Would? is a song by an awesome band called Alice in Chains. Such a cruel band name, but the singer has one of the most powerful voices I have ever heard.
Back to running...
Today was a success. 9 x 600 meters all around 1:54-1:56 which is about the pace needed for a 16ish for the 5k. I'll see how my body reacts to this tomorrow. Although, I know more than likely a regeneration run on the grass will take place after some psychology studying.
Highlight of today: My Ipod ran out of batteries, and when I charged it back up all my songs were deleted. 400+ essential running songs, GONE.
I finally got out of bed around 6:30 a.m. after snoozing 4 alarms. It's so hard waking up early when it's cold as heck outside! Lucky for me, the track is only like 1 minute away from my house (should give you an idea of how hard it is to wake up).
For some time now, I have been trying to measure my focus during running by doing loops around the track. My logic is that if I can focus on the track for 3-4 miles, then I think it would generalize during competitions.
This morning I ran around 3 miles in 21:35. After psychology, I ran 4 miles in 27:35 (6:53 pace). Great run, the 3 miles really woke me up. I might start doing that every speed day.
Tuesday's Workout (10/22): The plan is to do 10 x 600 at 102%-104% with 1:30-2:00 recovery. I have to make it count. No more quitting halfway through the workout. Train smart, win easy, Erik. Train smart, win easy...
I also really want to do a fartlek workout Thursday, I'll see how I feel.
Side note:
My legs are tired. I really hope nothing bad happens before November 9th. I'm almost there.
The plan I had in mind was to run somewhere between 17:10-16:55 breaking my current 17:22 5k record.
I repeated positive affirmations so much this week it's ridiculous, but I do have to say, it actually made me feel more confident.
On to the race report.
COLD. We toed the start line with a temperature reading of 49 degrees. Here in Dallas, the arrival of cold temperature is always a blessing for runners after months of training in the summer heat. It's like coming off of altitude training in a way. Needless to say, having our noses frozen is a blessing.
I didn't recognize many runners at the start line except for the elite athletes. I wasn't sure who I was going to try to keep up with, and I believe this is where a lot of negative thoughts came in to my head. Something about uncertainty makes me feel... blah, blah. I'll be honest, anyone who wears shorter shorts and has longer legs than me intimidates me. I started thinking things like "These guys train harder than me", "I have to go slower than them if I don't want to burn out". That has to be one of my biggest problems- I completely forget about positive self-talk during a race.
As the gun went off, I quickly tucked in to a pack that looked like they ran fast (prejudice much?). As I made the first turn, I saw my good friend Andres Hernandez, a local master runner who is one of the top master runners in Dallas (In my opinion). He works at my school, and we talked about our goal times earlier that week. Andres was planning to run a 16:30 so I saw it as a perfect opportunity to just be about a couple of seconds behind him and keep him in my sight.
1st mile- 5:40 Too easy
I was feeling relaxed, and was in a small pack with 4 other guys. Andres and another pack were only a couple of meters ahead of me so I thought everybody was going to pick up the pace soon.
2nd mile - 11:20 Uhhhh... 17 seconds off from 17:10 pace.
I honestly thought we had picked up the pace. At this point, 3 guys got left behind from the pack I was in, and I was left with David Adjei, a tall figure from Team Luke's. We were still behind Andres's pack which consisted of a couple of male Team Luke's runners, and one Nike female runner. "Dude, you gotta stop slacking in races", I thought to myself. At this point, I figured I could throw a surge to hopefully catch up to the pack ahead of me, and break off Adjei. It was now or never. As I picked it up, it seemed like Andres and the rest were getting further from me. "Oh no". They were picking up as well. Of course, it was the last mile. Suddenly, I felt my legs lock up. "Sh*t!". With only 500-700 meters to go, everyone scattered, trying to sprint to the finish line. As I was running staring at the ground, I looked up and saw Andres struggling only a couple of meters ahead of me. I was still with Adjei, who is like twice my size. He started sprinting even faster. I started getting really scatterbrained, "I can't out sprint him - too fast", "I can do it! Just move your legs faster", "Don't even try". I don't know how fast hundreds of thoughts process, but it was seconds before I was able to focus again. I gave it a shot, I tried sprinting. Nothing. Could barely turn my legs. David and another runner who was behind us past me, and on their way to the finish line. I heard foots stomping behind me. I pushed, and pushed. Felt the same, but luckily didn't pass me.
Dallas Komen 5k - 17:40 How?
I was pretty disappointed with that time. I know I'm faster than that.
I will try to break 17:22 again on November 9th at the Cougars Running Wild 5k. This will be my last race for the Fall, and will take 2 weeks off to start up on my Spring cycle.
Whatever the results will be, I'm not going to quit. I'll reflect on my training, and figure out what I need more of. (I'm thinking speed already, 400-600m repeats)
My goal still remains the same:
Run at the collegiate level
Do enjoy this proof of me running. Funds are low at the moment so acquiring the HD photo is out of the question.
Anyway, October 19th is the Komen 5k which was supposed to be the race I would run sub-18.
Well, that happened early. On Saturday, October 5th, I ran a 17:22 5k on a marked course from a local race. So proud of myself as I was expecting to get around an 18:20 due to my training interruptions & not reaching my training standards.
If I can beat my PR at the Komen 5k, that will be a win!
This is how my week before the race will look like:
Sunday 10/13
1hr 28min of running w/ 1 minute surges every 7 minutes
Monday 10/14
7 miles (48:11-51:34) + 8 x 200m
Tuesday 10/15 15 x 400m in 1:16
5 x 400m (1:16) 2 x 300m (58) 5 x 200m (32-36) Wednesday 60 minutes easy at Norbuck
45 minutes easy
Thursday 40 minutes easy
4 easy miles
Friday
3 miles easy Saturday
Race for The Cure 5k
Goal time: 17:10-16:55
