5K stalking

[SumoRunner]

I ran a 5K this morning in 28:48, my best time so far this year, only by 4 seconds, but I was happier with the way I ran it than the time itself. The first mile went down in 9:27, then 9:21 and finally a 9:02.

What happened was I spotted an old nemesis up ahead of me at the start and I was determined to catch him. I beat him in a 7.1 mile race just last week but he was running much harder today. I thought I'd catch him by 1 mile but he was still several seconds up. I closed the gap thinking he'd fade by 2 miles but he didn't, so I closed the gap to just a few steps and stalked him. I had already run the course as a warm-up, so I knew where to make my move. With a quarter mile to go we made a hard left turn where I moved up and passed. He stayed with me for 20 or 30 seconds, then when we hit the 3 mile mark I found another gear (right on the painful threshold) and beat him by a few seconds. Very satisfying even though we were both fighting for 4th or 5th place in the age group.

I followed up with another easy 4 mile cool-down run, 10 miles all together, a tough day's workout but a good one.

 

[Guest]

Great run Sumo! Sounds like you enjoyed the morning. Did your nemesis know that you were there? He's going to be looking for you at the next one.

 

[SumoRunner]

Yes, he said he knew who it was. I don't know at what point but I suspect when I moved to within 5 yards with no one else between us. When you run with people for 25 years, they don't need to look, the sound of your breathing and footsteps become recognizable.

 

[tprice54]

Jack, perfect race strategy, and very nice negative splits!

 

[tommy]

Hooray for negative splits and a pacer ahead of you. Great job!

 

[Bean Counter]

Nice work! You can never go wrong with a negative split.

 

[SumoRunner]

So today I only ran 3 miles, then went down to the bike path to snap some pics of the local Mohawk Hudson River Marathon. This is only a mile from home. I run with this kind of scenery every day.

http://picasaweb.google.com/SumoRunner/MHRM1002#

 

[SumoRunner]

Ran another 5K this morning, a bit faster 28:25, 3rd place 60+ age group. I was happy with how I paced it, miles of 9:20, 9:10 & 9:10. That 1st mile was all uphill though. The guy I tried stalking this time turned out to be 71, but since 60+ was the highest age group he was the correct one to chase. I just couldn't catch this guy though. Final time was about 1 minute slower than I ran the same course last fall, but the best I've done this year.

 

[SumoRunner]

I met my match this time. I went to a 5k race in my daughter's tiny village. Probably no more than 30 runners. Before the 5K was the kids 1 mile fun run which my grandson wanted to do. I said I'd run it with him as a warm up. I got warm alright and used up too. He went out like a shot and I couldn't catch him until past the half mile and then I suspect he was slowing down to wait for me. He ran the mile in 8-something. Later in the 5K I started out OK, 9:06 first mile but my legs were already tired from chasing a 5 year old. I finished about 30 seconds slower than last week.

Next week is the event I have been training for, the focus of all my efforts to date. The Schenectady Stockade-athon, 15K. This will be my 27th time at this race, 16 of them since my AVR.

 

[bigsidster]

I am tired just reading the posts. LOL

 

[SumoRunner]

Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch. I have been fighting with foot injuries on and off since April and this week they were pretty bad. I think I did some damage chasing my grandson last week, so I took it easy all week doing only a few runs of 2-3 miles. But this Sunday was my biggest event of the year and I was determined to get through it no matter what. From the very first step my ankle hurt and yet I kept going on it for 9.3 miles, rather slow of course, almost a full minute per mile slower than last year. I even managed a fair bit of a sprint to the finish.

Later on I even had trouble driving home, the muscles in my foot kept cramping. A few hours later and into today, nothing, not even a tiny a twinge of pain while I walk. So I guess it's only an impact injury and I'll have to lay off the running and especially the racing for a while. Until Thanksgiving that is. The local Turkey Trot is another one I can't miss.