A Race Too Many
May started with a surprise PB over 10k. Two weekends later I ran 3 races on the same day; a 1500, a 5000 and then a 400m relay leg. I followed that up with a PB at 5000 metres last weekend to win the county championships and then decided to try and squeeze one more race in before the month was out. In those races I had managed to amass PBs over 3 different distances and really wanted a crack at a 4th, this time over 3000 metres. The 4 in 4 in 31 days plan was also due to the fact that it’s my birthday today and I wanted to see if I could crack all my PBs before another year was added to my age.
Unfortunately my plan to leave a mark whilst the branding iron was still hot was foiled. Last night the iron was distinctly lukewarm; I hadn’t really recovered from the weekend and I knew it before the race started. It went out slow and I found myself at the front after half a lap, towing the rest of the field behind me. The group that stayed with me dwindled to 4 and we hit 1km in 2:59 and a mile in around 4:46. Just before 2k one of the young athletes in the lead group came round me and took off. This coincided with my legs giving way and I had no response to a surge that was probably no quicker than a 68 second lap. I tucked in behind the two other athletes who came past me and outkicked one of them down the home straight. I finished 3rd in 8:57.
I had tried to push my luck and as a result I finished in a time much slower than I should be capable of on current form. I might be a year older today but I’m still no wiser! Tim had a poor run too, having also run a PB at the weekend. Mark on the other hand, who didn’t have a track 5k in his legs, ran his best time for nearly 2 decades. The moral of this story? Race less, train more.
Reply...