Decatur, Alabama
Saturday, May 3, 2008
USATF Certified AL06009JD
Senior Cup 5k Results
I really wish that I had this amazing race report to summarize this new personal record 5k race. I guess I am feeling somewhat drained after writing a ‘War and Peace’ style Boston Marathon race report.
The weather was very ominous on Saturday, as the storms pushed through Huntsville starting at 4am. The forecast was calling for 70% chance of rain through 9am. When I got up, I really thought that the race would be delayed an hour or so. I even talked to Laura about it and she was convinced as well and decided to forgo the trip to Decatur. She asked why I was still going, despite the heavy rains, to which I responded, ‘Because you never know when it is going to be your day’.
I pulled into the lot and immediately saw that Donald Bowman had already arrived, despite the rain and my 6:55 am arrival for an 8:00 am race. This meant that there would be good competition to push me and that I would have to work really hard to stay close to the front of the pack.
As I have been doing lately, I signed up for the race on the morning of the event. I don’t mind paying more to race; I look at it as money saved for events that I would not run at the last minute to do pains, strains, weather, work or family interference. Plus when I pre-pay, I feel like I am locked in to an event and need to alter my training for that race. With last minute shopping, I can make a go or no decision the day before the race.
My warm up was done under a light sprinkle, but it was clear from the skies and the new forecast that it would be a dry race. The only issue that threatened to be a factor was the rising humidity with the temperature and rain mix. The winds were light, possible a 10-12 mph breeze from the west-southwest.
When toeing the line, it looked to be a four horse race with Bowman likely to lead. Eric Schotz and John Elmore, local area favorites and myself stood around Donald waiting for the starting gun. I love competition and having people to push me. These guys would do just that.
The start was pretty fast and after the first left and first right out onto the road, we were quickly in single file. Donald out front, followed by John, then me and Schotz somewhere behind. The first mile was a long straight away, ever so slightly uphill. The traffic was not blocked and for the most part, we ran down the middle of the road. We seemed to be running into a light headwind. I went through the first half mile in 2:48. I was already starting to fall behind the leaders who went out hard. I settled into an easy pace in the last part of the first mile, coming in at 2:57 or a first mile time of 5:45. This was the target race pace that I was hoping to hold.
We made a left turn and started to run south. Somehow the wind changed direction and again we were running into a head wind. I was very focused, allowing no dissociation. I could tell that with less effort, that I was starting to slowly close on John. The road sloped ever so gently down which helped to keep a quick pace. I didn't know if that was what we lost early in the race or if we we would make that up later. I ran very steady from the previous split, clocking 2:58. This was far off my goal pace and I made the mental decision that I was going to go hard, nearly flat out, and try to pass John.
I pushed very hard, but with gradually increasing effort, knowing that I had half of the race to catch him. The road composition was fresh blacktop and it almost felt like a spring board, allowing for a fast push off. Just before the 2 mile mark, I decisively moved ahead, accelerating passed him and ran hard to put a 3 second gap up on him. The split was 2:52 for the second half of the second mile.
The humidity was now pulling at my strength. If this had been an 8 or 10k, I would have needed water, both to drink and to pour on my head for the cooling effect. I continued to push hard, knowing that any wavering would mean that I would be passed right back by John and I would slip to 3rd. We made a left, then right, then fast left. My half mile split was 2:48. On the turns I was able to sneak a quick glance and I could tell that I had a decent lead on John, but he was still within striking distance if he could muster a good kick. John is a great runner and I knew that he could do it, if it was his day.
I had to laugh at all of the course marshalls who were wearing large foam fingers from baseball games pointing us in the right direction. I knew the course well from the maps, and was able to bide by their help to run the course very smart, cutting the corners tight, like they are measured.
In the last half of the final mile, I could tell that I was slowly closing in on Donald. He is normally much faster, so the only thing that I could figure was that he wasn't feeling well and maybe I had a shot if he couldn't hang on. We made the final right and left back into the church parking lot. I was able to get one final look back and saw that John was maybe 12-15 seconds behind. So I knew that I was going to take 2nd place, but know it was about breaking 18 minutes. My old PR was 18:09, which had stood for a very long time. I clocked a 2:49 half mile split before the sprint to the finish.
Donald knew how close I was, but had enough to hold onto the lead. I was still sprinting toward the end especially when I could see that the clock was in the 17:40's. By the time that I got there, crossed the line, stopped my watch and looked, I had finished at 17:53. Finally on my 30th 5k race, I was able to break 18 minutes. It seemed like a lifetime since that first 5k race in 2003.
So I am glad that I got out of bed, drove in the rain, paid the late fee and raced at 95% of my vVO2max. I had decided that I could go faster and ran 5:38 pace in the last 1.61 miles of the race (last half plus the kick) and realized another long term goal. This was a great day.
Thanks to Bowman and Elmore for a great race.
Why did I race on this day? Because you never know when it is going to be your day.
| Place | Div/Tot | Name | Age | Hometown | Time | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1/6 | Donald Bowman | 40 | Madison, AL | 17:45 | 5:43 |
| 2 | 1/11 | Eric Charette | 32 | Huntsville, AL | 17:54 | 5:46 |
| 3 | 2/6 | Jon Elmore | 42 | Decatur, AL | 18:05 | 5:50 |
| 4 | 1/6 | Josh Long | 29 | Moulton, AL | 18:27 | 5:57 |
| 5 | 1/9 | Eric Schotz | 36 | Decatur, AL | 19:13 | 6:11 |