The last time I trained for a 5k was in 2003 and it was a very low mileage program, mostly consisting of 200s-800s and one run over 5 miles once a week. Somehow that year I ran my "outdated" PR of 22:11. Seven years later, I significantly upped my mileage, starting the year out in the 30-40 miles a week range, then got injured (hmmm, I wonder why?), then cross trained for about three months, and now I have been running around 20-25 miles a week for the last two months. I would like to get up to 30 miles a week, with minimal foot pain, and race a couple 5ks, a Turkey Trot, and some time trials at the track (1600 & 3200) because my high school PRs are way outdated.
The Buckeye Half Marathon put on a 5k with their race today. It was my first 5k this year and judging on how it turned out, the first time I actually raced. My goal was to run a 22:45. With that time goal in mind, I felt like I had a little more left in me to surprise myself and I did just that. I didn't get much sleep the last couple of days but tried to stay positive. Taking it easy three days out proved to be beneficial. I felt as if I was resting the reserves of fitness I had built up in the last 2 months before turning loose today. I didn't wear my watch and splits weren't being called so I had to go off feeling. I felt strong in the first mile, a little exhausted after that, but tried my hardest to focus on form and feeling light. Mile 1.5-2 had somewhat of a downhill so I used it to my advantage to attempt to pass a female that had passed me right before the end of the first mile. I just kept focusing on her, knowing I could pass her. I wanted to race today and something I feel like I never did in a race was actually race. Funny as it sounds, I usually went out with no recognition of pace, died around 2 miles, and continually got passed. But armed with new knowledge and more fitness, I took a risk and passed her with 800 meters to go. When she got water, I told myself that I couldn't let someone taking water in a 5k or wearing a long sleeve shirt for that matter, beat me. As soon as she slowed to take a sip, I zipped right passed her. Immediately I heard her try to pick up and so I picked it up and started thinking, "Shit, what did I just do? Am I kicking it too early?" I quickly blocked out these thoughts and tried to remain focused on form, buoyancy, and the minor incline ahead of me. When we made the turn towards the finish, I was tempted to look back and see how much room I had between us but instead, I focused forward. As soon as I saw the chute, I picked it up as much as I thought I could (I could've picked up harder, mental note for next time). I squinted to see the clock, thinking it said 23 something and got upset, and slowed just a tad before seeing 22:10. I then picked it up (again, could've picked it up a bit more) and 7 seconds later I was done (22:17, 7:10 pace). Granted it was a little race but I felt that I earned my fourth place female overall and age group win because of my risk to pass long-sleeved water drinking lady.
My fall season 5k goal was to run a 21:40 but now I think I can go faster. Long term, my goals are pretty high. It's somewhat of a challenge to make a big deal out of my times now, knowing that in the racing community, they are pretty slow. But deep inside, I feel like I am armed with the knowledge that was missing before to run faster. Part of that knowledge involves being patient and starting with small goals. Plus, patience truly is a virtue, just kind of sucks sometimes because it takes a while. Duh. Deep down, I am celebrating after today's race but my head tells me not to get too excited.
My goals for the rest of this year
Run the following races and improve each time:
September 6th Aurora Labor Day 1 mile and 5k
September 12th River Run 5k (pending no foot pain)
3200 time trial week of September 20th
October 10th Jump Back Jog 5k
Time trial(s) between October 17th and October 31st
November 25th Turkey Trot 4 miler
December 4th Reindeer Run (depending on the weather, would like this to be my fall PR race but might be hard if there is snow on the ground)
My goals for next year
Build up to 40 miles a week
Race on an indoor/outdoor track
Run a few spring 5ks
Run a spring 10k
Run another summer/fall racing schedule, with a goal of breaking 19 minutes in the 5k
Run a longer fall race
Long term goals (2012-2013)
Build up to 50-60 miles a week
Continue improving 5k and 10k times
Train for a spring half marathon
Train for a fall marathon and reach the Boston qualifier mark
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