Anyway here's a brief recap of my 2015 running season.
In January I ran the Pioneer 8K in 28:40 which was only 2 seconds slower than my course best set in 2013, so that was a promising start to the year. But it was a pretty big positive split (28 seconds), so I don't think it was the best race strategy!
The rest of January and February had some decent training, but nothing too impressive (averaging just over 50 km/week). At the end of February I ran a 1 mile time trial at the Oak Bay track, and finally broke the 5 minute barrier with a time of 4:54. I had some pacing assistance from my wife and another friend - who alternated sprinting 200m of each lap with me. Lap times were 72, 77, 77, 68. 4 days after running the mile I did a 3K time trial put on by Chris Kelsall around Beacon Hill Park Circle Drive, and also PB'd it in 10:09. But that doesn't really say much considering I almost never race that distance! My goal was really just to run the 3:24/km pace that I needed to break 17 minutes for 5K.
That weekend was the Bazan Bay 5K, and this was the year I was finally going to break 17 minutes. Could I pull of 3 PB's in 1 week? Nope. Maybe I pushed it too hard that week, or maybe I was just starting to get sick, or maybe I was over confident, or maybe I shouldn't have worn my new 3 ounce New Balance MR5000 shoes... Whatever the reason I once again ran 17:01. WTF! My splits were almost even - 8:32 at half way, but ran out of steam (or didn't dig deep enough?) on the way back, running 8:29 (compared with 8:19 the year before). Big disappointment. 3 years in a row running 17:00-17:01.
For 2 weeks after Bazan I was pretty exhausted and sick with very little energy. I decided to try the Esquimalt 5K to keep the fitness up, but it was a very windy day and I feeling lousy (this was 3 weeks after Bazan) as I ran a very sluggish 18:37, just sneaking into 3rd place with a sprint finish. Fun event, but definitely not a great feeling race. But I did win a free entry into next year's race!
April I felt a bit off all month, but did manage to get my mileage up a bit - averaging about 65 km/week, and getting in 3 good long runs and a 5K time trial in 18:02 (Lochside trail/roads).
I had hoped to be good and fit for the TC10K (my 13th year in a row running!), but again I just wasn't on form. I don't know what was wrong the last 6 weeks since Bazan, but I clearly wasn't not running that well. I suspect I was a bit sick the whole time, and just didn't take enough down time to get over it properly.
The following weekend (May 3rd) I headed back to Vancouver to try and repeat as the BMO 8K champion. But once again I felt sluggish and ran a minute slower than 2014, finishing in 29:48. The course was slightly longer this year (an extra 100m around the outer Lighthouse loop) which accounts for some of that time. But anyway this year I finished in 4th place, way behind the winner Tyler Ginther (who has 2nd the year before) who finished in 28:32.
In the summer the Victoria Track Series started up, and I dabbled at a few of the distances, but mostly took the summer pretty easy. I had a decent 800m in 2:12.7, and a 1500m PB in 4:40.4.
My goal race for the fall of 2015 was again the Victoria 8K, and I was shooting for a PB. My official 8K PB was set at the 2014 BMO 8K in 28:20, but I think my fastest 8K was probably done during the 2013 Sun Run in about 28:10. Anyway, I had a really strong race, 18 second negative split (14:19, 14:01), and finishing in the same time as my PB - 28:20. It's always annoying to tie a record, but considering I was a year older it was a very good result. I also came 10th overall which is a great placing.
The rest of the year was taken pretty easy with another couple fun races at Thetis Lake (relay and Stewart Mountain short course). And as always I ended the year off with the Run Thru Time 5K. As that race is a good benchmark for my fitness level going into 2016, I was hoping to set a course record (which was 17:45 from 2013), but didn't have a great race finishing in 18:07, good for 2nd overall.
Overall it was a decent year with good consistency, no injuries, and a few PBs (1 mile, 3K, 8K tie). Total distance run was 2300 km (9 days worth of running!), and 21 races.
