My first 5K. I really wanted to run a good race today, so much so that I ran the race in my head over and over last night, and consequently didn't get much sleep. The fact that my cat just came back from the vet and is audibly NOT happy about the disturbance to her routine didn't help either. But I ran a marathon on four hours' sleep, so I figured a 5K wouldn't be a big issue (and I could nap afterward).
The Firecracker is 250 feet downhill from the area of Little Rock known as the Heights down to War Memorial Stadium, looping around the stadium past the golf course and the Little Rock Zoo to finish on the east side of the stadium. The big downhill starts at about 1.8 miles and goes probably three-quarters of a mile down Van Buren Street to the stadium itself. My plan was to run a good, steady pace on the first 1.8 miles (which goes slightly downhill), let gravity accelerate me somewhat down Van Buren, but try to have something left for the loop around the stadium, which includes an uphill stretch past the Zoo.
Well, the plan almost worked. I ran the first mile in 6:54, the second in 6:53. But I didn't have much left when I hit the bottom of the hill, and that little uphill through the zoo (with the accompanying aroma of elephant dung and a distressed skunk) was REALLY difficult; mile 3 was in 7:47. But when I got to the top of the little hill at probably 2.9 miles, I was able to pick it up and brought it in at about 6:00 pace.
The goal was to break 23:00. I clicked my watch at the line: 22:27. Official time (no chips) was 22:31.02, which is about what I would have expected; I lined up near the front and got on course very quickly. I finished 178th among men, 16th in my age group and 212th overall out of 1008 finishers.
I did a test a couple of months back to try to figure out my maximum heart rate, and I got a result of 168. I did better than that this morning: 170. Both of which correlate pretty well with the old estimated MHR formula of 220 minus age, which for me right now is 173.
Sasha told me the other day that I have enough speed to get where I want to be. After this morning, I now believe him. And this morning's performance, for those familiar with Jack Daniels' work, bumped my VDOT number from 38 to 43 -- and correlates to a sub-3:40 marathon on both Daniels' and Greg McMillan's calculators. Now, Sasha, it's just time to put in the miles. Lots of miles. | 