. I learned later that the RD had moved the start back a bit to allow the pack a longer distance to spread out before hitting the trail. Although I had never run this particular leg of the streamway trail, I ran a bit conservatively through here anticipating the large hill and a few guys went by me. As we approached the end of the first mile, I began to realize that the big hill that I was anticipating was not going to happen and that the rolling hills that we had been over were probably about it. I heard someone approaching from behind and I was sure that she was a female which was confirmed a moment later when Melissa pulled even with me. This is about the point that I wanted to get more aggressive in my racing. So, as she went to go past, I went with her and we started to pass people. I led Melissa most of the time, but we exchanged the places several times. Over the second mile, we passed 3-4 guys. At the corner where we turned back east just before the 2 mile marker, I took off my singlet and threw it at the feet of a course monitor telling her I would be back. Over the next 3/4 of a mile, we passed 2-3 more runners. I picked up the pace with about 800-1000m to go thinking that the next turn was the turn to the finish which meant that we only had about 1/4 mile to go, but I slowed again when I realized that it wasn't the correct turn. Melissa pulled a couple of steps ahead when I slowed, but as we approached the real final turn, I passed her again and began pushing for the finish. At this point, there was no one else whom I could catch and as I neared the finish, I could tell that no one was right behind me and I began to look toward the clock wondering about my time. There were spectators standing in front of the clock obscuring my view, and I couldn't see around them until just a few yards from the finish. When I got to an angle where I could read the clock, I was surprised to see it ticking toward 17:20. I knew that I wanted to break 18:00, but I didn't expect to do it so resoundingly. Needless to say, I was very happy with my run. My final time was 17:21.

Ken finished about 30 seconds ahead of me for the master's win and I am now four points back with 6 races to go. Since Ken won the master's award, I was allowed the age group award -- a medal and a technical shirt.

I've been feeling a bit jazzed about that race ever since and I am excited to continue training for faster times. Perhaps I can crack 17:00 this fall. Hopefully, I can take that competitiveness into my next race and run well even if Melissa doesn't show up.

Steve

[Ryan]

Steve, solid run! Keep up that competitiveness, get in a little more training, and in better fall weather I'd think sub-17 would be there for the taking.

[cesar]

Nice run Steve. It seems that you finally left the watch at home:D

[ksrunner]

Thanks Ryan and Cesar.

It seems that you finally left the watch at home:D

My watch broke in 2004 and I won a GPS in 2005 and that broke in April. So, I haven't had either a watch or GPS since April. The thing that was holding me back is that I was not confident in my fitness and so I ran too conservatively.

As far as getting a new watch or GPS is concerned, I may replace the GPS since I can do that relatively cheaply and I would like to use it to measure trail routes, for post-race analysis, and for some workouts. But, I may take the same approach that I took when my watch broke -- do without until I run well enough to win a replacement.

Steve

[Andrew A.]

Excellent!

[cesar]

Steve,


How do you do your workouts( repeats , tempos, etc) without a watch?

[ksrunner]

How do you do your workouts( repeats , tempos, etc) without a watch?

Cesar,

Tempos are not really something that I plan to do. They just happen if I am feeling good -- especially if I am feeling good and anxious to get home from work. As far as repeats, I answered that here under your post on heart rate monitors. As I mentioned in my previous post on that thread, I have also been known to count strides to approximate time (180 strides per minute of hard effort or 150 strides per minute of recovery effort).

I count strides by sixes, so a three minute hard repeat would be counted like: 1-2-3-4-5-1; 1-2-3-4-5-2; ... 1-2-3-4-5-90
for 540 total strides. A two-minute recovery would be counted as 50 sets of 6 strides at recovery pace. I settled on counting sets of six strides because it matches my normal breathing pattern -- three strides to inhale and three strides to exhale.

I also use my breathing pattern to help monitor or modify my effort level. If I need to maintain an easy run and find my pace creeping faster, I will sometimes force myself into an 8-stride breathing cycle with four strides to inhale and four to exhale. This forces me to slow down. I find that I cannot maintain that  breathing pattern for long on really hot days, but simply achieving it for a few strides helps me to return to an easy effort level. I do the same in a race sometimes. If I find myself breathing in a four-count cycle (2 in and 2 out) early in a race, I will often slow down until I can manage a six count cycle. I cannot remember that happening in quite some time though. Occasionally, I will find myself running with a five count cycle with three strides to inhale and two to exhale. Usually, that only happens if I am running hard and I may adjust my pace/breathing pattern if I think I'm running harder than appropriate. The 6-count breathing cycle works for me for a broad range of paces and I find that's how usually breathe when I run. Four and five count breathing patterns generally only occur at the end of races or for very hard short efforts.

I believe that I adopted the breathing strategies after reading one of Jack Daniels' books, but it has been awhile.

Steve