Victoria Track Series #8 - 5000m

At the start of the summer I decided to take running more seriously, and actually start training more than 20k a week. Well that didn't happen right away, it took a back injury and a few painful track races to force myself back to training properly. I had set a goal at the start of the summer to get PBs this year at the 5K (this race), 8K (RVM), and 10K (Land's End) distances. I had previously run 5K in 17:59 twice, 18:01, 18:06, 18:08, and 18:17. Time to change that!

My first mistake was setting my goal too high. If I had simply said "I want to get under 17:59" then I would have reached my goal, gotten a PB, and probably been happy with my race. But instead I foolishly aimed for low 17's, definitely under 17:30.

Anyway, with my parents and older brother coming to watch me I was really hoping for a great performance to end the highly successful inaugural Victoria Track Series. And my friends Cam and Michelle from my gym came out to cheer me on too, so I knew I couldn't let them down! Little did they know that I would be wearing my super skimpy racing shorts... sorry guys.

To run a 17:30 5K the required pace per lap (400m) is 1:25. I knew there would be a few runners aiming to get under or around 17 minutes like Lucy Smith and Mike Lord, and many other who were aiming for the same time as me. As the race started, we quickly separated into packs. Mike and Lucy were leading, with Jeremy Watts keeping pace with Melissa and Jessica. Then there was a pack of 4 or 5 runners including myself, Jim Barwise, Darren Skudja, Brett McCullough, Mark Ritchie, and maybe one other guy.

My first lap was a little too fast at 1:22, but I expected that. For the next 5-6 laps the pace was perfect, 1:24-1:26 each time. I took the lead of the small pack after about 4 laps, and held that lead until about lap 8. It was windy and difficult running conditions, the home straightaway section was really tough as the wind was seriously blowing every time we rounded the corner. Around lap 8 I was feeling really rough and decided to slow up a tiny bit and let someone else lead for a while. Probably not a good idea in hind sight. Anyway, Jim and Darren passed me I couldn't stay with them. Each lap after that I lost another second, 1:27, 1:28, 1:29, by now with one lap to go I had slipped to the back of the mini-pack. No worries, my finishing sprint will catch them all! Hahahah. I pushed it as hard as I could around the final lap, catching up to Brett and coming along side him with 100m to go, but I had nothing left. He pulled ahead with 50m to go and then it was all over. My final time was 17:43, good enough for 9th place out of 15 in our heat. It is a PB, so I am very happy for that. Definitely not nearly the kind of race I hoped for. That being said every lap (except the first and last) was between 1:24-1:29, so that is pretty steady pacing. But fading at the end of a race never feels great and to have 3 runners (yet again) finish 1-2 seconds in front of me hurts.

A a few other runners had similar races on that day, I'm guessing the windy conditions probably affected us all. Both Shane and Mike tell a similar story to mine where they aimed for a certain time and fell about 10-20 seconds short.

Anyway, next up is the Lands End 10K in 2 weeks. I will have a much harder time getting a PB for that one (under 37), but it is a pretty flat and fast course... In fact I should just aim for sub-38! Following Lands End I have already signed up for the RVM 8K on Thanksgiving Sunday.

Victoria Track Series #6 - Open 800m

After a somewhat disappointing Mile at the previous race I was hoping for a better performance at the Open 800m on July 31st. The main reason I signed up for these track races is because I was so inspired watching the elite 800m at the 3rd Victoria Track Series event, where Cam Levins narrowly won in 1:51, with 5 guys coming in under 1:53. Back when I was in elementary school the 800m was my distance of choice, for some reason. So it had been about 17 years since I last raced that distance. I think my best time back then was around 3 minutes.

A big reason why the Mile race two weeks before wasn't so great was due to my pre-race preparation. I showed up late to the track and didn't get in enough warmup, and I had also eaten some food a few hours before the race that was a little suspect. Anyways, I made sure to take this race more seriously, eat properly, and show up with lots of time to warmup.

I actually still didn't get in enough warmup, but I blame the race organizers for being on time for once :)
As the gun went off I quickly took off, leading the pack around the first bend. There was one runner (Brett) that was staying right on my heels.  At the 200m mark I checked my watch and was very pleased to see 31 seconds, and I felt good. At the half way point, 400m, the clock was reading 64 or 65 seconds as I passed, with Brett 1-2 seconds behind. On the back stretch I tried to get my legs moving a little faster to put some distance between us. By the final corner I couldn't hear him anymore, I'm not sure if I actually did pull away, or my breathing was louder so I couldn't hear him. Anyways, I pushed the final straightaway with a pretty weak final sprint, crossing the line in 2:11^.5.

In the previous week I had done a 4x800m track workout where I really struggled to get under 2:30, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I figured with some adrenalin and the competition on race day I would be under 2:20, and secretly aimed for 2:15. So I was pretty ecstatic to run that well, and to win the race to boot. It was also interesting to see that the elite men did the 800m between 2:00 and 2:06, so I wasn't far behind.

Next up is the 5000m track race to finish up the series. I haven't raced a 5K on the track in a few years, so I'm looking forward to it. It has been a lot of fun racing on the track this summer, and a lot of the credit goes to Chris Kelsall for organizing these races. Hopefully they will continue next year!