5K lessons at Hayward

Monday, April 21: 6:00 PM - 6 Miles, 40 min
Tuesday, April 22: 6:00 PM - Track Workout @ Bentley
26 min w/u, 6 x 400m @ 63-66 w/ 90 sez rest, 26 min c/d
64.9, 63.6, 62.5, 64.6, 64.1, 65.5
(9 Miles total)
Wednesday, April 23: 1:30 PM - 8 Miles, 51 min
Thursday, April 24: 8:30 AM - 6 Miles, 40 min
Friday, April 25: 6:30 AM - 3 Miles, 21 min on Pre's Trail
5:00 PM - Oregon Relays - 5000M - 14:39.30 (10th in 2nd heat)
400m Splits:
70.6, 70.9, 68.7, 69.5,
68.6, 70.0, 70.6, 70.1,
71.0, 73.0, 73.5, 67.5, 34.3
1000m Splits:
2:56, 2:53 (5:49), 2:55 (8:44), 3:00 (11:44), 2:55 (14:39)
Mile Splits:
4:39.7, 4:40.3 (9:20.0), 4:45.0 (14:05.0), 34.3
21 min w/u, 22 min c/d
(12 Miles total)
Saturday, April 26: 7:00 AM - 14 Miles, 100 min
Pre's Trail and Willamette River path w/ Jess
Sunday, April 27: 3:00 PM - 15 Miles, 102 min in the fells

Week Total = 70 Miles, 1 Track Workout, 1 Race

On Thursday, Jess and I traveled to Eugene to compete in the Oregon Relays. This would serve as my first 5k of the season and my first real race (not counting the 1500 at NU). I was expecting to walk away from this race with a big PR and be well on my way to the trials B standard. This did not happen. Instead, I crossed that finish line in 14:39 and found myself very disappointed. Not necessarily disappointed in my effort but mainly in the outcome. I did feel like I ran hard and was certainly hurting after the race, but yet the time did not reveal what I know I'm capable of. And as I walked back to my things after the race, I had more feelings of confusion than disappointment. What caused me to run so poorly? Was it the uncomfortable slow pace and congestion early on? Was it the traveling the night before? Was it the effects of marathon week catching up to me? Or worse yet, have I just set goals that are too big for me to chew? I would like to think that the latter is not the case.

So in conclusion, I think it was a combination of many things. The slow early pace did feel uncomfortable and the heavy congestion did force me to chop my stride and bounce around in the pack. I've learned that I run better when I'm able to fully extend my stride and run unhindered at the pace I've been training at. By the time the race did open up with about 3-4 laps to go, my legs were already feeling pretty heavy and I just wasn't able to respond. I thought I'd be able to come off a slow pace and still finish fast, but I just didn't feel that sharpness in my legs. I think as the season develops, I'll get better at being able to produce those gear changes late in the race, but at this point, I think it would be easier for me to start at a faster pace and just maintain. Furthermore, I do think that the stress of the two weeks leading up to this probably caught up with me and took away from my performance a bit on Friday. This is something that I underestimated and to some extent might have been able to control a little better.

Alright, enough with the excuses; I hate making excuses. One of my best friends told me that no matter how bad a race goes, there are always positives to take away from it. So lets focus on that.

One good thing is I finally got some race experience and was able to remind myself of how hard this race really is and that no matter how fit you are, it can never be taken lightly. I also know the terrible feeling of disappointment that I had after this race and will make sure I don't have to endure that again. Leading up to this race, I had so many positive thoughts going through my mind and was expecting to feel great out there. I didn't prepare myself for feeling awful so when that feeling came, I didn't react accordingly. Something that I'll do differently in the future. Furthermore, I know that my training has been going well and that I am on my way to running very fast. I just wasn't there yet on Friday. I have to remind myself that it is still very early in the season and my best performances will most likely come in June, 6-8 weeks from now. When looking back on my fall season, I remember that I opened up with a 15:35 5K at Murray Keatinge in September and then came back 4 weeks later to run 24:30 at Mayors Cup and win New Englands in 30:39 just 3 weeks after that, both drastically better than the first race. I know my best races will come later in the season and as much as I would like to run fast in every race, I have to be patient and have faith in the work that I'm doing. Lastly, I know that the next two weeks of preparation will be much better than the last two weeks and I know that will give me a lot of confidence when I return to the 5K start at Hayward.

On a side note, while Jess was also not thrilled about her performance, I have to acknowledge that she ran a 20 second PR to place 4th in 16:27 as she made another step towards her goals. I know she has some stellar performances ahead as the season unfolds and it's going to be very exciting to watch.

Thanks again for all the support and I promise I wont disappoint again.

Stay tuned.