Two PRs in one Race

Last night I ran the last Dash & Dine 5k race of the series, and my last tuneup race before the Bolder Boulder. This was my fourth 5k since the beginning of April, and I have been steadily improving in each one.

It's certainly helped that the race conditions have improved each week. This time they were even better than last week -- cool (around 60 degrees), overcast, and calm.

I wasn't too stressed before the race, since I was still happy about last week's performance, the first time I'd broken 20 minutes. Tonight my goal was to break 19:40, which would be a 7-second PR. I planned to run a 6:20 first mile and a 6:20 second mile, then do my best to power into the finish from there. I wanted to negative split -- something I haven't done this year at all.

Tony was there again, fresh off of a 19:36 he'd run on Saturday at the Flat Out 5k in Broomfield. This guy cracks me up...tonight would be the 7th time he'd gone running this year, and 5 of them were races! I don't know how he runs so fast off of virtually no mileage. My friend Dave was there as well, and I knew he'd be gunning for the leaders.

I did my typical warmup, 2.5 miles of easy running with five 20-second strides, and joined the larger than usual crowd gathering at the start. Dave introduced me to a friend of his, Susan, who looked pretty fast. It turned out she would be a great target to chase.

"I'm going to give two commands, ready and go. READY GO!" said the race director.

Everybody was chatting, and the abrupt start caught us by surprise. I beeped my watch and we were off.

I'm not sure when I will ever learn how to pace that first mile. I don't want to go out too fast, but I don't want to leave time on the table, either. I chugged along, not working too hard, and trying to monitor my position in the pack. As usual, a bunch of guys passed me in the first quarter mile. When we reached the first dam (the course traverses the two dams of Boulder Reservoir), I started gradually reeling a few of them back in. I noticed Tony a good 30 meters ahead.

I caught a high-school kid wearing a T-shirt that said, "There are no shortcuts." He stayed with me. I noticed Tony was getting closer. We passed the first mile marker and I expected to see 6:20, or maybe 6:15. I really didn't feel like I was working too hard.

6:04.5!

Oh geez, how did that happen? (Incidentally, that's a PR in the mile for me. I've never raced that distance since I became a runner. My previous best was 6:06 back in 2003, also the first mile in a 5k.) I was a little concerned that I would blow up.

There Are No Shortcuts Guy and I were running stride for stride. We caught Tony and I yelled some encouragement. I was still feeling good and felt like I had reserves. The pair of us ran the length of the second dam shoulder to shoulder, separating only to swallow up the occasional slower runner and spit him off the back. We hit the turn-around, and then increased the pace slightly. That's when he started to pull away, ever so gradually.

Mile two went by in 6:15. My heart rate was at 180, and it was starting to hurt. Susan was still within sight, about ten seconds ahead. There Are No Shortcuts Guy had already passed her. I decided to chase her down as well.

That was easier said than done! I felt the beginnings of a side stitch coming on, and I let that be an excuse not to work harder. I was still working hard, don't get me wrong. I just wasn't at the level of pain I've been at for the last couple races. I wanted to have some sort of kick at the finish.

Susan seemed to increase her lead slightly, but at least we were getting closer to the finish line. I turned off the dam for a short downhill and focused on opening up my stride. Let gravity do the work, I thought. I heard footsteps behind me, and then someone yelled my name. It was Tony!

I hit mile 3 in 6:28 and headed up the last small hill. I knew Tony was trying to run me down. Then I found a new gear I didn't know I had! I turned the last corner and saw 19:18 on the clock. One last burst to the finish and I had just run another 5k PR, 19:30. Three seconds later Tony grabbed my shoulder in the finishing chute and said, "Nice job."

It seems like everyone had a good race. Dave finished 2nd with (I believe) a new PR of 16:55. He was only five seconds behind the winner, too. Susan ran a very impressive 19:16 for first overall female. Tony ran a PR for the year in 19:36, although I believe his real time was three seconds faster. And at the BBQ after the race, we met an eleven-year-old kid named Nathan who ran an incredible 21:49.

This race felt great. I took 17 seconds off of last week's PR, and I feel like I can run even faster. This is a huge confidence builder going into the Bolder Boulder 10k in two weeks. Four minutes per kilometer doesn't seem quite so fast anymore, and that's a great feeling.

Final results: 23rd place out of 195.

Here's my updated 5k progress report for 2007:

Date	Race	Time	Pace
4/10/2007	Dash & Dine #1 (results)	21:08	6:48
5/1/2007	Dash & Dine #4 (results)	20:11	6:30
5/8/2007	Dash & Dine #5 (results)	19:47	6:22
5/15/2007	Dash & Dine #6 (results)	19:30	6:17