Notes
Well, it was a good effort but the magic wasn't quite there today. Out too hard and suffered pretty badly on the third mile. Had to work pretty hard in the last 24 hours to have the back loosen up enough to even run this thing - so overall I'm pretty pleased with the time. Ironically I ended up cramping mostly on the left side of the diaphragm/ribs (close to the center) where I haven't had any issues. The cramping probably had more to do with over-reaching early into the race and perhaps me just not being fully opened up yet.
5:10 - Felt strong for the first few minutes then realized I'd gone out pretty hard as I closed on the mile mark
5:19 - The early pace started impacting me and I was struggling to keep my breathing going
5:35 - Basically crashed here - fighting the inability to breath and the cramping came on pretty hard
:31 - Tried to rally for a kick and did ok but simply unable to breath. Legs were done due to oxygen debt
Takeaways/Thoughts:
This effort hurt badly - really badly. Was ready to give up even before the mile 2 mark but just tried to hang in and ride the discomfort without slowing too much.
Some wind and full on sun in the eyes after the turn around was tough as the light breeze felt much stronger than it was and the sun made me want to close my eyes rather than squint.
Everyone seemed to suffer on mile 3 (and 2nd half). Was able to reel in Evan and then put a little distance on him despite my rough finish.
Had I been able to hold pace at all I was looking at a PR, still this is my 2nd fastest time ever and I believe the fastest I've ever run through 2 miles (pretty sure this beats my H.S. 2 mile times). I kinda gambled on this one by staying with/near a couple other TTAU guys that started a bit quicker than was ideal. In retrospect I should have eased up a bit to avoid the early onset of suffering and perhaps had a faster overall pace. A good learning experience and a good attempt at trying to do some racing.
Legs felt strong today, if I can get my respiratory system a bit stronger and get rid of these issues I think that holding 5:10 pace could be feasible with some more time and 5k specific workouts - this will be hard but might be my new goal.
The big difference from last week last was the pacing - 5:10 on a slightly warmer day was evidently a bit beyond what I could manage compared to the seemingly perfect pacing and near-perfect temps of last weekend. Then again its not every day that the leaders pace you through 2 miles at almost exactly what you are capable of...it really was a great setup for me. This week I was chasing and never found much of a rhythm. I fully expect the pain and struggle in a 5k but it's really tough when it hits hard at 1.5. If I can hold it off until 2 or 2.5 the whole experience is much better and the final mile won't drop off like this.
Overall this was another good race that helps me validate last week's time.