What a difference a week makes

Last Tuesday was the first of 3 5K races in a small local cross country series. I have been aiming to PR in the 5K oh since I last PRed in 1996 at States my sophomore year with a 20:03. A bit frustrating to go from serious promise of closing in on breaking 20 and possibly even breaking 19 to all of a sudden struggling to break 21 my junior and senior year and struggling to break 22 and sometimes 23 in college. And at $3 a pop this cross country series seemed like a good opportunity to see where I'm at and try for the elusive 5K PR.

So last Tuesday I lined up with about 150 other runners, the majority male high schoolers followed by female high schoolers in hopes of cranking out a good 5K. Weather was not ideal. Hot and extremely humid, but I was ready to give it a go. Or at least I thought I was. The start was fast, grassy, and crowded. A large number of high school boys and girls crowding the course and going out like gang busters. I got pulled into it a bit and had to dodge several course markers at the first turn as the crowd kept trying to turn into the markers. It was impossible to see the little metal stakes until you were right on top of them because of the crowd. You felt a little bit like a pinball bouncing back and forth. Finally we made the turn though and headed straight into the woods. The trail here is bridle and plenty wide for 2-3 runners but with all of the young studs going out like mad it was crowded and you definitely had to play dodge'em the first mile or so. Lots of times I was "off roading" it along the side and dodging trees to get around people.

I was Through the first mile in 6:30 and I felt okay. Not great but passable. I was drenched in sweat from my warm up before the race even started so I am sure I looked pretty bad at this point. After the mile the trail headed into open field. The sun was beating down and I did my best to hold pace. Spectators were shouting out 3rd woman as I passed and it just frustrated me because I didn't want to have to work to hold anyone off. I wasn't there to race for place I was there to get a good time and as 13 minutes came and went and I still wasn't at the 2nd mile marker I knew my finish time was not going to be where I wanted it. It was hot and I was running out of steam. I really just wanted to quit.

But I pushed on, disappointed with my second mile which was 7:19. I hoped to rally and pick it up. We headed back into the woods and hit a few stretches of boardwalk. There had been freak storms earlier in the day and the wood was soaked and slippery. I could feel myself slowing down with the fear of slipping. I looked to the side of the boardwalk but there was no real good ground so I couldn't jump off the boardwalk to pick it up. About 4 minutes into the last mile I got passed by a high school runner. I didn't even attempt to join her. I was spent and just waiting for the end of the race. I had to chide myself as just a few nights previously I was encouraging runners at mile 91.3 that they only had 4.5 to the next station and here I was ready to quit after 2.5 miles of a 5K.

And then we came to the hill. Who the hell puts a hill in the final quarter mile of a cross course? My spirit was broken and I glanced backwards over my shoulder, looked at my watch, and gave up and started to walk. There was no way I was coming close to the time I wanted, I was spent, and there were no girls behind me. I had no shame and was ready to walk my ass up the hill to the finish. A male runner caught me and encouraged me to kick it in with him. I looked over and realized I had given him a buck before the race when I overheard him say to his friend he thought the race was $2 and didn't have a third. I thought shit this guy has come to earn his dollar and I did my best to truck up the hill to the finish with him. Hitting the third mile in 7:58 and finishing in 22:31.

I was toasted. It's been a long time since I felt so shitty after a 5k. It took me forever to recover as I chugged down cup after cup of lemonade. I finally forced myself to go out for a cool down and put in 10 wimpy minutes and was then convinced to do the 1 mile fun run as a cool down with Tanya. It took us over 11 minutes. We stayed around for awards. We watched as they handed out all the high school awards and then waited for the "old people" awards as all those 21 or under cleared out. I got first (of 4) in my age group, 4th female. But I was extremely disappointed with my time and my efforts. It felt like I took a huge step backwards since a month ago when I ran 20:44 at the Flag Day race. It felt weird to run with a bunch of high schoolers and realize that I am in such a different place in my life now, but I'm still chasing after the same goals in running.

After the letdown of last Tuesday I decided to get in a short fartlek workout which ended with some hill sprints Friday in hopes of doing a little better at race number 2 last night. I actually got out of work on time and got to the race with about 45 minutes to prepare. I was surprised to see the main lot was already full. There were a ton more high schoolers there last night. Enter the third time in the last few weeks that I haven't felt like the young sprite I usually am. Nothing like a bunch of 14-19 year olds to make a 25 year old woman feel ancient. (Don't worry I am not concerned about aging. I have a feeling I'll welcome each new milestone, I just thought it was interesting that in the span of a week three events happened which for the first time actually made me think about how many years I have been alive and realize that I am far beyond those days when I was 16)

I got my little orange flag to indicate I'd paid my $3 and wasn't a bandit then sprayed on sunscreen and took down a gel at 5:50 PM. I made a trip to the ladies room and started my warm up a few minutes after 6. I kept it easy on the warm up and did the 1 mile loop that is also the last mile of the 5k. I wanted to plan my attack so that I hopefully wouldn't run another near 8 minute mile. I also wanted to test my racing flats out on all the terrain I would see. I had worn my trail shoes last week and had hoped that I would be able to wear spikes this week but with a few pavement sections and the boardwalks spikes were out so I pulled out my racing flats (which I've used twice, a track workout that left me with a huge blister on my ankle and the Chicago tri in 2005).

I realized the last mile is a bit downhill for a stretch and that the boardwalks were runnable last night. This lifted my spirits. I eased my way up the final hill and noted my split from the 3 mile mark to what would be the finish and decided I should be able to do that final .1 in 35 seconds despite the incline. Then I headed out on the first mile of the course. Wanted to test the trainers on the grass. The grass was long and I could definitely tell it wasn't going to be a fast course even though it was dry last night. I paid attention to the twists and turns in the woods so that I could hopefully run the tangents and not waste too much energy running wide around the curves. As I headed back towards the start and out of the woods a helpful volunteer let me know I had 7 minutes. Plenty of time for one last stop at the ladies room. I managed to get in a 24 minute warm up and was at the line with about 1 minute to spare.

I knew AP was supposed to be there last night but there were a little less than 300 runners so I wasn't looking to find anyone. I lined up towards the front left. I decided I wanted to run at the left hand side as we entered into the staked path that curved left then right. Once we headed into the left turn I would gradually head right and hope to cut right directly after the last stake. Avoiding a tall mans elbows at the start we watched as once again a large group of HS runners took off at a sprint. I wanted to keep it even. My plan was to treat the night like a hard tempo run. Try to run even splits around 6:30-6:45 depending on how I felt. I maneuvered the first curve almost as planned but still had to dodge a stake before breaking free of the stake confinements. As we headed down a stretch of grass into the woods I heard "Is that you Liz?"

It was AP. He had perfect timing because I was about to pick it up to try and get ahead of some runners before we hit the path but he distracted me and I chatted with him as we entered the woods. I let him in on my plan and he told me he would do his best to keep me on track. Having him there I was able to talk and I think that kept me from going out too fast in the first mile. We were moving and passing tons of runners. We would both look for openings and often AP would call out when there was a clear path I could get through. It was kind of funny to be racing with all these high school kids and here I am chatting like I am out on a social run. Telling AP the race plan and letting him know if we were about to hit a hill or a turn.

We came through mile one right on pace at 6:39. I told AP that was perfect, now we just had to hold it. I was worried. This was 9 seconds slower than last weeks first mile but I knew going out too fast would end in disaster just like last week. We continued to pass tons of runners as we headed back into the woods. A couple of close calls on the downhills. One hill I thought for sure I would end up in the river as I watched a tall runner blaze by me at full speed. We exited the woods while passing a young blond girl and I heard "3rd and 4th females"called out to us.

Here we go again, I thought. But I felt so much better last night at this point than I had last week. I felt strong and AP kept encouraging me and telling me we were definitely on pace. I wasn't sure I believed him. I had a hard time believing I was holding 6:40 but I would just keep pushing and try not to let him get away from me. As we came to the one water hand off I told him I was going for water but unfortunately I was on the left and water was on the right. AP was johnny on the spot and got a cup and handed it to me. At this point I felt a bit ridiculous, my own personal cup grabber, who did I think I was, Lance Armstrong? But I was definitely grateful. That sip of cold water was the best!

As we crossed the park entrance I knew we were nearing mile 2 and was a bit disappointed to hear the man there calling out 13. I thought for sure this meant my second mile was again going to be over 7, but thankfully my math skills while racing are poor and we hit mile 2 in 6:43. I was so happy. I knew it would be tough to hold that pace but I was ready to kick it up a notch. The hills haven't been my strength so I told AP I needed to pick it up through this section on the downs and flats so that I had a bit of time in the bank for the final hill.

All the while I kept looking for the tell tale sports bras in front of me who were in 1st and 2nd but couldn't see them. I was content to hold onto third and just keep running strong. I wanted to be sure no girls passed me in the final mile last night. I pulled in front of AP for a bit here but would hear him calling from behind, "great job," "good pass," etc. I just kept focused and tried to pass as many guys as I could. As we neared the turn to the hill I must have subconsciously put on the brakes a bit in fear of what was coming because AP caught me here and encouraged me to pick it up for the final push.

I kept him in my sights and tried to run like I was back at Euclid Creek doing hill sprints. I pushed hard and couldn't believe it when we crossed mile 3 in 6:43. I knew it was less than 40 seconds to the finish now if I could push it. I had seen my dollar friend ahead of me the whole race. Thankfully I didn't need him last night as I hammered it in to finish in 20:45 (watch time) (official time 20:46).

I was really happy with this finish and felt worlds better after the race than I had last week. I can't believe the difference. I guess sometimes you have to have a bad race to put the good ones in perspective. Went for a 24 minute cool down with AP then we waited around for awards. I felt bad AP had probably slowed down a lot to help me but turns out despite us coming in 68 and 69 overall he got 2nd in his age group and was only about 20 seconds behind 1st in his age group (who I think may have been dollar guy). I snagged 3rd overall and 1st in my age group again. I was only 20-25 seconds behind first and second who both ran in the 20:20s. Next week I'd like to see if I can take them down. Although I know overall I may be worse as Salty is coming and she's out to grab the win and a perfectly executed 5K plus MT might come and she's been rocking it too. I think I can up the ante a little and squeak out a 20:20. Not sure this course lends itself to a sub 20 for me but I am feeling confident I will break 20 soon.

I'd have to say despite last night not being a PR this was probably the best executed 5K I have ever done. Pretty damn near even splits. That's the way they should all be! That's the tenth time in my life I've run sub 21, 7 of those being my freshman and sophomore years in high school. Now I just have to get that pace from 6:41 down to 6:26!