Saturday, July 18, 2009

Twilight Retro 5K race report

Background:
I am still trying to tweak my formula to take the optimal amount of taurine to finally slow down my adrenal gland. On my last quality workout on Wednesday, I was awful but Saturday night, I was sensational on a pleasant Alabama evening (temps in the low 80s with relatively low humidity).
I still felt "a little off" when I woke up but after a mid afternoon nap, I was ready to roll.
Most of my friends from the Birmingham Track Club were there and it was great to see all of them.
Course:
Downhill start then relatively flat for the next 2+ miles. Mile 2.5 to 3.0 was gradually uphill so I expected to slow down here. My goal was 19:30 or about 6:15 pace so the plan was to bank time early and go out near 6, stay on target and be at 12:15 at 2 miles then push the hill hard and expect my kick to be strong as usual.
Race: Good start downhill. I tend to start too fast in the shorter distances but today's early pace was near perfect. I was out at 1:24 in the first quarter mile but considering the downhill start, I kept my effort even. Every time I looked at my GPS, I was in the 5:50s until late in the first mile. At the halfway point, I was unofficially under 9:30 on pace for a PR and a sub 19. I was chasing a guy for most of the second mile who appeared to be about my age. Lactic acid was building but I managed to keep a respectable pace (around 6:20) I finally caught him just after the second mile marker and continued driving toward the line. Finally, we got to the hill and my effort was good. I knew that sub-19 had slipped away but I thought I had 19:30 in the bag. Perhaps, I unconsciously let up just a tad. In any event, only one man passed me going up the hill. When we passed the 3rd mile marker, I was not pleased with how much my pace had slowed but I came back strong with my finishing kick and caught a fading runner just before the finish line. My time was 19:27, second best time ever and a 21 second improvement over my previous best of the year. Fastest time since '98 and just 14 seconds away from a PR.
Splits:
5:58 (downhill start)
6:14 (relatively flat)
6:39 (uphill)
:36 for last .11 (5:33 pace)
19:27- very pleased with that time. I think I've got a shot at breaking 19 this Fall.

3 comments:

Da Weekend Warrior said...

GREAT TIME!!! Im in envy!! I'm still trying to break 20. Hopefully by the end of the year, but I'm not concentrating on the short stuff...

Preston said...

Excellant time

Tracy said...

Great job!