Running race 14:59 [5] 3.1 mi (4:50 / mi)
I decided to enter this BMC 5000m when Dave Norman plugged it on Facebook. Trafford AC had kindly agreed to put on a few 5000m as part of their BMC meets (albeit on sprint/field event night), yet few people turned up to the inaugural event.
It fit absolutely perfect for me. Coming in at the end of a 3 week "speed work" block, then a 1 week easy period aimed at ticking over and getting me into the first week of marathon training reasonably sharp, rested and ready to go.
In this period I have felt fantastic. Probably the best I've ever felt, I dont know why-however having spent some time considering it, i think it is in no small part due to now only scheduling 2 sessions a week.
In the past few days I have felt a bit flat, but I think this may be due to backing off from both work and training.
I got stuck in traffic on the way there and had only 25 minutes to sign in, warm up and take a dump. But..when I started jogging I had sloshy tummy...nooo!
I decided it was warm and an evacuation operation was most important. So did a mile then a 30 second stride and headed to the bog. No joy. Damn. Did a few more strides on the back straight sussing out who had made the trip. Sloshy tummy on every stride.
I was pleased to see a perfect field for me, one which I saw myself hopefully being in the middle of. Joe Bailey, Tom Baines, Dave Norman, Jason Cherriman, Stuart Robinson and Richard Brown were the ones of note.
We were set off by Eddie Izzard?!?! Who was filming some documentary. I decided to set off comfortable but hard, this found me in a perfect train with Tom 2 places up running very well with Joe Bailey and some other decent guy. Stuart Robinson came round me after a lap probably unhappy that I was in front of him. So I decided to tuck in and try to switch off and follow the train, aiming to avoid lap counting/looking at my watch.
This worked really well until we became detached from the group ahead. At this point I surprised myself, normally in a 5000m I am hanging on for dear life. But I stepped out, rounded Stuart (who I have on a pedestal) and pushed on to join the group in front.
Frustratingly I vetoed this positive move in fear of blowing up and settled into a more constant pace. I'm so annoyed with myself for doing this. Stuart came round again and I sat on him until 600 to go where I gradually wound up and unleashed my deadly sprint finish.
I crossed the line in 14.59.4 An official pb of 1 second, an unoffical pb of .5 of a second (from Trafford when they set us off with a klaxon which nullified the results). I have got to be pleased with this having not raced on track at all since 2011.
Tom finished in a fantastic 14.52. Very good run from him, which left me wondering what if. If I bridged the gap would I have achieved something similar? I wasn't in touch with him at any point in the race but was probs 2-3 seconds behind until 3 laps to go. Tom has been a very good training partner in recent weeks, dragging me round or sharing the work to some good track sessions.
A combination of that and edging him last week at dam flask suggests to me that maybe I am capable of achieving something close to 14.50? However on the night, this is what I achieved, hopefully next season I might have a chance to prove to myself once and for all that I can do it.
Regardless, I am so delighted to have pbd at (3k aside) my most challenging distance. I feel like a runner again, I genuinely never thought I would get back running, it is so nice to be back achieving pbs.
I learned a few valuable lessons tonight.
1- do not wear adizero adios for London (calves sore- almost wore spikes!)
2- 2 sessions a week clearly works- and I MUST try it for a winter block
3- I need to not be scared if I feel up for taking a risk, I felt great tonight and probably could have handled it
4- Seducing my training, rather than raping it, is paying off.
5-The times I have set myself as "be happy with your running career if you achieve this" are actually possible to achieve with a bit of good fortune and continued belief.
Chuffed.