Today (well, technically yesterday), I ran a 3000 race on the track for fun. It was steaming hot and humid today, but it went just fine. Especially, because I didn't train for this race at all. Just last Wednesday, a running partner of mine from the Wednesday running group talked me into participating - and I thought, what the heck, I swap my Thursday tempo run into Tuesday, I'll warm up, run the race, some more fast running, a cool down, and let's call it a tempo.

2009 Summer Track Series

Presented by Strictly Running & The Columbia Running Club

3000 meters Race Report

I arrived to the track well in time. That point, there was only another girl, who was about to run, so I sort of worried it would be a VERY small race. Later some more people decided to join in, so there were enough runners to occupy the waterfall line across the track - that is like 6 or 7.

I did four laps for warm up, which was a little excessive in the hot weather, but I didn't want to compromise my 5K training. I still considered this to be just a regular tempo run - spiced with a little racing. I felt a bit of stiffness and muscle pain from last weeks high mileage, but it went away with the warm up. I was still sweating from my warm up when we lined up - then off we went.

The 3000 meters starts at the half of the track, because you run seven and a half laps. It immediately goes into a turn. I lined up politely around the middle of the track, but I soon had to realize that I started quite fast compared to the other runners. For the first half of the turn I tried to gauge who runs faster then I, so that I can settle behind the person. All this complication was, because (naturally) I wanted to go to lane 1, the shortest lane - at the moment, after half turn, I still ran in lane 2. Also, I was tied with the leading guy in lane 1, which actually means I was faster than him, because I ran the longer arc. That was when I decided to sprint ahead and occupy the first position.

My time goal was 12:12. McMillan running calculator gave this projected time using my best 5K. I knew it wasn't realistic to beat this time with the preparation, heat, etc. This meant 1:37-1:38 laps.

My half lap time was right on spot. I continued pacing myself carefully. It worked very well, I ran the first few laps at around 1:35-1:38/lap.

There was a serious runner in the field - a high school track runner - but today, he also just raced for fun. He was breathing on my neck for the first few laps. It was a little annoying for one, and I also though how great it would be if he was in front of me, and I could pace myself of him. So at the end of lap 3, I slowed a bit, and let him go. At the exact same moment, he accelerated, and I couldn't follow him. Great. Pain and tiredness started to kick in. It was OK, as long as I didn't remind myself how many laps are left. (We were only halfway!)

I tried to keep our distance limited - not that I had any hope of beating him, but I thought I could run a great time, if I kept close to him. He pulled away for about one lap, but not too far. Our distance grew until about lap 6 to maybe 30 meters. Meanwhile, I slowed down a bit clocking 1:38-1:40/lap. The pain started to become unbearable. However, I was still breathing on pattern.

In lap 6 I tried to accelerate, or at least not to slow down any more. That time I also discovered, that the high school runner didn't increase his lead any more. In fact he seemed to slow down a bit. Before we passed the line that marked the starting of the last lap, I was no more than 20 meters behind him. That was about that same time when my rhythmic breathing fell apart. Torturous pain wandered in every piece of my body, but I had my reward: now I was breathing on the guys neck. At about 200 meters to go he pulled to lane 2 (very polite!) and I passed him. I kept accelerating. I lapped a slow girl the second time. (She didn't pull to lane 2, so I had run around her, which ISN'T nice, considering she was lapped!) I turned to the final straight, I kicked, I sprinted, and I won the race.

I though I would die afterwards, but I didn't even throw up! :) My time was 12:09, which shows that my pacing was quite good! I was completely satisfied. Even though this is not a spectacular time, this was probably the best I could run today. The organizers told me how much they enjoyed watching the race - with a last lap overtaking for the first place. Pretty cool!

I actually ran the other two races (600 meters and 1600 meters), but not nearly as hard. Then I ran a little cool down to finish a total 8000 meters for my workout. It was a good day!

6 x 400 meters yesterday afternoon on the track, plus 1600 meters warm-up, 1600 cool-down and of course the usual 400 meters of recovery between two 400 sprints. I did most sprints in about 1:30. In fact my times were very consistent: 1:33, 1:33, 1:28, 1:32, 1:33, 1:30. I felt great, young, and I wasn't too tired at the end. Today, I feel rested, recovered. I think I'm getting really good (compared to my old self). Unless something unexpected will happen, I bet I will knock down a sub-20-minute 5 kilometers before the end of next year.

If only I could lose that stupid belly fat! I now weigh 163 lbs (74 kg), which - on one hand - sounds really good, because I weighed the same in 2000. (And at one point about 2 years ago I was 85 kg.) I used to climb the peaks of the mountain Bakony in Hungary on my mountain bike weighing 75 kg. But I am more competitive now. I wish I had zero extra fat to carry. I think my ideal weight would be around 70 kg.

What a weird tempo run yesterday! I'm back to running my tempos in the Christine Luff way. That is (for yesterday), 1 mile at 8:45 min/mile, 2.5 at 7:16, 1 mile at 8:45. The first mile was perfect, though I felt slightly sluggish. The second mile was 7:13: close to perfect, just 3 seconds faster than required, but a difference that small doesn't warrant any change in pace. When I went on, I was very surprised to see that my second fast mile was quite a bit faster than I thought. I slowed down a bit, but I still did that mile in 7:07. That is way too fast! I was a bit tired by then, but still perfectly OK, I was still breathing at my usual 2 steps in, 2 steps out. I thought I was slowing down a bit, especially, because it felt I didn't work too hard. I tried to keep my pace, and it was OK until the last 200 meters, when suddenly I had a bad side stitch, my breathing collapsed, and I had hard time keeping my pace on that 200 meters. Then I pushed the "split" button on my watch, and I was utterly surprised to see that I did that last half mile in 3:25! I was the fastest on that stretch!

The sudden tiredness took effect on the last slow mile, and I only got home in 8:57. It is still fine for an uphill mile.

It is amazing that I did the middle fast stretch in 17:45, which is a pace of 7:06 min/mile. That used to be my PR pace on 5K! It felt almost comfortable until the last 200 meters. All this on a Thursday night, after a long, hard workday, with two days of hard and relatively hard running previously.

I think I'm getting into terrific shape. I might have a shot to run close to 20 minutes on August 15 (that would be a dream). If only I could shed that extra 5-10 pounds of fat that I have on me.

Also, I've become to to believe that one day, I will be able to BQ (that is, qualify for the Boston Marathon). When I started to run, I just wanted to finish a marathon. Of course, I needed a specific time goal, because just walking much of the course, or being extremely slow is not hard at all, so it is not a challenge. That was when I decided on 4 hours. BQ for me would be 3:10 for next April, which is still hopeless; after that a time of 3:15 would qualify me for April 2011 (because I'll be 35 in April 2011). That may not be impossible next fall or later.

Nowadays every wuss runs a marathon. They crawl through it in 6 hours and they call themselves marathon runners! This is very annoying and it takes away from the weight of these words : "I ran a marathon". But to qualify for Boston? That still means to be part of a VERY select group.

Too funny. It turned out that I know the guy who ran on lane 4 yesterday. Well at least in the virtual world. He posts on Runner's World forum; we frequently post in the same topic: the sub-22 5K topic.

So I went to the track this afternoon, and found a few people from the local running community over there: they held a (very) small track race series for fun. This was a little bothersome, because they occupied the inner four lanes of the track. They had the 400 meters dash in like 10 minutes when I arrived, and they convinced me to participate - they let me in for free, because there were only 3 men in the race at that point. I thought maybe I could just use the opportunity to measure my 400 meters time. So without any preparation, at the end of a long workday, I ran a 400 meters race today. I guess I should go an and say...

2009 Summer Track Series

Presented by Strictly Running & The Columbia Running Club

400 meters Race Report

I was informed that the race starts in 7-8 minutes, so I had some time to warm up: I did 3 laps around the tracks (roughly 1270 meters, because I had to do 2 laps on the fifth lane, which is thirty-some meters longer). Then, after just a few minutes of delay, we lined up (all 4 of us). I was put on lane 3. I guess the organizer wanted to guess the levels of the runners and order us accordingly: the guy was on lane 1, was quite fast, and I knew the guy on lane 2, who - I know - is pretty good at long distance. He would beat me on any distance over 5 miles. I got lane 3, and a rather slow guy got lane 4. Of course I knew none of these men except for the one who ran on lane 2.

For those, who never saw track running on TV: lane 1 starts behind the other lanes, and then each lane is little further ahead to balance out the different lengths of the lanes. So the guy on lane 1 has the best position, because he can see everyone else. Also, if he passed another runner, he is definitely ahead of him.

We started the race. There is not much tactics on 400 meters. You just run like crazy. After 100 meters, your oxygen starts to run out, after 200 meters you start to hurt, after 300 meters, you want to stop more than anything, you gasp for air, and you think you will die, and then you have to sprint 100 more meters hard.

After 100 meters, I saw I was approaching the guy in lane 4, and I passed him at 150. Which was a really bad sign for him - we only did one turn at that point. At 200 meters, the guy from lane 1 passed me. I tried to hang on, but he was much faster than I. So I just ran the third 100 fairly fast, but not in suicidal pace. I was able to accelerate for the forth 100, and I actually got a little closer to lane 1 guy. He won the race with 1:06, I got second with 1:08. The other two guys were far behind us. Lane 2 guy (I'm supposed to know his name, but I'm quite bad with names) seemed to take it quite easy, and run like in a long distance event. Lane 4 guy was just probably slow.

My time is quite pathetic compared to competitive 400 meters runners, but according to Runners World's VO2 Max calculator, it shows 59.2 ml/kg/min, which is pretty good. That would make me capable to run a Boston Marathon Qualifier, if there were no other bottlenecks. :)

End of race report

Well, my interval training was a bit gruelling after this race, and I didn't quite hit my times on the subsequent 431 meter sprints (in lane 5), but I wasn't very far off. Anyway, I have to make a note to myself to change the interval training for Thursday, because the track series will take place on the university track every Tuesday for some time now. And I like to run in lane 1, 400 meters.

OK, I admit it, I have a running problem. Remember last week, that I decided I would skip a week of running after my race? I didn't run on Sunday and Monday, and I rode my bicycle both days. It was fun, and I though I would do that the whole week. But then I thought about the upcoming training for my marathon, then the time before I would start it, then I thought it would be so cool to have a sub-21 minute 5K time, and that I might be able to do it with some specific training before my marathon training starts - one thing led to another, and this morning, when I left home, I threw my running outfit into my backpack that I bring to work, and now I know that at 5:30, instead of going home, I will head to the university track to get in some speed training. I will probably race again another 5K on August 15 in Prosperity, SC.

I will do two fast workouts a week following Christine Luff's advanced 5K training schedule from running.about.com. I start it at week 4, because I only have 5 weeks until the race. She makes you run a track interval training AND a tempo run every week. Hal Higdon's plan, which I followed previously, will make you run intervals one week and tempo the next. Though Higdon makes you run fast on Saturday every other week, I still think that his plan is not challenging enough, and contains too many "junk miles". Also, I like that Luff's plan has a 5-mile run on Wednesdays, which will coincide the 5-mile group run, and he doesn't make you "test run" a 5K - I don't need that, I just did it on Saturday.

I've just seen my official time posted: 21:17. It appears that now they included the guy who ran 18:02, so everyone was shifted down by one position. I still have my doubts, I'm rather sure I ran into the chute at 21:10, and I don't think I can be 7 seconds wrong. Also, I can't believe I ran the last, downhill mile MUCH slower than mile 2 (assuming that the mile 2 marker was correct). I'll use 21:17 as my PR for now, but I'm eager to break it, so I can forget about this race.

(Maybe it would be better to prepare a little more seriously instead of praying before the race.)

South Carolina Peach Festival 5K Race Report
(Goal: 21:00, 6:45 min/mile. Worst case goal: 22:00, 7:04 min/mile.)

I had to get up at 4 AM and leave home at 5 AM in the morning, because the race was about two hours drive from Columbia in Gaffney, SC. I wanted to be there at 7 AM, because the 5K was scheduled to start at 7:30. I was leaving the apartment complex at 5:10, ten minutes late, so I drove a little faster than I should have - but it was quite OK, as nobody was on the road on Saturday morning at 5 o'clock.

I arrived to the place a few minutes before 7. The temperature was perfect: high 60s. There were already quite a few people around. I found a parking place, then the usual rounds: line in the bathroom, Powerbar, water, warmup. This time I ran a few 100 meter (or so) sprints aftre my usual warmup to get my body to speed.

At 7:30 sharp, we lined-up at the start line. I positioned myself close to the line; tried to use my experience to guess my expected overall position and I let so many runners ahead of me (I was quite on spot). The race director told a short prayer (not the unusual in the Deep South). I do prefer keeping sports events secular, but she kept is short and simple, so it was fine.

The first mile was mostly uphill with some steep parts (which I knew), and I tried to pace myself close to my VO2 max by feeling. Everything was fine: I did work hard, but I didn't kill myself, and on the top of the hill, at the 1-mile marker, my time was 6:55. I was happy with that, 10 seconds off my pace, but on the top of the hill. My body had been working at ninety-some percent capacity, but I knew that a flat part followed.

The second mile was a bit of struggling. A few people passed me, which is never a great feeling. I tried to keep up with some of them, but I realized, it was wiser not to try too hard. I think my pace was fine: these people, who passed me, were running negative splits (which is fine, too). An old woman passed me by cutting two corners a few meters on the sidewalk. She ended up winning her age group. Probably the few meters didn't matter, but I was still pissed. I hate cheaters. It was obvious that the race course was measured on the road. The marking was on the road. So she was either really stupid or a cheater.

I have reasons to believe that the second mile marker was incorrectly placed. According to my stopwatch, I ran the second mile in 6:23 (seems too fast) and the third mile at a pace 7:01 (seems too slow). Yeah, I did fade a little bit by the end, but it was all downhill, so if nothing else, I certainly wasn't slower on that part. I think my second mile must have been 6:4x, as well as my third, mostly downhill mile.

The downhill was nice, but I was tired, and I wished I didn't go out that fast (again, grrr...). I changed to a faster breathing pattern. I did a have power for a weak kick. I didn't see the finish clock until I was very close, because there were a lot of trees around a finish line, and when I first caught sight of it, it just turned disappointingly to 21 minutes. I was in within seconds of that, and my official time is 21:04. (I actually think it was more like 21:10, when I ran under the finish clock, but maybe the finish line was bit sooner than I thought. It wasn't too clearly marked, there was no gate, just a couple of traffic cones and some plastic tape marking the chute.)

I basically ran my goal pace, which is nice, except the lingering suspicion, that my official time or the official distance is a bit off. The reason I think that is that the organization was a bit chaotic in some respect. At least one guy said, he ran 18:02, but he wasn't on the finisher's list. A middle aged woman accidentally ran 5K instead of 10. OK, that may very well be her fault. At least when I passed the branching point of the 5K and the 10K route, the volunteers pointed out the directions very clearly. Also, there were markings on the pavement. Besides, the woman behaved like an ass, cursing at the organizers. Come on, she finished the 5K with some 30 minutes, so it's not like her world record attempt went wrong! Her behaviour was definitely not justified.

In any case, I definitely PR'd, and at this point I probably can't run much faster than this. Maybe on flat course, at 55 degrees, sea level, more sleep, less driving, I could run somewhat better, but I think I still couldn't break 20 minutes.

I waited a looong time for the award ceremony. I sat down by a ditch to cheer the slower 5K runners and the really fast 10K runners. I talked with a guy who ran his first race after an Achilles tendon rupture. He told me about the story of his injury. Scary. I will always have to remember, that it is better to run slowly that risking injury.

A suspected that I was relatively high in my age group, and indeed: another 3rd place in the 30-34 year old male group! In reality, I was only 5th, but the first two in my age group were among the first three finishers overall, so they are ineligible for age group awards. I collected my ribbon and left for home.

Last hard workout today: 4-mile tempo run. I felt pretty good, even though it is still damn hot (80 F = 27 C) at 10 o'clock in the evening. Tomorrow is an easy 2 miles with the group (in 90 degrees probably), then 2 days of rest. Saturday, before the crack of the dawn, I am heading out to Gaffney, SC to be at the start line of the 5K by 7 in the morning.

Since the strap of my wristwatch has been broken, I struggled with it carrying it in various ways. When I just went to my everyday business, I didn't even carry a watch: my cell phone shows the time anyway. But I don't carry a cell phone on my runs, besides, it doesn't have a chronometer, so on my runs, I tried to carry my watch in my pocket, or tied to the cord of my shorts. My best running shorts don't have a pocket, and the cord solution is quite inconvenient.

I have had this watch for about a year, and I absolutely loved it. It was a very cheap one I bought in Target, maybe for like $12. It was a basic, no-name sports watch, and when I bought it, I didn't even think about using it for sports. I just liked to be able to measure time exactly, to the second. Then, about two months ago, the strap caught the side of the canoe during an (otherwise great) canoe trip, which broke the clasp, some parts of which immediately fell into the murky water. It was of course unrepairable, or at least not under $12. But I hate to throw away an otherwise perfectly good watch, so I tried to get by with it.

The last straw that broke the camel's back was that on my long run on Sunday, as I carried my watch in my Fuel Belt, a button got pressed accidentally, and for a while I thought I lost the time measurement for the run. Then I figured out, that the button was the "time split" button, so it was all well, but it is clearly just a matter of time until some data loss occurs. So I did my research in the weekend, and I bought this watch. It has everything I can think of I would need, and I actually only paid $35 for it in Wal-mart. It is a great watch, and most excitingly, it has a memory for 30 splits! So when I run intervals, I won't have to stop after every lap to record my time with paper and pencil. I also think it extremely cool-looking. Very light, comfortable, and hopefully it will last: after all it is a Timex.

After my race on Saturday, I'll take a week off. I'll do some cycling, and maybe swimming (though quite unlikely - I don't like to swim), but no running for a week. It will be an experiment. I have nagging pains at many places in my body, and I want to give them some time to heal. I have had calf tightness/Achilles tendon sensitivity/Plantar Fasciitis issues with my left leg/foot since March. That is the most bothersome. It usually goes away after I warm up, but sometimes, especially when I get up in the morning, I'm limping at home from one room to another.

Maybe I should skip more than a week... I don't have to start training for my marathon until August. I certainly shouldn't stop running before the actual marathon training, but a little break won't hurt.

Yesterday I looked back in my training log about my progress since I started last December. I wasn't enormously satisfied with the progress in any areas, but one thing sort of stood out that I'm quite proud of. Even since I started running, I never skipped more than 2 days in a row. In other words, on any consecutive 3 days, I ran at least once. This includes Christmas, New Year, vacation during winter break, and two multiple day travels, one to Colorado and one to Kentucky! I always had my running gear with me when I left the city for a longer period of time.