Posts Tagged ‘Presbyterian Homes 5k’

One of the more interesting things about coming back from a major injury is the pure unknown about what will happen on race day. While I’ve had some good runs lately, I know that I haven’t done speed work to even have a clue what race day would be like. I’ve had a couple of runs with some close to 8-minute miles mixed in, and I felt then that I could so something solid in today’s race.

I entered today’s Presbyterian Homes 5k with no time goals. I wanted to give it my all — what that meant was something I didn’t know until I got out there. What transpired was almost a PR.

This up and down course is brutal (above is from my Garmin data). It starts uphill only to have an intense downhill … only to have a very long, steady uphill in the middle … followed by another big downhill … and then nearly a half-mile uphill finish. Some call it rolling hills, others call it crazy. I heard a lot today.

My form continues to be a work in progress. This isn't too bad for near the finish, but I'm working on getting my arms lower.

I hit the first mile in 7:13 — well on pace for a PR (22:41), but could I maintain that? Knowing the course I knew that I was going to have to stay on top of things both mentally and physically.

While the hill between 1.5 and 2 miles wasn’t anything that I’m not used to running, it just kind of sucked the life out of me. I had about five people pass me — I tried to use an old mental trick I use of having them pull me along, but it wasn’t working.

I still did the second mile in 7:39, which certainly wasn’t bad considering how I was feeling, but I knew that making up those precious seconds to get a PR was going to be hard.

I dug a little deeper in the last mile — I cruised down the final hill, but as soon as the incline started (in about the only place there was direct sunlight in the course), I couldn’t find the same leg turnover I had going in the first mile. While a PR was out of the question, I figured I could aim to beat my time from a few years ago — 23:03.

I tried, but I felt my running form getting sloppy. While I want to see improvements in my time, I also want to know that I am running with better form than I was a year ago. As much as I wanted to press the gas pedal 100 percent, I only pushed it 99.8 percent.

That not-quite 100 percent final push led to the final mile in 7:28 and brought me to the finish line in a time of … that’s right … 23:03. The exact same time as four years ago.

I’m not sure how my tone is coming across in words, but I am ecstatic about this. If you would have told me in January that I’d be back to a 5k time like this, I would have laughed. All this work from coming back from my ITB injury is paying off tremendously this year.

To have my third fastest 5k time without being in 5k training mode is awesome. I struggle to find the right words to explain how it feels to be more than 2 minutes faster than a slightly hillier 5k 8 months ago and to be just 23 seconds away from setting a PR. This has me so excited about “what’s next” with marathon training and several other races I have in mind this summer.

As for my son (see last night’s post for our pre-race photo), he did an awesome job today. He did his 3/4-mile race in 15:17. He ran most of the first half of it, but was a bit distracted at times by a nearby barn and horses, as well as a dump truck that we ran past. He’s a very observant runner, that’s for sure.

At 2 years old, he was the youngest runner out there. The next closest age was 5. It was a great way to kick off the Father’s Day weekend. He said he had fun running and wants to do another one soon.

That makes two of us.

Not sure how ready I am for tomorrow’s 5k, but my son sure is ready for his run …

Next Saturday I’ll be running my first 5k of the year – perhaps the only one of the summer – at the site of what is now my third-fastest 5k.

The Presbyterian Homes 5k, which I ran in 2007, is a very challenging course with a nice hill to start things off and an even steeper hill at the end – the middle miles are mostly rolling hills. There’s definitely nothing easy about a 5k in Lynchburg.

After having a nice progressive run this week, I realize that I do have a decent amount of speed in me for this race. There’s part of me that would like to focus on shorter distances and just try to nail them, but I’ve come too far in my other commitments to do that. Plus I’d be missing out on the excitement that I have now with marathon training.

As part of my training this summer I will do several races for some solid tempo runs, but I’m not getting my hopes up about dropping PRs. If they happen, they happen. If they don’t, I’ll figure out then if I’m disappointed or not.

It’s also worth noting that my son will be doing his second race next week. This one is a half mile. This morning I asked him if he wanted to do another race and he said, “Yes.” I asked him if he was going to run hard. He said, “No, just walk.” It’s quite funny to hear that out of a 2½-year-old. I hope he’ll have fun and let go of my or my wife’s hand. I’m just glad that he wants to do these things and has taken an interest in it.

A couple of days after a race, I always like to write about the experience of what happened, what I could have done differently, what I learned from that specific race, etc. This past Saturday I was 4 seconds away from having my first sub 23-minute 5K. I had my personal best of 23:03, a 7:27 mile pace. That time was 40 seconds faster than a 5K I did on a track about two weeks ago, and 43 seconds faster than my last road 5K in November.

Saturday’s race, the Presbyterian Homes 5K in Lynchburg, was an interesting course. The first and last half mile of the race were uphill, with lots of rolling hills in between. Perhaps interesting isn’t the right word — it was fairly typical of races in Lynchburg with all the hills. It was the first race in a while that I feel I effectively used what I have learned in the past year. Going up the hills, I shortened my stride and let the arms do more work. While I was getting passed going up a few hills, I was not wearing myself out like some people were. Going down the hills, I let the hills carry me and gave my body a chance to relax while still going faster (and passing those people who passed me going uphill).

I don’t think I could have done much differently. I had a pretty decent final kick the last tenth of a mile and I felt like I left everything on the course. There are no regrets there. The weather was perfect. For late June you couldn’t ask for much better weather than mid-70s and relatively low humidity.

So, what’s next? This Wednesday I join a morning training group at 6:15. It’s a speed and endurance group geared for the Virginia Ten Miler, but will help me tremendously as I get ready for the marathon. Next week there’s a one-mile race on July 4. Last year’s time was 7:11 and I really hope to break the 7-minute mark this year.