Typically, I like to have 2-1/2 weeks taper time before a marathon. This round however, has been cut short so that I could squeeze in an additional training week. I'm stuck with 10-12 days instead.
Going from 90 to 40 isn't easy. For the last several days, I've complained about feeling like I wasn't getting enough running in, taking too many days off, and feeling "fat"... It feels like this is all coming too quickly. I put the breaks on and took 3 days off last week. It has felt like with each day, I'm losing something.... That was until today: the Oak Park 5K. The CARA season opener.
Before I get to that, I'll say that my tempo run last week was great. A much needed, 9 miles of speed and confidence. The longer tempo is the hallmark of a marathoner's training. It's a nice 50+ minute bad ass run, where you press the pace for as long as you can but save yourself from blowing out. Clearly it can't be as fast as some shorter tempos, but 1/2 marathon pace is ideal.
I usually target a few of them in my training, but for now I'll have to count Cary as a tempo along with this last 9 miler. Most importantly though, by the end of it I felt very strong and hungry for more. A special thanks to Jason for getting me rolling through the first 6, which were into some wind.
Split Recap:
1- 6:00.7
2- 5:52.1
3- 5:53.5
4- 5:49.0
5- 5:47.8
6- 5:44.3
7- 5:48.3
8- 5:45.7
9- 5:36.0
Total: 52:17.9
Avg: 5:48.7
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Today brought an unexpected pleasantry: The Oak Park 5K.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I hate 5K's! They're too fast and furious for me. They require a me to go all in right away, and just hang on for as long as I can. They never feel comfortable and almost always end in disappointment. For the first time today, I felt like that wasn't the case.
Oak Park has a great competitive field, stacked with a bunch of guys seeking to tune up for Shamrock, Boston, and other early spring premier races... including Rotterdam!
Decent weather today too, good temps with only a nasty headwind in the last 3/4 mile.
I went out with the goal of shooting for a 5:20 pace (roughly 16:30-:35 goal). The luxury of the field allowed me to hang on to a pack of other runners and let them do a lot of the work early on... and the added bonus of my boy, Erik Rasmussen to help carry me through the first couple miles.
We went through the first mile at a blistering 5:09, as everyone jockeyed for position. Oddly enough, it didn't feel that bad (I say that with surprise and disgust). Erik and I settled down a bit in the second mile, but never fell very far off our pack. We did take a few runners out, as we still clipped 5:19. Partly a result of a little head wind, a small hill, and the pack calming down.
The third mile became my race. Erik fell off, with a bit of a calf problem. I turned a corner, and headed into the wind. I had to make a decision: either hang with him, or suck it up to catch the pack ahead. The pack was left with only a few guys now. I needed them to keep me in the race.
I still felt strong so I made the push and within 30 seconds I drafting off the back of 3-4 guys, including FF'er Dave Strubbe. I hung here as we took a few individual runners, until we rounded a couple more turns, and came to the final half mile long stretch. Head winds were nasty here and killed the whole pack. We clearly slowed up, but nobody wanted to be the sacrificial lamb. I pushed through the pack anyway. Naturally, a few guys grabbed on to me. Then it just became guts and hit it as hard as I could until the finish.
The lead was swapped 2 or 3 times between 3 of us. We swallowed another runner, and I eventually finished in 2nd amongst our pack and final push. Third mile was 5:15, final 0.1 was 0:31... not a huge kick, but I'd say given the head wind there, it was easily a 5/sub-5 effort at the end. Clearly enough to out kick several other top quality runners too.
Final result... a big PR in an event that I hate... 16:16. Average of 5:15 pace. 9th over all, 3rd age group. I felt strong and in control throughout the race. A very nice start to the CARA Circuit season and a HUGE confidence booster for Rotterdam. This little 5K has reassured me that I can gun for a PR next Sunday.
The scary thing is though, I'm actually really excited to run Rotterdam now. I wasn't before. I need to stay calm, otherwise by the end of the week, I'll be crawling out of my skin and driving myself crazy.
Marathon count down has begun yet again.
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