Not Where I Had Hoped

Maybe I shouldn't call it a bad race, but today's Blue Eagle 5k was well below my expectations.  I thought I wouldn't have much of a problem going under 22 minutes and that 21:45 (a 7 minute pace) was within reach).  Instead, I struggled with the heat and finished in 22:20.

The Awards I Have Collected Here Over the Years

I guess the real issue is that my expectations were a little too high.  I really can't pick apart areas of the race where I could've run much better.  Although my time reflects a big drop off in the last two miles, it didn't feel like I was fading that bad.  When I ran the course alone in the rain, my time was only 7 seconds slower than today.  I guess I didn't give enough credit to how good those weather conditions were that day.  Today, thankfully was cloudy during the race, but it was still humid and getting very warm as the day progressed.

I helped out with setting everything up for the race.  That was fun and a good way to get my legs working and meet some of the people involved in the booster club.  It was a good opportunity to give back to the program that gave me my start.  I don't feel like that hindered my performance at all by doing so.

At the start, I positioned myself a couple rows back, right where I wanted to be.  I was just behind the best girls' runner from last season, Abby.  I knew the first mile would be downhill and fast.  I was hoping to take advantage of this and bank some time.  I liked the pace early on and felt that I was on target a half mile in.  My pace kept slipping slowly and slowly though.

I tucked in behind a lot of the girls team for most of that first mile.  I figured they were good to pace off of, even though some of them weren't running hard.  I wasn't unhappy with my 6:46 first mile, but I felt like with the effort I was putting in, my time should be faster.  Closer to 6:30 would've been expected.  This race just didn't pull me along as fast as others have seemed to.

The Start

 cruised around for the second mile.  As some point, I passed the girls.  I don't remember exactly where.  I was thinking that they were just going too slow for my liking.  I was still under goal pace at 1.5 miles, but barely.  I knew there was no way I was going to negative split the course, so that became discouraging.  I ran with a few women at this point and for most of the rest of the race.

I did position myself pretty well I guess.  I was passed by a couple people, but I passed a few others as well (although some of those were kids).  I switched my watch to show the current mile pace for the 2nd mile and I became discouraged when it said 7:17.  For a moment, I thought about my health problems of the past and tried to push through.  I realized it was too early for that though.

I kept working pretty hard.  The humidity and hills definitely took their toll.  I even poured water on myself, but that was no relief.  I didn't feel overheated, but I sure wasn't comfortable.  Of course my times reflected that I was struggling.

As I was going up the final hill, a young girl came up along side of me.  I figured it was Abby and that was confirmed when someone yelled her name.  I was hoping that I could stay with her and then out sprint her at the end.  I'm really curious as to whether I would've been that fast.  It never happened though.

I guess I got physced out by knowing my competition.  I knew she wasn't running hard and that she could've run a few minutes faster.  I also knew that Abby is one of the best 800 runners in the District.  As I was alongside her, I actually looked down at my watch and said, "We're at 800.  Your specialty."  Had I not known how fast she was, maybe I would've pushed more.

I couldn't hang with Abby, so I had to settle for passing another women at the end.  I did so with less than a quarter mile to go.  She tried to respond a little, but didn't have any luck.  I knew even if she could hang on, I'd sprint right by.  As I finished, no one was near me, so I didn't unleash my deadly finishing kick.  It is rare that that doesn't happen.

After Finishing

I couldn't get my watch back to the overall time, so I didn't know what my time would be until I got in view of the clock.  I knew that it wasn't close to where I had hoped.  I also knew I wasn't even close enough to achieve my secondary goal of breaking 22 minutes.  I came through at 22:20.  I exchanged congratulations with Abby and asked her about college, before taking over the photo duties from my dad.

I guess the good thing is that I'm improving.  My pace for the Freedom to Liberty 4 miler was 7:45 and today, two months later, I ran this 5k at a 7:07 pace.  It is my best Blue Eagle 5k yet by 20 seconds.  One year, I'll be healthy enough to really compete in this event.  I did take home another age group prize.  I'm three for three in that over the years.  Next time though, I want to get an award because I ran fast, not just because my age group was thin.

Looking back, it really wasn't a terrible race.  I probably could've backed off more in the beginning and been faster and more consistent.  I don't think it would've saved 20 seconds.  I just have to reassess where I'm at now.  I'm not quite as fast as I thought I was.  My legs were solid today, so I can't blame anything on that.

I guess I should be happy with my time and that I'm improving.  A lot of people would kill to run a 22:20.  I'm just so competitive though.  It reminds me of my only win in track.  My coach, Ken, who is still the coach said congratulations to me afterward.  I was pissed though and slammed my cleats down because I didn't think I ran fast enough to qualify for leagues.  That was my only concern, not winning the race.  In the end, I did make it to leagues, as they expanded the field.

I'm still stuck what to do about the shin/calf.  It causes me no problems while running.  Even in my minimalist shoes, I didn't feel a thing today.  It is just walking around and sitting where it gets sore.  I'm definitely going to treat it more aggressively, but I might take off a lot this week too.  I'll certainly be running with the LVRR group on Thursday, but that may be my only running of the week.  I need to get this thing to heal in some way.

3.14 miles - 22:20 (7:07 pace)