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April 22, 2005
Some More Analysis
Like most of us, I have a very hard time being happy with my performances. It seems as though there are always some kind of extenuating circumstances to use to make excuses. I can probably only count on one hand the number of races that I have actually been truly happy with how everything went. Although last night was a good, solid effort...it was not what I was hoping for. I truly believe that I am in shape to run 18:30, even on a bad day.
After having an entire day to think about it, I have come to the conclusion that I have to be happy with it. First of all, this was the first 5K I have raced in over 6 months. Shorter races are much harder for me. I have a hard time feeling the right pace to run. I was extremely nervous before the race because it had been so long since I had run that fast. Secondly, I did not back off at all leading into last night. Last week I ran 72 miles, one of the highest mileage weeks of my life. This week did start some of the backing off, but nothing really changed until Thursday. I did 15 miles on Monday in a double, including a track workout of 400s. Tuesday was a hard, fast 10 miler in the heat. Wednesday was an easy run, as it always is. The only cutback was not waking up at 4:50 to run in the morning. My training has not really included any real speedwork so far, we have been doing lots of strength work. I've also been doing way more mileage than I have every done.
In looking at all of this I have to be happy with the race. Throw in the difficult course and the fact that there was a relatively weak field, even better. There were some men close to me, I could even see the guy who won the entire way. Men do not inspire me to race the same way as women do. I don't really care that much if a man outkicks me, but if it is a woman...look out. I must admit that it is a sweet prize. I definitely will not drink it all at once. I won the same prize once before and it took about a year and a half to finish all six bottles.
My massage today was not quite as painful as anticipated. My right calf was extremely tight, but other than that it was not that bad. I was especially surprised because it had been about a month since my last rubdown.
My goal is still to get as close to 60 at Broad Street. Even though I could not race at 6 minute pace in a 5K, I still think it is possible next Sunday. I will cutback some next week and the course is way more conducive to fast running.
Thank you all for the encouraging comments about last night!! It really was a test effort and it seems to have gone fairly well.
Posted by Blondie at April 22, 2005 06:52 PM
Comments
Hey Blondie. I know what you mean about "not caring" if a guy outkicks you in a race. I feel the same way. I think, "oh, of course they should be outkicking," and since I am hurting at the end of a race I don't push myself harder. I want to work on that-I think. Will I hurt myself by trying to catch men at the end of a race by pushing harder than I should? What are your thoughts on that? Why don't you try and catch them? Good post-you really captured that feeling. I wonder if other female runners feel the same way.
Posted by: Audrey at April 22, 2005 07:28 PM
You were just getting warmed up in the 5K, you need more miles to help you drop your pace down :-) Breaking an hour next week definitely seems possible, I am constantly amazed by how you seem to do everything around 6:00 pace, whether it's your track workouts, a 5K, or a half-marathon!
Posted by: Alison at April 22, 2005 08:50 PM
Alison is right, you are going to do great this weekend! I'm so impressed by how fast you are already. You've obviously worked really hard to get to where you are right now and you will see progress as you continue!
Posted by: Nanda at April 25, 2005 11:12 AM