5 km race today, I am back in the zone, albeit at the very tail end of it but I managed to run only one minute slower than my lifetime PB and only 45 seconds slower than last fall - 18:37.4. So I am really pleased to have broken 19 minutes which was the goal. I am a bit less pleased to be in a state of fitness in which I am pleased about breaking 19 minutes. Ok, did I really just say I am not pleased about being pleased? Oh Piccola shut up and go read your "Now is that moment post" already.
It was an interesting race. I only had one gear. I ran a 3:45 first km and that felt really hard but then I never really got more tired throughout the race. Again, I seem to be limited by my body just not remembering how to run fast. My kilometer splits were amazingly even which is consistent with only having one gear: 3:45, 3:42, 3:44, 3:45, 3:39. In the last 400 m I was battling with this guy, both of us running step for step and suddenly it hit me... "oh yeah, at the end of a race we're supposed to kick." So I did. So did he. I took it up another notch. So did he. He nipped me by 0.3 seconds; he deserved it. But I thought it was a good lesson in how there is almost always something left in the tank but sometimes it takes a challenge by another person to bring it. True in running. True in intellectual pursuits, true in many aspects of life: it is the challenge that makes us empty the tank.
Speaking of other people bringing out the fire in us... on my way to the race I bumped into a guy I have run against often. He mentioned that he was going easy today in order to save it for the Montreal 1/2 Marathon next week-end which, incidentally is also the venue for Ca.na.dian 1/2 M.arat.hon Ch.ampio.nships. He mentioned that next week's half marathon is two days before the deadline to apply for guaranteed entry to the New York City Marathon based on performance. He was gunning for a 1:23 half next week-end to get the guaranteed bib for NYC. That got me thinking a few things:
1. I have always wanted to do NYC.
2. If the men's standard is 1:23, the women's has to be significantly slower - I subsequently looked it up, it's 1:37.
3. I don't have any particular plans for next week-end.
So, I went home and registered for the Montreal Half. Surely I can run a 1:37 and likely 10-12 minutes faster than that. That would guarantee me a spot in NYC provided I apply immediately afterwards and cough up what I am sure is an exorbitant entry fee. I'm an options open kind of woman, why not? So, looks like I am running a 1/2 Marathon next week-end. I am sure that once I start doing the math, figuring out what it will cost for the transportation, room, entry fee etc. etc. for NYC Marathon, I will bail but in the meantime, I am one step closer to running NYC.
I came here from Monyka's blog. I love your writing and what you have to say. You are fast (though I know your current fast is not as fast as it used to be). I've recently ran a 19:26, and am going to try to break 19 this summer! Good luck with the half!
ReplyDeleteHey PPC - nice work on the 5km run, smokin' fast time...and I love the last minute half marathon entry - good luck gearing up for it, it would be awesome to get through to NYC!!
ReplyDeleteYou will find your fast self soon. It has been a looooong winter.
ReplyDeleteIf you go to the NYC I will come cheer you on (if I am in a 1000-miles radius)!
Nice job on the 5K and consistent pace. Last minute races are sometimes the best, no worry and getting yourself worked up over how it will go.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea NYC had a garunteed entry (at least one that I could likely do), now I'm excited since that has always been one of my must do races.
Ahhh... the people who bring out our competitiveness. I spent a year running workouts on a track, doing repetitions and saying, "Triviski could do that. But he couldn't do one more." Then I'd do one more.
ReplyDeleteI have names for those extra gears used in the final minutes. There's "Grizzly Bear on Adderall;" there's many photos of me at the end of races where you can see that ferocious intensity with laser-like focus. Then comes "Avalanche" - you can't outrun me and you're about to be wiped off the face of the earth. There's yet one more gear, which I've only hit once (maybe twice) and haven't named - it'd be something supernatural, if I named it.