Thank you so much everyone! Especially for the tips last week, I owe my result to many of you! Huge shoutout to all the other fantastic racers this past week!
I believe I just jumped like 5% or something age graded... for a race distance I'm not training for! I'm now seriously considering dropping down in distance next year and then moving back up to the marathon later.
Riding a high right now! Can't believe I grazed low 5:00s for 4 years in high school, and now I'm sitting at 4:38!
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M25, 128lbs, 5'7"
PRs: 4:38 mile, 16:50 5K, 34:58 10K, 1:16:39 HM, 2:46:07 M
2019 Goals: NYCM, CIM (alternative/backup), sub 2:40
=== 9/2/19 - 9/8/19: 90.0 miles ===
> Mon - 17.19 miles
#1 (5:58): 12.03 miles @7:41
#2 (12:33): 5.16 miles @7:45
> Tue - 18.03 miles
#1 (5:52): 13.03 miles @7:08, 6x1mi, 2’ jog recovery
5:38 avg
5:42, 5:41, 5:42, 5:39, 5:36, 5:28
#2 (11:57): 5.00 miles @7:54
> Wed - 15.17 miles
#1 (5:50): 10.16 miles @8:15
#2 (10:58): 5.01 miles @7:48
> Thu - 13.17 miles
#1 (5:48): 10.01 miles @7:57
#2 (11:01): 3.16 miles @7:55
> Fri - 10.02 miles
#1 (5:49): 5.01 miles @9:57 (5% incline) + 2.01 miles @7:36
#2 (10:47): 5.01 miles @7:28, w/ 3’-2’-1’ pickup (5;50, 5:27, 5:08)
> Sat - 11.35 miles
#1 (6:44): 8.01 miles @8:12
#2 (19:00): 3.34 miles @9:57, w/ 4 strides
> Sun - 3.02 miles
#1 (8:00): 3.02 miles, w/ New Balance 5th Avenue Mile Race
> New Balance 5th Avenue Mile - 4:38
Splits: 1:08, 2:21, 3:30, 4:38
Per 400m: 68, 73, 69, 68
Terrain: Down, Up, Down, Flat
Overall a PR of 14 seconds over my track mile in June (4:52), off little specific mile training! First road mile and feeling very, very satisfied with the result.
The week leading up was a huge struggle, kicked off with an upper back strain that at peak made a regular easy run extremely painful. Managed to recover to the point where I don’t think it affected me come race time, but it was certainly a mental nag. Took the full warm up to loosen up the back and have the confidence flow back.
Pre-start I managed to squeeze up to right near the front on the right side. As the corral moved forward I was in the second row sandwiched between some folks, which had me nervous but when the gun went I was able to dart out into very open space and work my way toward the middle.
As I remember was the first 400 went by FAST. I tried to keep the effort right, but as I pulled up to the first split timer I saw the low 60s and started to feel nervous about the pacing. I started pulling back a little but still felt my body starting to tire a little more than I had hoped.
I think I at least managed to control the pace last minute there, since the first split (by watch) still came in at 68 (felt like 65 effort for a good chunk of it, until I started letting up). The next 400m up was steady and I purposefully tried to avoid pushing too hard. Once I saw the 800m clock at around 2:20, I knew 4:40 was possible so it was go time -- I started to push down on the gas.
Up to 1200m went by quick once again, helped by the downhill but I was really started to feel it now. I was starting to reel people back in who exhausted a bit too much last uphill 400m and just kept pushing step after step. I saw 3:30 on the clock and told myself there was no way I was going to let up now.
I could feel my form start to wobble in the last 400m but at that point all I could think was to hold on and push. I may have gone for it just a little early because my kick felt a bit weak once I hit 1500m, but at that point I wasn’t thinking about much else but the clock. I saw it start counting up from 4:30 as I drew closer and closer to the finish and crossed just before 4:40 hit, in my view. I felt pretty confident I made it under, even for gun time. BOOM! Done! Felt like the whole thing passed by in a blur, the fastest I’ve ever felt a race go. Chip time ended up 4:38! It was a major relief to make it to the finish line hitting that goal. I honestly thought after the first 300m I had already botched the race but everything somehow held together!
> Notes
The week was a huge uphill battle but ended on an extremely high note. Toward the end of last week I ended up straining my upper right back doing who knows what, and greedily I ran through it the entire week. Peak pain was Wednesday, where my whole upper body was cramping by the end of the easy run from muscles being too stiff trying to protect the strained area from impact. Not my smartest moments here, but I had a similar issue in the past and this one seemed slightly less severe and I figured it would wear off eventually.
From there, I switched all runs to the treadmill for lower impact forces, and even did a fair chunk on uphill grade. The strain finally started to flip toward recovery and thankfully I felt just stable enough to race. The adrenaline would definitely push the remaining pain out.
The rest of the details are in the race report up above! Will hopefully continue to recover fully next week. May take it easier if I need to.