Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote a frustrated post about my Nemesis - the 5K. Over the last two years I had trained hard to race a good 5K, only to end in frustration again and again. I imagine the frustration of Gold Glove second basemen Chuck Knaublach when all of a sudden he couldn't throw the ball to first base anymore! There just didn't seem to be any good explanation.
Last Friday, I returned to the track to give it another shot at the SF State Distance Carnival. I really could have come up with more than a few reasons why I shouldn't run fast. The main reason was the race was only coming 5 days after a 10 miler on the roads (a PR in 54:41 although not entirely happy with where I placed). In the past I've rarely bounced back well from long races like that. I also could have pointed to feeling a bit run down in the weeks prior, and overall not running the mileage that I like to before heading into the racing season. But for a change, I blocked all the noise out, and went into the meet with nothing to lose.
The Distance Carnival has turned into a deep college meet attracting athletes from all NCAA levels, plus some open runners like me. The 5000 is one of the last events on Friday afternoon, and this year expanded from 3 heats to 4. I entered myself with the 15:49 time that I ran there two years ago (and my best time post-college) which seeded me in the middle of the slowest of the 4 heats. I was satisfied being in that heat as I'd rather try to compete toward the front than have it be a time trial where I'm hanging on for dear life.
As the gun went off, the plan was to find the rail somewhere in the middle of the pack, get into a rhythm, and move my way forward if people ahead of me started to fall off the pack. By the first turn I was on the rail and in a spot where I wasn't getting jostled around. I felt a moment of anxiety seeing the clock at the finish line for the first time and the lap counter reading 12 to go. I told myself to relax and just run for a while. As soon as my brain quieted down I was in a good rhythm and somewhere around 15th in the 23 person heat. There was no clock at the start line, but plenty of people yelling splits. First lap was 77 seconds - a little on the slow side, but I didn't give it much thought. The next few laps went by quickly and easily, and all of a sudden I'm still relaxed and moving forward to the 1600 meter (~1 mile) split of 5:02. No problem so far.
Six and quarter laps is the half way point. In my last 5k on the track last year, I hit halfway wanting to quit, literally not knowing how I could run another 2500 meters. This time I'm definitely working hard, but I feel like there's a lot left in the tank. The field is more strung out but I keep moving myself forward. At one point I feel my arms start to ride up really high. Sorry Christopher McDougall, that might be a good way to run a very long distance, but it's not how you run fast! I consciously dropped the arms, and I immediately feel more relaxed. The 3200 meter split was 10:04. I know these next 4.5 laps will be tough, but I'm going to get through it. The field was strung out in the last mile, but I managed to catch a couple more runners. I had a couple laps fall back off to a 77 second pace, but then a 73 for the final full lap and a 32 second last 200 (as I tried to unsuccessfully to kick down a kid about half my age) brought me home in 15:41 for 6th place in my heat.
I've probably had races that would be considered a stronger performance, but this was one of my more satisfying races. I had struggled at the 5K for so long, and when I least expected, just ran my fastest time in 10 years. Have I defeated the nemesis? Who knows, but at least I've won the battle! I can't wait to hit the roads for another 5K in two weeks with some momentum behind me!
It's worth noting that there was an American record in my race. No, the winnder didn't lap me twice to run 12:52. It was actually 56 year old Brian Pilcher clocking an amazing 16:05 for his age group record. He even gave me a "let's go Jamey" when were running near each other around the mile mark. I think we'll be seeing a lot records from him this year!
