The Nemesis

My nemesis hasn't been a person (but wouldn't that be fun), or a certain race course, or a workout.  My nemesis is the 5K.  A couple months after I first started showing up at West Valley TC workouts and slowly fighting my way back into shape, I ran my first race - a 5K in 16:29.  A year later, at the end of my first full season of consistent training in several years, I ran the second 5K of my age 30+ competitive career - finishing in 16:07. 

In two and a half years since that race, I've knocked 4 minutes off my best half marathon, run over a minute faster on a several cross country courses, plus trained faster, longer, and more consistently.  Yet despite all that, I can't seem to clock a good 5K.

My best was a 15:49 on the track in the Spring of 2010, but other than that it's just been a long string of blowups in the low to mid 16's. 

Heading into 2011, my goal was to focus my training around running a good 5K.  Being just fast enough to jump in college open meets, there are several opportunities to race the distance.  Surely just more time on the track would lead me to a sub 15:30 (that magical 5-flat per mile pace).  Throughout the winter I worked my mileage up to a an average of 60 miles per week - which I've held all year.  Our Tuesday workouts first featured longer intervals at hard tempo pace - which I'd often run 5:15 pace, then transitioned to faster somewhat shorter interval workouts.  Week after week I would run 3 - 4 miles of repeats, all between 71 - 75 second per laps.  One workout in particular, I ran 5 times 1000 meters averaging 3:02 - 15:10 5K pace.  I didn't think I'd hold that pace running each kilometer back to back, but surely everything pointed toward me running 15:30!

My first shot was the Hornet Invite - an open college meet at Sacramento State (the track where I ran my lifetime 1500 PR back in 2000).  Throughout the week, the forecast got worse and worse, and sure enough the morning of the race had a steady rain and 25-30 mph winds blowing right through the stadium.  I hit the split right around 5 flat with the leader, but as soon as it strung out, it got ugly.  In the second half I was red-lining pretty much every lap by the end of the front stretch, only to recover on the back stretch just in time to hit the wind again.  My splits got slower and slower, and I finished with an ugly 16:32. 

The next 5K, which was the one I really had circled on the calendar, was the SF State Distance Carnival.  It's a meet with deep, fast fields, at a great venue - I bet this is the least windy track in the Bay Area.  For some reason on race-day my mind was in the wrong place.  I knew my training was going great, so I had no reason not to have confidence.  Instead, I kept thinking of every way I could have a bad race.  I wasn't thinking about crushing the race, I was thinking about not having a bad race.  It was like I was battling all demons that plagued my performances for much my college career.  I raced the slowest of 3 heats, but with a group that would be running in the mid 15 minute range.  The pace was perfect - we were clicking off 74-75 second laps, hitting the mile just under 5 minutes.  I hit half way thinking this is going well, but a lap later the pain really hit & I just wanted to quit.  I hit 2 miles in 10:07, then 3 miles in 15:28, finishing in 16:04.  This was the first race in a long time where I was really beating myself up for a while afterward - just felt like a wasted opportunity. 

The 3rd race was the Carlsbad 5000 (near San Diego) with my West Valley teammates where I would run in an age group 30-39 race (no young guns!).  It was a fun trip, even though Southwest canceled our flight getting us in pretty late.  I went out conservatively, but still found myself right in the thick of a chase pack that let lead 3 runners go.  I moved myself toward the front, again hitting the mile right around 5 flat.  I felt great for the first part of the second mile, thinking this was my day.  I led the chase pack shortly after the mile.  Then for the third week in a row, things went south quickly.  A couple guys passed me, then 3 more went by.  I went from leading the chase pack to trying to hang on.  I hit the 2 mile mark in 10:15 - REALLY I just slowed down that much??  I don't think I totally gave up in the last mile, but surely wasn't digging deep as I ran the last mile in a pathetic 5:30 for a finishing time of 16:18.  On a positive note, watching the elite race was AWESOME as former 5K world champ Eliud Kipchoge got kicked down at the finish (13:10 was the winning time).

So there you have it.  My big goal for the season has been an epic failure so far.  Training has been an ongoing success.  So what gives?  I wish I had an easy answer...  I think mentally I've gotten so used to underperforming at this distance that it's turned into a self fulfilling prophecy.  For most of my good races I was there with my buddies, having a good time, and feeling loose before the race.  Lately I'm analysing my race before it even starts.  Physically, it's a tough distance.  It always starts hurting pretty bad about half way, when you still have 7 minutes of hard painful running to go.  When building up my speed and fitness, I need to run my workouts under control in order to benefit from consistency.  But I think I really need to push the envelope every few workouts, otherwise I won't know how to dig deep into the well on race day.  Finally, the workout that's been missing is the fast tempo (as opposed to the longer half marathon pace runs).

So how does this end?  I really don't know.  I just know I'm not ready to say "I'm too old for the 5K" and throw in the towel in favor of longer distances!

Catching up

I have to say the 'ole blog has been suffering from some neglect considering it's been 5 weeks.  Fortunately it hasn't been a lack of running to report on, but rather a busy and tiring work schedule.  Our new business is off to a good start, and I'm very excited about my roll.  Of course if you've read the papers you know that the financial markets have been in a bit of turmoul this past month, as fears of a European meltdown have spilled all around the globe.  For a trader in my business, market volatility typically creates profitable opportunities.  But when you're dealing with potential events such as large as large sovereign debt defaults, the dreaded term contagion sneaks in - meaning fear in one market pours over to most others.  At a time like this diversification has little benefit because asset classes tend to become highly correlated, decoupling into risky assets - stocks, corporate bonds, energy & industrial commodities, and in this case even the Euro, and into non-risky assets - in this case US treasury bonds & at times gold.  With markets behaving badly, I've had to spend up to 10 hours a week longer at the office than normal evaluating and managing the risks in our portfolio.  But enough of the boring stuff, because luckily getting my evening runs and workouts has been a great unwind for me. 

On Saturday May 1st I saw one of the greatest distance running thrills of my life at the Cardinal Invitational at Stanford.  At this same meet in 2001 I was standing on the edge of the track when Meb Keflezhighi broke the American 10K record running 27:13.  On this Saturday, former Oregon runner Galen Rupp had his sights set on beating the 9 year old record.  Rupp - well more his coach Alberto Salazar - had created some controversy before the race as he wavered between running the Oregon relays the night before (which had a bad weather forcast), Stanford on Saturday (which had a severe polin count), or a last minute race set up just for him on Saturday in Eugene.  To the delight of Northern California residents, he chose to race at Stanford, joining one of the deepest 10K fields on US soil in years.  In addition to Rupp, collegiate 10K record holder Sam Chelenga, Kenyan Daniel Salel, Chris Solinsky, and behind them a who's who of US 10K studs were all running. 

After a conservative first lap, the race developed as expected with Rupp tucking in behind his 2 pace setters clicking off staggering 65 second laps (which was the record pace).  The group hit the 5K split in 13:34 - right on pace.  It was still the 2 pacesetters followed by Rupp, Chelenga, Salel, and Solinsky still tagging along for the ride.  By the 4 mile mark, the 2 pacesetters had dropped off, and Rupp chased after history with 3 runners still in tow.  Rupped stayed on pace at first, but as he neared the end of 5 miles, the pace fell a second or two off target.  At this point, I was debating with my buddies in the stands whether or not Rupp would get the record.  I still had faith thinking that with 4 runners still in contention that the final mile would be fast enough. 

With 4 laps to go, the crowd was suddenly buzzing about Chris Solinsky.  The 6'2", 160 pound runner (which is very large for an elite 10K runner) was making his debut at the distance and was looking completely comfortable at US record pace with a mile to go.  Chris had been a high school & college national champion.  He had been an elite post collegian, but not yet a national champion at that level.  With 3 laps to go, Solinksy surged past the 2 african runners and tucked in right behind Rupp.  Could he possibly be in contention for the win here???  Coming off the turn with 2 laps to go, Solinsky moves out on Rupp's shoulder and after a slight delay surges into the lead.  By the backstretch he had opened up 10 meters, with Rupp surging after him.  With 2 Americans flying through the night with 600 meters to go, we all knew the record would fall.  Solinsky hit the bell lap and the announcer calls out his split of 60.2 seconds - and he looked effortless doing it!  The clock read 26:03.  Now the real kick began.  The last time down the back stretch there was no question that he would win the race and break the record... only a question of what time would he run.  As he hit 200 meters to go, there was a new possibility, COULD HE BREAK 27 MINUTES??  In the last straightaway, Solinsky lifted his knees, pumped his arms, finally showed his first signs of fatigue, but never slowed.  He crossed the line freezing the clock at 26:59.60!!  I doubt there's ever been quite an eruption from the Cobb Track grandstands.  Gupp finished 4th in 27:10 - under the old American Record.

In the days following the race, bloggers and message board posters tried to accuse Rupp of bad sportsmanship somehow.  Both runners quickly put an end to it.  The race video clearly shows Rupp congratulating Solinsky.  You can't blame Rupp for not jumping up and down and celebrating, but he showed class afterward.  The next day, Solinsky gave Rupp credit for leading through the toughest part of the race, and acknowledged he wouldn't have broken the record otherwise.  Then later in the week in an interview Rupp conceded that he was of course disappointed, but happy for his buddy Chris (as they both run for Nike in the Portland area).  What a great time for US distance running with Ryan Hall, Meb, Dathan Ritzhenheim, Matt Tegencamp, Galen Rupp, and now Chris Solinsky running at a world class level. 

Here's a great video of the race - if you haven't seen it, I'd highly recommend watching at least the last mile of the Flotrack video (middle link at 22 minutes).  Note you'll have to let it load for a few minutes before jumping ahead.

http://www.letsrun.com/2010/solinskyvideo0502.php


On a slower note, my running is back on track after the sprained ankle.  I started jogging the last week of April, and was consistently training by mid may.  It was a struggle at first, but the past two weeks I've felt consistently strong.  I ran Bay to Breakers as a tempo hoping to still match last year's time (I fell about 20 seconds short running 42:08 for 12K).  Then this morning, I ran 33:45 for the Marin 10K.  My first thought was great, just ran the same crappy time as last year.  I was running good splits early on (10:25 at 2 miles and 15:50 at 3 miles), but slowed badly in the 2nd half.  But a few hours later I think that's somewhat encouraging I matched last year's time, since my training has been focused almost entirely on hill stregnth for the Dipsea.  Plus the morning was pretty warm by the end of the race. 

I'm feeling good about my chances at the Dipsea.  I think when I taper back, my crash course fitness plan will be well timed to win my first black t-shirt... and hopefully one with a low number on it :)

Here's a pic I took of the AR 10K race with 500 meters to go...

On The Track

On Friday I ran my first track race since I graduated from college in 2002!

I spent most of last week running easy, trying to shake off my lingering soreness from Sunady's 12K on the road.  I went back and forth on whether to race Friday, but my Thursday I said sore or not sore, it will be a fun experience. 

The San Francisco State University Distance Carnival started just 3 years ago with 4 events for athletes who did not get into Stanford Invitational later the same day.  By last year, this meet had grown to hundreds of athletes and a full day's worth of events.  The men's 5000 had 86 runners this year split between 3 heats.  It was a really low key event, but one that included very competitive races.

I was in the 2nd of 3 heats, which last year had finishing times from just under 15 minutes through the low 16's.  My plan was to shoot for 74 second laps (a 15:25 pace), while avoiding using up too much energy early on.  When the gun went off, I dropped toward the back, and found a spot on the rail by the end of the first lap.  There wasn't a clock at the start or the finish line, so I had to depend on various coaches yelling splits to runners around me.  I know I hit the first lap in 77 but then settled into 73-74 sec laps.  My calves were pretty much sore from the get go, as they had never fully recovered from Sunday's race, and I was wearing a pair of track spikes that have been sitting in my attic for years.  Other than the calves, I felt fairly comfortable through the first half of the race.  Around 2 miles, I started to slip back from the group I was runnign with.  I knew I was slowing down, but I just tried to dig in and make the most of it.  Those laps 3 laps hurt!!  Dana enjoyed the track environment & it was fun having her on the infield cheer for me. 

I crossed the line & really had no idea what my time was since I hadn't gotten any good split info the last few laps.  But I figured I was in the high 15's, and that was confirmed first off of a friend's watch, then the official results - 15:49.

I'm not as happy about this race as I was with the 12K Sunday, but I took 10 seconds off my post college PR for 5K, and it was my second PR in less than a week.  So based on that, I'm certainly not disappointed.  I'll have some more opportunities to lower my 5K time in April, so just need to keep it going!