Race Photos

Here are my Brightroom.com photos from the race. I definitely had a look of pain on my face at the end!

I competed in the "Ultimate Mountain Challenge" at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail over the weekend. It's a multi-sport event that combines four races over two days: a downriver kayak race, a mountain bike race, a 10k trail running race, and a road bike hill climb up Vail Pass. It was an awesome experience and I completely thrashed my body, but I loved it.

As a bonus, I got to race against Tour de France winner Floyd Landis! He was doing the Mountain Challenge as part of a team, and Floyd competed in the two biking events. [results]

Selected photos...

What went wrong?

I've been putting off writing this race report long enough. At first I had the excuse that official results weren't out until Wednesday evening, but now that it's Friday that's obviously not the real reason I've been procrastinating. Honestly, I'm disappointed with my race and it's been easier just not to deal with it.

Official time: 40:39

That happens to be the exact time that I ran in 2005. Since my watch read 40:40, I was actually a little relieved to have at least officially matched my PR. Funny how one or two seconds in either direction could affect how I feel!

The race started fine. I felt relaxed in the first kilometer and even wondered if I was running too slowly. My 1k split of 3:51 told me I was exactly where I wanted to be. I crossed the 1-mile banner in 6:24. Again, I thought I was in fine shape, slightly under my 6:26 per mile goal pace. But my 2k split was 4:08. I had slowed down without even realizing it!

I determined to get back into it and buckled down, running the next (uphill) kilometer in 3:59. Perhaps it was a mistake to push that hard, as the course continued climbing. Kilometer 4 went in 4:12. Now I was a little concerned. I had told myself it was ok to run as slow as 4:05 on the uphills, and now I'd gone over that twice. I was on the verge of oxygen debt, and tried to keep myself just below that threshold.

As I approached the halfway point, I saw the banner up ahead and quickly glanced at my watch. It looked like I was back on schedule. Then I realized I was looking at the 3-mile banner, not the 5k mark. I passed 3 miles in 19:42 and 5k in 20:17.

I knew I'd really have to work for it now. To run a sub-40 I would need to run the second half in 19:43. There was a net loss of elevation on this half, but there were still two tough hills.

Before the race I told myself over and over: kilometers 4 and 6 are the tough ones. If you can minimize your losses there, you'll be in good shape. Even with that mental preparation, I couldn't get my legs to turn over fast enough.

Number 6 went by in 4:17, way slower than goal pace.

I knew my goal was probably out of reach, and it was a horrible feeling. Running for a PR was the only thing to keep me motivated now. At least I had a nice downhill after Casey Hill at mile 4. I was happy to see my legs speeding up with the gravity assistance, and I ran K-7 in 4:02. K-8 followed in 3:56, which felt encouraging. I was hurting for real now, and trying not to give away any spare seconds.

I turned onto Folsom for the homestretch, and turned it on as best I could. The final hill to the stadium felt slow, but I consciously took shorter, faster steps and pumped my arms hard. In the stadium now, I gave it everything. Just 200 meters to go. I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch. The announcer was saying, "Keep moving through the chutes, there are thousands of runners behind you." But I barely had enough left to put one foot in front of the other.

Now that it's over, I feel ambivalent about the race. On one hand, I'm proud of myself for putting in the base miles, researching and creating a full-fledged training program, and for sticking to it. I'm also happy that I took 30 seconds off my all-time 5k PR. But of course I'm disappointed that I didn't make my sub-40 goal at the Bolder Boulder. And I feel that I've somehow let down those who may have been rooting for me. I wanted it, I went for it, but I didn't get it.

Not yet, anyway.

I will keep trying for the sub-40, but unlike previous years, I won't wait until the next Bolder Boulder. I'm going to look for another race in a month or so and try again.

Meanwhile, the question remains: after nearly doubling my running volume and following a carefully-researched training plan for the first time ever, why could I only manage to match my PR? The truth is, I averaged 14.7 miles per week in the ten weeks leading up to my 40:39 Bolder Boulder result in 2005. This year, I averaged 27.9 miles per week over the last ten weeks. The differences are even larger when you look at weeks 20 to 11 leading up to each race. In 2005, I averaged only 8.9 miles per week. This year, 24.9. As for quality workouts, this year exceeded 2005's efforts in every way. In 2005, my "long run" was 6.6 miles. This year, I ran at least an hour and a half long run every week. In 2005, I did one hard workout (5k race or intervals on the track) each week for the last 7 weeks. This year, I completed at least 2-3 tough track workouts or races each week.

Maybe there is something to that last point. Perhaps I was doing too much speed work? I don't know. It certainly made me faster at the 5k distance than I've ever been. Or maybe it had nothing to do with my training. Perhaps the fact that 2005 was a cold, rainy day made me that much faster relative to my fitness on that day. This year's race was not exactly hot, but it was sunny and warmer. I might never know the answer, but I think as long as I keep running, I'll keep learning.

Now, on to the stats for this race...

Kilometer splits (from my watch):

1. 3:50.8
2. 4:08.2
3. 3:59.4
4. 4:11.8
5. 4:06.5
6. 4:16.8
7. 4:02.2
8. 3:56.1
9. 4:02.3
10. 4:06.2

And mile splits (from the chip timing):

1. 6:24
2. 6:29
3. 6:49
4. 6:44
5. 6:18
6. 6:39

Even though I didn't negative split, I was at least happy to see mile 5 (not mile 1) was my fastest. And I ran the final two-tenths of a mile to the finish in 1:16, which is 5:56 pace. My overall place was 629th out of 50,816. Incidentally, over 500 runners broke 40 minutes at this year's Bolder Boulder!

40:40

Just a quick post of my unofficial time. My watch said 40:40. I will post a full report later.

New 5k PR!

Last night I had my third attempt of the year at the 5k distance. All three have been at the Dash and Dine race series at the Boulder Reservoir. It's a great little race series -- for $15 you get a race, gear prizes for the top 3 or 4 in each category, and a nice BBQ dinner.

The weather cooperated (finally), and it was 66 degrees, sunny, and calm. No whitecaps on the lake; only the occasional riffle from a light breeze. I knew tonight was going to be the night for me to break 20 minutes for the first time.

As I started my warmup, I noticed a pair of osprey cruising at treetop level along the shoreline. Such beautiful birds. I took it as a good sign.

I ran at an easy pace past the one mile mark on the course, then turned around at about the 1.25 mile point. On the way back I picked up the pace slightly and then added five 20-second strides. Total warmup: 2.5 miles in 21:46 (8:42 pace).

Just before the race starting time I saw someone I'd met briefly from my climbing days, a guy named Tony.

"I need someone to pace me," he declared.

"How fast are you running?"

"I'm shooting for 19:50," he said. It turns out he had already run two sub-20 5ks that week, but both were between 19:50 and 20 minutes, and he wanted to break 19:50 in order to qualify for the 2nd wave at the Bolder Boulder. It sounded perfect, except I was thinking I should use him as my pacer!

The only problem was that he had already run that morning and then played ultimate for an hour at lunch. That's in addition to the two sub-20 5k races he'd run that week. He mentioned his legs felt like wood.

The race started, and as usual, I tried to go fast but not too fast. Tony loped past me and called out, "You've got to go faster, Mark."

Well, I've never broken 20 minutes, and he's already done it twice in one week, I thought. So he must know what he's doing! I sped up and kept the gap between us at about twenty meters. I was feeling quite good, breathing relatively hard, but not in pain. As we approached the one mile mark I noticed that the gap was closing gradually. I passed the cone just a few steps behind him and glanced at my watch. 6:08.

That was fast, but I still felt pretty good. Since this is an out-and-back course, the 2-mile cone is only a tenth of a mile past the one mile cone. I caught Tony a little after that.

"You're going to have to run a huge negative split," he yelled, disappointedly. "We're way off the pace."

It took me a second to register what had happened. He thought the 2-mile cone (for the return trip) was our 1-mile marker. Thus, he thought we were way slow for the first mile.

"No, you missed the first cone. We hit the mile in 6:08," I said. "Stay with me!"

But I could tell Tony was fading. I forged on ahead. Nearing the turn-around, I saw the leaders running toward me. Actually, there was only one leader, Will Kelsay, a fellow Xterra triathlete. He's a great guy, and turned pro a couple years ago. He doesn't usually win these 5k's, but he was gunning for it today. I gave him a thumbs-up as he blazed by me.

I hit the turn-around and headed for home. I was still feeling ok, but could tell I wouldn't for much longer. At this point I told myself I had time in the bank. All I had to do was finish strong. Soon my breathing rate increased even more and I really started to hurt. Still, I was reeling in a straggler here and there. I kept telling myself it would all be over in just a few more minutes.

Climbing the 2nd (and last hill), I glanced at my watch. I had less than three minutes left. I was still a long way from the 3-mile marker. I heard footsteps, and soon I was passed by a tall guy. I tried to stay with him, but couldn't. Thankfully, I reached the downhill that led to the 3-mile cone. I needed all the help I could get, and gravity was helping right then.

I remembered to take a 3-mile split, but I didn't even look at my watch. I was focused on the finish line, and more importantly...the clock. It came into view and I was relieved to see 19:30. Actually, I let the relief take over too much, because I think I relaxed knowing I had my first sub-20 in the bag. Despite a minor slowdown near the end, I crossed in 19:47. Tony held it together for a very respectable 20:22.

Success! A new PR always feels good, especially if it comes at the same time you break one of the arbitrary time "barriers," in this case twenty minutes.

Later, looking at my splits, I realized that I paced this race quite horribly. I went out way too fast, and slowed dramatically until the last tenth of a mile, when I managed a feeble kick. Here are the details:

Split	Time	Mile pace
Mile 1	6:08.1	6:08.1
Mile 2	6:23.0	6:23.0
Mile 3	6:34.6	6:34.6
Last 0.1	0:40.2	6:16.2
1st Half	9:38.4	6:12.3
2nd Half	10:07.5	6:31.1
Finish	19:47	6:22.1

My second half was nearly 30 seconds slower than my first. I think I'm done with the "Go out 6% faster than goal pace" strategy. I would much rather run even pacing or negative splits and finish strong. And I'm pretty sure I'll be faster that way, too.

Final results: 19th place out of 147.

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

5k Race Report

I raced my second 5k of the year tonight, the Dash & Dine series at the Boulder Reservoir. My last race was April 10. I finished that day in 21:08 under extremely windy conditions.

Today the weather was typical for this time of year on the Front Range -- afternoon thunderstorms were likely. Sure enough, at 5:00 as I was preparing to leave work, the rain started. Soon it became a downpour. I heard that parts of Denver were supposed to get up to two inches of rain per minute for the worst of it. I was not happy about the conditions, since I was hoping to improve my time.

Luckily there happened to be a nice heated locker room at the park near the race start, where I could stay warm while I did my pre-run stretching. The rain had tapered off to a light drizzle by the time I started my warmup. Still, I wore long pants, two shirts, and a rain jacket, since it was fairly cool.

I'd decided to run two laps around Coot Lake for my warmup, which would be 2.5 miles. That's a bit further than I usually go for a 5k, but I wanted to try it and see if it worked for me this time. I ran the first lap slowly. The rain seemed to be stopping by the second lap, so I ditched my jacket. This time I picked up the pace slightly and ran a series of five strides, increasing the tempo with each one. My left TFL (a muscle in the hip) felt sore, but other than that I felt pretty good.

My plan for the race was to start off around 6:15 mile pace. That's fast, I know, but I wanted to try a strategy I read about in a Runner's World article recently, titled "Go Out Fast in Your Next 5k." Ed Eyestone, the author, recommended going out 6% faster than target pace for the first mile. Since I was targeting 20:30 for this race (which is 6:36 per mile average), my first mile should be run in 6:12! I wanted to be a bit more conservative than that; hence the 6:15 goal. After that, I'd just try to hold on to the finish.

Just before the start, I bumped into my friend Mark, who had just run the Boston Marathon two weeks ago. He's a good runner, and I thought he could be a good rabbit to chase.

At this point, the rain had stopped completely, and we were even seeing a bit of sun and blue sky. Nice! I stripped off my extra clothes and got ready to run in just shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.

I lined up right at the front, on the far right side of the starting line. The race director said, "Go!" and we were off. The ground was soft from all the rain, and there were some puddles to dodge. Since this course is all dirt, I figured that might slow us down some. A handful of runners passed me nearly immediately, since I was trying to keep it controlled at this point. We made the turn onto the first long reservoir dam and a couple more runners passed, including Mark. My first thought was, I'll never see him again. But then I realized that the gap wasn't really widening.

I beeped my watch at the one mile mark, and was pleased to see 6:18 for the split. Mark was still about 20 yards in front. We were now entering the toughest part of the course, the second dam. It tends to have vicious headwinds here. Three weeks ago it was absolutely brutal, with huge whitecaps on the lake. Today it was just difficult, and I could see only the occasional baby whitecap to indicate the strength of the wind.

I knew the 2nd mile is usually my slowest, so I determined not to lose concentration here. I noticed I was closing the gap on Mark, and soon I ran past him with a word of encouragement. My next target was a guy in a grey shirt up ahead. As we closed on the turn-around point I decided I would try to catch him before the 2-mile marker. As I turned at the cone, I saw Mark and the top female running together, just a few steps behind me. Mr. grey shirt had seemed to accelerate like a shot, however.

We were now running with a tailwind, and I focused on opening up my stride and keeping my turnover high. Grey Shirt was rapidly leaving me behind, but I noticed he was catching several others on the way, so I hoped my pace hadn't slowed. I was working very hard now, just praying I could maintain my pace. I hit the 2-mile marker in 6:37.

I knew I was running faster than last time, but could I hold it? My next targets seemed too far away to catch, so I'd have to do it alone. My breathing rate increased to a 1-2 pattern, breathing in for one step and out for two steps. I usually only get to this point in the finishing sprints, and I still had almost a mile to go. I was hurting.

I could hear footsteps behind me all along the final dam. I thought it must be Mark reeling me in, but it turned out to be the first place female runner. She passed me just before the 3-mile mark. My split was 6:29. All I had to do was finish, but I had no kick whatsoever. I plodded up the last small hill and took a left for the final straightaway. The clock said 19:56, 19:57...

I crossed in 20:11 (Results). This was my second-fastest 5k ever, and my fastest on this course. I was nearly a minute faster than three weeks ago, and I did beat my stated 20:30 goal. Considering the wind and the soft surface conditions, I was happy with it. Still, the 20-minute barrier was so close, but so unattainable today! But I will get there, I'm confident of that.

Mark finished about 30 seconds behind me. I'm guessing his legs aren't recovered from Boston yet. I'm still impressed he could run so well after only two weeks. Last year, my legs were still thrashed three weeks after my marathon, when I ran a miserable race at the Bolder Boulder.

After this race, I think things are looking up. I still have nearly four weeks to race day, and I expect to only get faster from here on out. Next week I start Phase IV in the training plan.

5k Race Results

Yesterday´s 5k at the Boulder Reservoir can be summed up in one word: WINDY. When I left work at 5 PM the current weather reading said average winds at 28 miles per hour, gusting to 39. By the time I got to the Rez, it had picked up significantly. Nearly the entire course was exposed, since it ran right along the shore, and the lake was whipped into a frenzy of whitecaps.

Before I even got out of the car, I decided that I would try my best, but I wouldn´t be upset if I didn´t reach my goal of a sub-21 finish. The conditions were just too poor.

I wore a pair of running pants, a short sleeve shirt, a long-sleeve shirt, gloves, and a thin but warm hat. It was cold enough that I even wore my jacket during the warmup as well.

Just before the start, I heard someone call my name, and I turned to see my friend Dave, who had recently returned from some crazy-assed race in the frozen northlands of Canada. It was a 6-day running stage race over ice and snow, covering 50 km each day. He´d won, and returned with a $10,000 diamond as the grand prize, which he presented to his wife. Pretty cool.

I said, "Dave, I´ll give you ten bucks if you´ll run right in front of me the whole way and break the wind for me." He laughed.

The race organizer said go, and all 176 participants started running. For the first mile we mostly had a tailwind, but I tried to keep things under control and not go out too fast. I felt comfortable as we chugged along in a large scattered group.

At the first hill I consciously eased up a little bit, since we had also just turned smack into the wind for the first time. A guy in a red shirt passed me, and I tucked in behind him for the nice draft. We turned left along the first dam, and the wind was coming from my right shoulder. I stayed in red shirt guy´s draft as we passed mile 1 in 6:33. I secretly hoped to be able to keep up this pace.

Then we turned straight into the wind. It was so strong that it was even hard to breathe. My effort level increased, but my speed dropped like a shot. This would not be easy, I realized.

Turning onto the second dam, we had another crosswind. Looking down the line of runners, it was funny to see everyone leaning to their right to brace against the wind as they ran. The leaders passed the turn-around, and I saw that Dave was still right there with the lead group. That was great for such a short race, because his best distance is ten times the length of a 5k.

Red shirt guy and I had been trading the lead, but at the turn-around I forged ahead. I passed mile 2 in 7:04. Not the greatest, I thought, but these were tough conditions. I focused on a woman 30 meters in front of me, and tried to catch her. It wasn´t easy, but after another quarter mile I finally closed the gap and pulled ahead. To my surprise, she passed me back after only 30 seconds. I picked it up again and passed her back. This time it stuck.

Now on the long straightaway of the first dam again, I had another target, again 30 meters ahead. It took most of a mile to catch this guy, but I pulled ahead right as we turned away from the wind for the first time since the start. I was pushing pretty hard now and heard footsteps on my tail, so I told myself not to relax my pace a bit. I passed the mile 3 marker in 6:45, and pressed on to the finish. When the clock came into view, I saw that it said 20:56. My sub-21 would not happen tonight. I crossed the finish in 21:08, 24th of 176, and I was happy with that. It was still 7 seconds faster than my 5k from two years ago on the same course, so I think I´m on track with the training right now. I just need to do a race without that dreaded wind!

I´m typing this from a quirky little outdoor internet cafe in San Jose, Costa Rica. It should be a fun week, but there won´t be a lot of running in it for me. That´s fine, I can use the rest.

Tuneup Race Tomorrow

I dropped by the Boulder Running Company this morning to sign up for tomorrow evening's Dash & Dine 5k. I need a tuneup race to really judge my current fitness; plus, 5k races are great for developing VO2 max, a major component of 10k race performance.

The Dash & Dine races are a great local series at the Boulder Reservoir. They are held every Tuesday night, starting tomorrow, for six weeks, which makes them perfect preparation for the Bolder Boulder at the end of May. The course is an out-and-back on dirt, starting at Coot Lake and following the shore of the Boulder Reservoir. It's pretty flat, which should make it fast, but in my experience the dirt surface and the typical windy conditions usually slow the racers down quite a bit. For example, I did three of the Dash & Dine races in 2005 leading up to the Bolder Boulder. My best time was 20:44. That predicts a 10k of 42:50, but my actual BB finish was 40:39 that year. My 5k splits at the Bolder Boulder were 20:19 and 20:20, better than any of my Dash & Dine 5k results in the weeks leading up to the race.

Since I'm hoping to beat my 2005 Bolder Boulder time, naturally I looked at my 2005 Dash & Dine results to see where I should be at this time of year. Here are my three 5k times from 2005:

Date	Time
April 12, 2005	21:15
April 26, 2005	20:55
May 17, 2005	20:44

Looking at these dates and times, it becomes pretty clear that I need to beat 21:15 tomorrow night in order to have a reasonable chance of meeting my goal of a sub-40 10k at the Bolder Boulder. With that in mind, I'm going to try to run a sub-21 5k, which means 6:45 minutes per mile or better. I will, however, try to pace myself by perceived exertion, which will hopefully prevent me from going out too hard. I don't want to repeat my time trial experience from 8 days ago!

Today's run stats: 5 miles total, at an easy pace. 42:54 (8:34 average pace). I'm temporarily abandoning the training plan, because a) I need a rest week, b) I wanted to get in this tuneup race, and c) I'm leaving for Costa Rica in two days. Training will resume in earnest April 23, if not sooner.

A look back in time...previous Bolder Boulders

Since this blog is all about training for the Bolder Boulder, I thought today I'd reminisce about my previous experiences at the race.

Back in 2002, I was dating a girl who used to run. She suggested that I run the Bolder Boulder with her that spring. Actually, it was more like, "We're doing the Bolder Boulder in May. I signed us up for a 5k to qualify."

Um, ok. Why not? I wasn't a runner then. I was still mostly into climbing (something that doesn't help your running in the least), but I had recently started dabbling in adventure racing, so I figured a little run training couldn't hurt.

We took a day trip down to Colorado Springs and ran a 5k race in the Garden of the Gods. I crossed the finish line in 22:41, a 7:18 pace. It was the first running race I'd ever done, and it was pretty cool. [edit: oops, I almost forgot that I ran the Pearl Street Mile in 1998, so this 5k was actually my second road race!]

Three weeks later I found myself in the C-wave at the starting line of the Bolder Boulder. I couldn't believe all the people! There were well over 40,000 participants, which makes the BB the second largest 10k in the nation, behind Atlanta's Peachtree.

More amazing than the crowds, however, was how well-organized everything was. There were volunteers everywhere, offering help if you needed it. A shuttle was there to take your warm clothes to the finish line for you. There was half a block full of nothing but porta-potties. There were water and gatorade tables. As each wave started, the next wave shuffled forward to the starting line. The faster runners (and anyone who wanted) had no problem starting right on the line.

Before I knew it, my wave had started. It seemed like a band was playing on every street corner. There were belly dancers and octogenarian cheerleaders. It was almost enough to distract me from the pain in my legs and lungs. Almost, but not quite! Every mile and every kilometer were marked, and there were huge water and gatorade stations spaced regularly. I followed the crowds all the way to the finish in the CU football stadium, where I was surprised to see I'd beat my 5k PR...twice! My finish time was 44:31.

After meeting up with my girlfriend, we both took advantage of one of my favorite BB perks: the free massage! We then explored the huge expo, where samples of all sorts of things, from ice cream to beef jerky, were available from vendors. Next, it was time to watch the traditional Bolder Boulder Memorial Day Tribute, complete with a short speech by a Purple Heart recipient, a 21-gun salute, a flyover by four fighter jets in formation, and a display of skill as one member of each branch of the military parachuted into the stadium. The final skydiver came in carrying a massive American flag as "I'm Proud to Be an American" played on the loudspeakers. It all sounds kind of hokey, but it honestly got to me, and it has every year since.

Following the Memorial Day Tribute, it was a real treat to watch the pro race. Each country is allowed to send three male and three female runners to the Bolder Boulder International Team Challenge. The country with the highest-placing athletes wins. With the largest non-marathon road racing prize purse in the world at stake, countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, and of course, the USA, send some of their top guns. Along with thousands of spectators, we cheered as local hero Alan Culpepper made a bold move in a last minute charge from behind, coming within 3 seconds of Kenya's Tom Nyariki for first place. But it was the USA women who stole the show. Deena Drossin (now Kastor) led the women to a near-perfect 1, 2, 4 team victory.

It was a few days after the race that I first got the idea to try for a sub-40 10k time. A local trail running legend posted the following on a message board about my friend Bill, a fellow climber and enthusiast of all things outdoors:

The bad news is that we won't have Bill to kick around anymore. He successfully broke 40 minutes at the Bolder Boulder, annihilating the barrier with a 39:48. Way to go Bill! And I bet the guys who beat you aren't also training to climb El Cap in a single day.

There it was in print...you would be respected as a runner if you could break 40 minutes in a 10k. At least that's how I interpreted it. The other thing was that 40 minutes is a nice round number, and the splits are easy to calculate, at an even four minutes per kilometer. I thought I wasn't that far away from the goal, only four and a half minutes. Little did I know, that's a tough 4.5 minutes to find!

In the ensuing years, I mostly focused on mountain biking and adventure racing, but every year as the Bolder Boulder would come within view, I'd try to do at least something to train for it. Usually that involved running a few 5k races and adding another day or two to my typical one or two days of running per week. Surprisingly, considering my haphazard approach, my times did go down each year. In 2003 I ran 42:13. In 2004, 41:25. And in 2005, after adding a total of three track workouts to the mix for the first time, I ran my current PR of 40:39.

Last year was the year I decided I'd start to take running a bit more seriously. I planned to run four days a week, something I'd never done two weeks in a row, much less for a whole year. To help my motivation, I signed up for the May 7 Colorado Marathon, and grabbed a novice marathon training program from Hal Higdon's website. I followed it semi-religiously. My plan was to dramatically increase my mileage through marathon training. I would then be in great running shape for the Bolder Boulder that year, I reasoned.

My plan failed miserably. The marathon worked pretty well, though. My training peaked at 40 miles per week, with a longest run of 20 miles. It was tough to keep the injuries at bay, but I made it to the starting line and finished just 29 seconds shy of my goal of beating 3:30. But the marathon destroyed my legs, at least temporarily. I went for a couple of walks (not runs) that week, and gradually got back into running again over the next several weeks. But the Bolder Boulder was only three weeks after the marathon. Too soon! My legs just didn't have it on race day, and I ran a disappointing 43:46.

So there you have it, my personal Bolder Boulder history in a rather large nutshell. This year, in case you can't tell, I'm more motivated than ever to break that elusive 40-minute barrier!

Time Trial Meltdown!

Today I ran a 5k time trial at the track. I've been bothered by the nagging feeling that I'm training at the wrong paces. That's because I've been using a VDOT (and associated training paces) based on my best 10k performance from two years ago. Thus, I could really use a current, up-to-date measure of my fitness.

I warmed up with around 2 miles of easy running, plus a few 100-meter strides. The day was cool and sunny, but there were also some gusty winds to make conditions less than perfect. After lots of procrastination, I finally started my 12.5 laps of pain.

The plan was to break the run into twenty-five 200-meter segments. If I could average slightly under 48 seconds per 200, I'd break 20 minutes in the 5k. This would be a new personal record for me (my best was 20:00 from four years ago). Ideally, I would finish in 19:45 or slightly faster. This would justify my current VDOT estimate of 51, from which all my recent training paces have been based.

In order to get to 19:45, I planned to run the first 10 segments in 48 seconds each, and the final 15 in 47 seconds each. I figured that would prevent me from going out too fast, while also preventing me from losing too much time in the first half. It was also a plan based on one big assumption -- that I actually could run that fast right now.

The first laps started off well enough. The pace felt hard, and I admit it wasn't long before I began to wonder if I could hold it for 12.5 laps around the track. Still, I was hitting my splits right on the money. The first warning came at 1800 meters, when I was a full second off my 200m split target. I chalked that up to a lack of concentration, and ran the next kilometer in 3:59, just under pace. By this point, I could tell that just breaking 20 minutes would be enough of a challenge, not to mention 19:45.

Nearing the 3-kilometer mark, the effort to maintain pace suddenly shot up. My breathing went from a 2-2 pattern (breathe in for two steps, breathe out for two steps) to a 1-1 pattern, practically hyperventilating. I knew I was way over my lactate threshold, and I still had 2 km to go. I held out to the 3-km mark, but it was too fast. Seconds after that, I got the worst side stitch I've ever had. I was reduced to a painful walk for the next half lap, and then could only manage to jog it in to the finish. My total time was a disappointing 22:26.

Here are my splits:

Meters	Split	Goal Pace	200m Lap	1000m Lap
200	0:47.0	0:48	47.0
400	1:35.2	1:36	48.2
600	2:23.5	2:24	48.3
800	3:11.3	3:12	47.8
1000	3:59.6	4:00	48.3	3:59.6
1200	4:47.6	4:48	48.0
1400	5:36.1	5:36	48.5
1600	6:23.6	6:24	47.5
1800	7:12.7	7:12	49.1
2000	8:00.3	8:00	47.6	4:00.7
2200	8:48.2	8:48	47.9
2400	9:35.8	9:36	47.6
2600	10:23.6	10:24	47.8
2800	11:11.9	11:12	48.3
3000	12:02.2	12:00	50.3	4:01.9
3200	14:15.7	12:48	2:13.5
3400	15:17.5	13:36	1:01.8
3600	16:12.2	14:24	54.7
3800	17:06.6	15:12	54.4
4000	17:58.7	16:00	52.1	5:56.5
4200	18:51.5	16:48	52.8
4400	19:46.3	17:36	54.8
4600	20:38.0	18:24	51.7
4800	21:32.1	19:12	54.1
5000	22:26.1	20:00	54.0	4:27.5

As you can see, things started to break down at 3000 meters, and disintegrated immediately after.

What did I learn from this painful experience? The whole point of running this time trial was to assess my fitness, but I'm not even sure I did a good job of that. Trying to hit an arbitrary goal of sub-20 definitely hurt my chances of running my best 5k on this particular day. I was more worried about hitting every 200 on 48 seconds, and paying less attention to my perceived effort. The signs were all there (that this pace wasn't sustainable), but I ignored them. So, this wasn't a good test of my current best 5k ability.

I think the effort was a better test of my 3k ability, since I don't imagine I could have run a 3k much faster than today's time of 12:02. Plugging this into the VDOT calculator, I get a new VDOT of 48. That's quite a difference from the VDOT of 51 on which I've been basing all my recent training paces!

Should I use this VDOT from now on (at least until my next real race)? I've gotten some feedback on the CoolRunning boards saying if I can run 3-4 kilometers at 4-minutes per km on the track, solo, then I should be able to run sub-20 in a 5k race. I don't know. Perhaps they are right, but it sure didn't feel like I could have done it today, race or not.

For now, I think I'll just take my medicine and use the slower training paces designated by a 48 VDOT. That means my Easy/Long pace is now 8:31 mpm (it was 8:07 using a 51 VDOT). Threshold runs are now at 7:02 (instead of 6:44). 1000-meter intervals are at 4:03 (formerly 3:51), and 400-meter reps should now be run in 90 seconds instead of 86. I feel like I've been demoted, but in reality I have to admit that I'm just not in as good of shape as I thought.

The other, and perhaps most important, thing I learned was what it feels like to "blow up." I've never done that before, in a race or otherwise. Always when I'm approaching that feeling in a race, I've eased off a bit. That leaves me wondering if I could have pushed "just a little bit harder" and finished a little bit faster. Today I didn't back off the pace, because I was trying to hit my splits. I am going to try to remember exactly what this felt like, because I think it's a useful thing to know. After all, how will I know how hard I can push unless I've experienced pushing too hard in the past?

Well, now I have.