5000m Watford BMC
Hello
Congrats to everyone who ran, raced or jogged over the weekend. I was racing at the Watford BMC meet myself and it reminded me of a great film, "The Good the Bad and the Ugly"
The Good - The amount of athletes doing their best in Watford all evening and the enjoyment I got from watching all the races, espically Mark Mitchell moving up to smash a 1500 and win in good fashion and record a new 1500m PB and Simon Jones getting a well deserved win the in 5000m and a PB along the way.
The Bad - I made no secret of hiding the fact I wanted to run under 13.45. I though I was in shape to do it, obviously I wasn't but I gave it a shot. Ryan and Neilson did a great job at pacing and I wanted to go through 3km under 8.15 just to get a few seconds in the bank. We went through in 8.12 - perfect I thought but the the wheels started to come off soon after.
A few people said to me after the race that I went out too fast and was overly ambitious. I cant' say I agree with them. I got passed in the last 100m by a group of guys who went through 3km in 8.22-8.25. I could have ran in this group and came home fast and I might even have ran faster, but I would not have ran under 13.45 if I went through at that pace.
I took a gamble and it didn't pay off. I wasn't in the race to jog around and finish fast. I was there to try and run under 13.45. It was never going to be comfortable going through 3km at that pace, but again I wasn't in the race to be comfortable. The easiest way to do that is to run even splits, so 8.15 at 3km would be perfect. If you never take a risk in a race like this you never find your limit.
The Ugly - My last 2km. I was a bit foolhardy in thinking that I would be able to hang on for a few laps longer than I did, but it's something I've learned from already and those laps at the end that I cover in an incredibly slow pace will stay with me for a good few training runs yet.
I'll run another couple of 5km over the rest of the summer. Prehaps it's just a case of going through a little slower maybe 2-3 seconds slower at 3km would make all the difference. Last year I ran 13.57 in Stretford for 5km and we went through in 8.12 so I did think I would be able to hold the pace for longer this year.
I'll go through a little slower in my next race, not as slow as 8.22, because I still want to get into the 13.45 range. It may seem like I'm not learning but if you don't push the limits your will never know. I might get it wrong again, but there is also the change that I'll get it right, and if I get it right I'll be more than happy to take a gamble again - when the time is right.
Thanks for reading
Comments On "5000m Watford BMC"
Brave running at Watford Dan. 13:45 will come i'm sure
Ryan Posted on June 17th, 2011Training
Hi Old Scottie
Dan M Posted on June 14th, 2011Thanks for reading, and sharing your thoughts. The training I post is the training I will do each week. I don't post pace or times for runs and sessions as a lot of the time it depends how I'm feeling.
I think your right, in that what I'm actually doing right now is more suited to 1500-3km racing. I haven't done any intervals longer than 1km in months. I never take a long recovery, so the most I would ever take is 90 seconds after any rep.
The problem I face now is that while at the start of the season I could do longer reps I now need to get faster. I missed about 3 weeks in total where I would have being doing longer reps and Progressive runs, and so I'm suffering for it now.
I believe the progressive runs I do, replace the need for lots of longer reps, but of course there is still the need for some sessions like you have described above.
I think my best form this summer will most likely come over 3000, as I'm not doing any really really fast stuff with full recovery and neither am I doing any of the longer reps you suggested, which are required for a good 5km.
Ideally I would love to have another month or so to prepare for the season but so would everyone I guess. Hopefully I'll race myself into shape and will eventually get the 5km right.
I think the longer reps would help a huge amount physically but also give me a lot more confidence in my fitness.
Having said all that I'm still confident in my training and I know if I can get another few weeks of decent training done I'll be in good shape to have another crack at 13.45.
Again thanks for reading and your best wishes
Hi Dan
Old Scottie Posted on June 13th, 2011I don't know if the weekly sessions you quote are actually the ones you do or not...if they are, I can see why you faded over the last 2K...Seems to me they are mostly geared to 1500-3K pace....I wonder if you are lacking a bit of specific endurance for 5K....and support pace @ 10K...
Do you do sessions such as 3-4 x 2K with decent recovery @ close to 5K pace (say 95-98%)...?
Or 3k/3k/2K @ 10K pace ?
Or even maybe race a 10K?
I think sessions like this, coupled with your current training would help you maintain pace in the latter 1/3rd of the race...
I don't think you need to focus on getting faster, just extending your current speed a bit more into endurance...
Good luck in the 3K and with the rest of the season...
Old Scottie
I can beat that....8.32 at 3k, hehe. Good running dan, to still run sub 14 with walking the last 2 laps means more to come!
Simx Posted on June 13th, 2011my poor grammer
Hey Sharpy
Dan M Posted on June 13th, 2011I mean slower than 8.15, ha.
8:22 = slow?
Sharpy Posted on June 13th, 2011Cheers mate, and there was me thinking I ran well.