Posts Tagged ‘5k’

Race for the Arts 5k

This was my first time running the Race for the Arts 5k. I have avoided it in the past because it’s held in the late afternoon, in late August, and I hate being late. But I wanted to see if I could improve my ranking in the Buzz Oates Run Sac Race Series and this was the last short race on the schedule that I could do.

It was 93 degrees at start time – I cut my usual 10 minute warmup short because I was drenched in sweat after a quarter-mile. I tried not to let the weather psych me out, but I wasn’t expecting anything special. There was a pretty good crowd (481 finishers) but that is far short of what you usually see at a 5k around here.

There was a starting mat, so I was comfortably ensconced in the first third of the pack when the horn went off. And of course, since I was already warm, I started off like a maniac, passing a lot of runners right off the bat. Even while I was doing it, I began to worry about the last half-mile. Nonetheless, I maintained the pace I was on.

Mile 1 – 7:21

That’s an awesome first mile split for me, and it usually predicts disaster for the latter stages. I settled into a steady pace behind two young guys and one white-haired old-timer who matched them stride for stride. I distracted myself by watching how they were doing.

Mile 2 – 7:26

I slowed a little, but I couldn’t hear anyone behind me and the three guys in front of me were starting to flag. I heard the old-timer say to one of the young guys, “Let’s pull each other along.” Their fatigue encouraged me a lot, and I took the opportunity to pick up the pace and pass with authority. I spent the rest of the next mile trying to ensure they didn’t come back on me. Strangely enough, I hardly noticed the heat.

Mile 3 – 7:21

A PR was out of the question now, but I was determined to come in sub-23. There were two older runners just in front of me at the final turn (where the hell do they get the speed?) and I put the pedal down and managed to nose them out at the finish.

Mile 3.1 – 0:42

Finish – 22:50
91st out of 481
7th out of 27 in 50-54 age group

That time is 22 seconds off my PR, but it constitutes a 2 minute improvement in 3 months, and a 46 second improvement in a month. I absolutely credit the track work. I’m kicking myself for waiting all these years to find a track for such crucial workouts.

This was a real confidence boost and now I’m looking forward to the longer races this fall.

Memory 5k Race Report

Another gorgeous day for running in Northern California. The Alzheimer’s Aid Society Memorial 5k meanders in and around a cemetery and an upscale neighborhood with lots of shade, and the temperatures were moderate. Sacramento mayor and former NBA great Kevin Johnson was in the field, as well as former state assemblyman Lloyd Levine, but the real celebrity today was Austin Ramos of Fair Oaks, who won the race in 14:56. I can’t remember anyone else ever going sub-15 in a 5k around here. The second-place finisher was more than a minute-and-a-half behind him.

I ran an excellent and steady race, finishing with a strong kick uphill over the last 200 meters. But it did illustrate how ill-advised my Funny/Viper Challenge was two months ago. Even healthy and with some solid speedwork under my belt, I didn’t approach that whippersnapper’s 5k time.

Mile 1 – 7:41

Mile 2 – 7:35

Mile 3 – 7:34

Mile 3.1 – 0:46

Finish – 23:36
146th out of 953
14th out of 35 in 50-54 age group

I’ve only got one more 5k this year, at the end of next month. I might shave a little more off that time, but distance and endurance take center stage for the rest of the year. I’ve got a 14-miler tomorrow.

Your Kung Fu Is Better Than Mine

Despite my best efforts, Viper crushed my 5k time yesterday. It was much like the old evil kung fu master being defeated by the young guy’s combination of tiger and crane styles:

So to Viper I bow, and say, “Your kung fu is superior.”

Tantalizing

My final workout before Monday’s Great Funny/Viper Challenge could not have gone better. Viper cleverly has gone dark about his final two workouts, leaving me to wonder what I’ll really need to overtake him. I’m closing fast, but I’m out of time.

This morning I ran a 5k in 24:56, covering the last two miles in 7:42 and 7:46.

Win or lose, the challenge – contrary to my original misgivings – turned out to be a smart move. My ankle feels great, I got back up to speed in three weeks, and I’m on track for my real goal: a BQ in December. In fact, it will be a relief to run some long slow distance after all this speedwork.

At Least Now It’s a Race

Today’s 5k time = 25:35.

In four days I carved almost three minutes off my 5k time. I’ll rest tomorrow, then comes the really tough part. With two weeks left until the race, I’ve still got to slice another 40 seconds per mile to have a chance against Viper.

Better yet, even if I don’t improve a single second more, I’ve worked my way out of the possibility of a “disgraceful trouncing” to manage a “distant second.” The next stages will be:

Respectable

Close

Barn-burner

Nail-biter

Squeaker

Photo finish

Win.

Trash Talk

The consensus view is that I should spend much of the next two weeks taunting Viper. This sentiment seems to include Viper himself, who claims it “feeds my fire” (so does methane, dude). He’s gone so far as to try to taunt me into taunting him by writing a weak-assed haiku about his unfortunate injury:

Run easy, in storm
Fast pace lifts rock of ages
Into shoe, heel torn

Let me fix that for you:

A rock in my shoe
Its edges tear at my heel
As well as my sole (soul).

Unfortunately, while I’m a middle-of-the-pack runner, I’m a back-of-the-pack trash talker. This goes back to the days of my youth – during the McKinley administration – when it was called “ranking out.” The exchange usually involved an insult by one kid, who would respond with “Your mother!” and follow-up with fisticuffs.

When I joined the Air Force, I discovered formalized trash talk. As a special ops navigator, one of my qualifications was computing how best to spread propaganda leaflets over enemy territory. Dropping heavily armed men or a BLU-82 on them is a better idea.

So before I taunt anyone, it would be advantageous to have something to back it up with. This morning I decided I needed a 5k baseline to tell me how far I still have to go. And the result was the standard good news/bad news.

The bad news is that it took 28:23 on the treadmill to cover the distance. The good news is that I deliberately ran the first mile in 11 minutes. Yeah, that was pretty weak, but it was either that or burn out early and run the last mile in 11 minutes – or worse. Anyway, that comes to an 8:16 pace for the last 2.1 miles.

Happy with my progress, but very far from taunting territory.

The Great Funny/Viper Challenge

OK, I think I’ve done something stupid.

No, no, I haven’t hurt myself again. I was roaming the blogs yesterday and I came across this post by Viper. He mentioned his training for the Tallmadge Memorial 5k (being held, strangely enough, on Memorial Day) and how he planned to best his PR of 23:28. He has been building mileage, but feels he is currently shy of what he needs to set a new mark. He was looking to motivate himself.

So, naturally, I got the brilliant idea of helping out both Viper and me. I also run a 5k on Memorial Day each year, appropriately called the No Excuses 5k. So I challenged him to a virtual race and he accepted.

My advantages: My 5k PR is exactly one minute faster than his, and I ran my last 5k in 23:08.

His advantages: Viper has run two consecutive 20-mile weeks and will increase. I’ve run about 12 miles in the last six weeks, total. His track sessions are already sub-8-minute miles. He’s also about 20 years younger than I am.

It’s entirely a friendly competition, I’m a good loser, and it’s only for bragging rights, but I am devoted to exercising my bragging rights when I win them.

Anyway, I went out for my first post-challenge run this morning. I arrange my return from injury the same way each time. There is a 1.75-mile loop around my neighborhood that I run every other day until I can do it in under 14 minutes (8:00 pace). Once I’m able to do that, I upgrade to a 2.4-mile loop until I can run that sub-19:15.

This morning I ran a 14:18 (8:10 pace), which is much better than I have any right to expect, but my stamina is AWFUL. If I had to run a 5k tomorrow, I’d be very lucky to go sub-27.

So I’ve got three whole weeks to chop about 3 1/2 to 4 minutes off my 5k time. HA HA HA HA! Now that’s funny.