So I spent a week not eating much, running too much, not sleeping much and being extremely stressed.
I had a 5 km race planned, which I had done a prediction work-out for (predicted 17:44), but could not wrap my mind around running it. I jogged 5 minutes towards the start line and then walked home.
Then I spent a week not running, eating some more, trying to be less panicked. Out of nowhere I decided to pop off a 5 km off and see what this situation (which looked somewhat like a large taper) would produce. 17:50.
I don't recommend this type of lead up to a race and plan never to repeat it however I am very pleased with the race itself and the time. I was incredibly mentally focussed which I absolutely did not expect. My marathon legs could not go out too fast as I usually do in a 5 km and as a result my first 2 km were actually the slowest (3:36, 3:40) then I actually ran 10:35 for the last 3 km. I had set my timer to go off 15 minutes into the race and I told myself that when the timer went off I would have less than 3 minutes to run and I needed to leave everything on the road. It worked. It really worked. I have never worked so hard in the last 500 m of a race. I want to feel that feeling again.
Wow! A PPPB. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteCool idea with the timer. Perhaps my problem in 5ks is my last km is invariably the slowest.
And then your last sentence really got me thinking. That characteristic simply must be something that all really fast runners share.
Wow. That's fast. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteI guess you just did a monster taper! I set my road 5K PR after a two-week vacation, where I barely ran. My peak was short-lived, though, and my season tanked shortly thereafter.
I've never been able to taper so aggresively since. Like you wrote before your marathon, tapering makes one feel like crap.