Month: September 2022

Background

The By Hook or By Crook 12K on Sandy Hook, NJ was the penultimate event of the eight race 2022 USATF Masters Grand Prix road and cross country series. And we had everything on the line. Our masters age group team, the Boulder Road Runners, had been leading the series, comfortably, all year. However, Shore Athletics of New Jersey, the race’s host, had been running a stealth campaign. By May we realized that we would need to finish first or second in this race–or beat our East Coast rival team. If they won or beat us by two spots they would take an insurmountable lead into the final race next month at on our home course. It was that simple.

Although we have (arguably) the best 60s+ team in the country, with the most depth, getting three healthy runners to line up and race has proved most challenging. Adding to that, the Pikes Peak Marathon and Ascent were scheduled for the same weekend. That immediately took out two of our top three runners. In our favor however, the rival team would also lose its top runner to Pikes Peak.

Early in the year I decided to run this event, one of only two in the fall (the remainder were in the winter and spring), but Mike was the only other teammate committing to the 12K. At team meetings in the spring and summer I did some cajoling and asking for others to step up, but maybe was not emphatic enough. Adam was the only one who expressed a serious interest but he had an event scheduled for the day before, so travel would be a challenge.

After some last ditch asking around in August it actually looked like only two of us would be traveling to New Jersey, but Adam’s event was moved to another date and he would join us. Just three amigos, up against the host club large enough to field an A, B, and C team.

Who would come out ahead?

The Match Up

On paper we were confident we would match up well against the host. We had beat them handily at the half marathon championships in March, with me going 1:21, Adam 1:26, and Mike 1:29 to their 1:19, 1:31, 1:32. However, in Syracuse they were missing Michael, one of their top consistent runners (he ran 47 minutes in the 12K last year), and they had a couple of newcomers. In 2022 Henry has been running as well as Rick their top runner–the one doing Pikes Peak. Henry has run a 5:08 mile, 17:15 5K, and 2:55 marathon this year. We didn’t have much info on the other guy Carl, but Adam felt confident he could beat Michael and Carl. We were hoping for something along the lines of 45, 48, 50 for the three of us, compared to 44, 48, 50 for the other guys–comfortably in second place and we all had a good day maybe a first and thus locking up the team title in our favor.

Personally I came into the week hoping for another Silver medal to match last year’s (by 0.2 seconds!), but at the last minute Nat from another East Coast team signed up. Nat has been setting records and winning everything in sight since turning 60 over the summer. So Bronze would be the best I would do.

I chose not to look at The Running Professor’s blog on the night before and I’m glad I didn’t. He predicted that Nat, Henry, and another 60s newcomer Jeff would go 1,2,3 for the age group, leaving me the eldest of the bunch (turning 65 early next year) out of the medals.

Time-wise I was hoping to improve on last year’s 45:51 which was a pretty good race, but I felt ready for a 90% age grade this time (would need a 45:30). I do think I was in shape for that, but the weather did not cooperate. For strategy I had a combo plan, not to get sucked up into too fast of a start but also to keep in contact with other top runners in my age group, particularly Jeff whom I had not raced as well as a Ken and Rick who are in the 65-69 age bracket. The often go out fast, last year Ken was a good 12-15 seconds ahead of me at the first mile, which I did right at 6:00.

Sunday was the warmest day of the week and by the 9:30 AM start it was 70 degrees with 88% humidity (dew point 64) with a 12 mph crosswind that favored runners going out, but more of a headwind on the return. With that tailwind at the start, I thought I might have some leeway, but plan was 6:00-6:05.

The Race

I was bumped back to the 4th or 5th row at the crowded start. Took a step after the gun and started my watch as I crossed the first timing pad. First mile was fairly fast, Ken was just a few meters ahead and he was chasing two or three very quick starting women in the 55-59 age group as the pack strung out. The two leaders in my age, Henry and Nat were 100 meters ahead in no time, and I could see the orange bib of Jeff as we rounded the first turn at about 0.8 mile. He was already 15 seconds up and I figured I was in 4th. I crossed the mile in 5:57, a little faster than I had wanted but we had the tailwind and Ken was 5 or 6 seconds ahead and those women were right at 5:50 or a little under.

Normally I’m couple minutes ahead of those women in a race 10K or longer, so what the heck was up!? The were actually leading the entire women’s race at that point, along with the eventual winner who was from the 40-44 age group.

There wasn’t a lot of movement in the second mile as everyone maintained their position, but I could see Ken slowing up, dropping off the pace of the fast-women. I was at 11:56 at 2 miles and passed Ken soon after, he said his hip and hamstring were bothering him. I encouraged him to keep going. The pack with the lead women was just ahead and I set to work on that group, Jeff was about 20 seconds up. The other guys in my age group were way out of sight. Could I catch him for a podium finish?

By the time we got to the turns at the far end of the course, with a couple of ups and backs, I had passed the pack with the lead women and had gained a little bit on Jeff. After 4 miles we hit a stretch of bike path and by the time I got off that and onto the road, I was gaining quickly on him as he fell off. He walked a bit and I caught him near mile 5. Trying to hold steady, I was feeling hot but also that headwind. I knew I was slowing but by this point it was just a matter of keeping a steady effort. There were two guys just ahead. I caught one (Atlanta TC) in the 6th mile but the other stayed just 5-6 seconds ahead. We turned west and my 6th mile had slowed to 6:20 (36:40 split), and into headwind. My watch read 38:01 for 10K. I took a sip and dumped water at the final aid station, choosing not to look back as we made the final turn with just under 2K to go.

Then it got hard. I heard footsteps, I tried to pick it up, but they kept getting closer. It was the lead woman, she was in the 40-44 age class. I stuck with her for maybe 0.1 of a mile, but with just a mile to go let up some and she gapped me. This would be my lapse for this race and I started running on my heels, always a bad sign. I was breathing hard and feeling the heat. I decided to just relax a bit and not let anyone else catch me, but this is the same stretch where Joe caught me last year and we had our epic duel for the Silver and Bronze.

There was no one behind me. However, with a half mile remaining (following a 6:36 7th mile) I heard more steps. It was the Atlanta guy (age group 55-59) whom I had passed in the 5th mile. Enough lagging on my part I would not let him get ahead, and I picked it up back into race pace (which was about 6:20) and he stayed there just a few seconds back. And with about 400 to go I ratcheted my pace up and started a full kick with over the final 200 or so meters. Crossing the line I was surprised to have lost so much time and to see 46:20 on the clock, a full 30 seconds slower than last year.

That was a little disappointing, short of my goal of 90%. It was that 6th and 7th mile that did me in for any time goals. Nevertheless, everyone had the same conditions this year and maybe I could just throw direct comparison out. I did hold on for the Bronze, as Jeff finished some 25 seconds back.

That was my 14th USATF individual medal in the past five years. In that time the only time I did not finish on the age group podium was when I was injured at the Tulsa 15K and had to walk-jog the last 5K to ensure that our team could hang onto 3rd place that day, as well as keep on the Grand Prix podium.

How would we do as a team?! Adam crossed a couple minutes later in 49:30, that was slower than he had wanted but he looked strong. I chatted with some other runners but kept looking for Mike. Shore’s second runner was 2 minutes behind me, and then there third and fourth rolled in, just after 50 minute. No Mike. By 55 minutes I knew Mike was in trouble and so were we as a team.

I wandered back onto the course several hundred meters and found Adam, someone indicated that Mike was walking some fairly early into the race. We were shooed back to the finish line by an officical, Get some water she admonished us! People are collapsing out on the course today.

At just over one hour we spotted Mike, jogging gingerly. He had pulled his hamstring. He apologized, but even though that dropped us down to third in the team standings I felt there was no need–I have been there, a lot of had. The three of us showed up and ran to our best on this day.

If there is any disappointment with Sunday’s outcome it is that we could not get a fourth runner. No one else could or would make the trip. We all have our own agendas in a given year, and can’t make every event, but this was one where we really needed some help. The best we can do for the year is a second in the Grand Prix.

Although training has gone well summer, with three months of 60-70 mile weeks now, and I have had a smattering of good races over the past couple of years I have not put it together for 5K since 2019. That was my last good year for 5K, when I ran 17:28 on a hot hilly course in Atlanta for a USATF masters championship and a couple months later 18:06 at 5000 feet elevation here in Colorado.

A few weeks after that I developed an injury, followed by several months of rehab, a global pandemic, and eventual gradual return. I have not done any 5Ks at sea level since Atlanta 2019, and best results at altitude in 2020 and 2021 were no faster than 18:45.

This July I managed a 19:07 in Fort Collins on a fast course and 19:28 in Denver on a slower route. For those efforts I was just getting my base back following recovery from the Boston Marathon in April and a bout of covid in May. Now with another two months of base work/marathon training and a 5:26 mile on the track last month. I felt ready for a 5K breakout this week as a final tune-up for next week’s 12K road championships. So not only was I hoping for a season’s best and sub 19, but a best in three years, i.e., 18:40 or faster. Why not?

The base is there, and now the speed. But I’m jumping ahead.

Snippets from the Training Block

With a marathon in November I only dallied in speed training in August but it was enough to enjoy a pleasant surprised with that mile.

I have not done much 5K specific training this summer, but have consistently hit that range of pace (around 6:00/mile) in progression workouts, including a challenging Michigan workout the other week–5.5 miles of faster work with alternating track repetitions, each shorter and faster, each interspersed with a tempo mile. I hit 6:10, 6:00, 5:55, and sub 5:20 for the 1600, 1200, 800, 400, on the track, and the tempo segments were at 6:22-23. That workout at 5500′ elevation indicated I might be in 18:30 shape.

However, since then I have been a little tired. And while I kept up the mileage at 68-71 miles a week, with long runs of 16 to 20 miles, I have backed off some on workouts. I have been running on tired legs, but also felt ready to take on a hard 5K effort this weekend. I decided to work through this race (with a seven day running total of 74 miles through Friday) but ran an easy double on Thursday only ran 46 minutes at 8:30 pace on Friday. So I felt reasonably ready

Race Day

Weather has been quite hot–record breakingly so–over the past couple of weeks, with highs in Denver into the upper 90s every day, and even to the mid-upper 80s up in the foothills. However, on Friday, the temperature dropped precipitously and did not exceed 60, and by Saturday morning it was raining and misting and only in the mid-upper 40s. Good racing weather, and while warming up I was lamenting that this wasn’t a cross country race. Perfect weather for that!

The course wrapped around Sloan’s Lake in Denver, with some twists and turns. In fact this year’s version, altered due to some construction in the park, featured several (I think) rather ill-placed hairpin corners. One at 0.1 mile after a downhill start and another at 3.0 miles. They easily could have eliminated those turns if they had us go southeast from the park to the lake path, and then we would go into the park at an easier angle at the finish. Made no sense.

Also, with the construction on the south and southeast side of the lake path they had to re-route us to the road for a couple of blocks. Again, there were a couple of sharp turns and curb hops to navigate around that. That’s not really the race’s fault, but just another thing. And finally, at about 2.4 miles you have this jetty with a couple of weird zig zags and yet another 180 degree turn. This is a typical feature of the course and I’m not sure why they do that other than to add on a few tenths onto the loop.

Everyone running the race has do navigate these diversions, but time wise each of these will add a second or two onto your race time. Otherwise, it’s a fairly flat and fast course on cement bike path.

We lined up at were off at 8:30. I tucked into about 10th place right away, but after that first hairpin a slew of runners shot past.

Off to a fast start!

I checked my watch a couple times over the first half mile and saw some 5:45/5:55 instantaneous paces, so I tried to check my speed. I wanted to go under 6 for that first mile, and run a little more aggressively than my previous outings this summer (going out in 6:10-6:20 on those occasions). Within a kilometer the most other other runners (except one) who had shot ahead early on started coming back one by one.

There was no mile marker by my watch buzzed at 5:58, right as we hit the construction detour and a slight incline onto the street. I was probably in about 12th place, but already feeling the pace. And I figured sub 6 would be a stretch today, so I just tried to maintain effort for the rest of the way. I picked off a couple more runners as we rounded around the south and west side of the lake at 2 miles (12:12).

At the jetty out and back (about 0.1 mile each way) I tracked past most of front field (the race leader was already well on his way to the finish). Back onto the main bike path with just a half mile to go the next guy up was a good 20 seconds ahead, but I had two whom I had passed in the second mile in fairly close pursuit (within 5 or 6 seconds of me). Wasn’t feeling anything great but knew I could hold this effort and have a little more for the kick. And I would need it!

As I rounded the final turn at 3 miles I could see one of those guys just 3-4 meters back. I maintained my effort for a few seconds, then increased my cadence on as we rose a few feet in elevation, as I neared the crest with less than 100 meters to go I tried an all-out sprint and thought I had him. But with maybe 40 meters to go he popped a strong surge and got a couple steps ahead in an instant! I can’t do that anymore, and could not respond. Initially I as annoyed a bit, no one likes to be outkicked, especially with such a short distance to go. But that’s racing and if I had wanted to put him away I should have done so earlier than I had tried.

I finished in 19:09 and 9th place. The time was 20-40 seconds slower than I had hoped to run. Again, I was disappointed at first but as the day wore on I figured it was a decent enough effort.

I had splits of 5:58, 6:14, 6:17, and 40 for the final 0.1. My heart rate was at the 150-52 range (>90% max) for the final 16.5 minutes of the race. So I ran at my max. Looking back, going out a little less aggressively at the start (say 6:05 pace) might have left a little more in the tank for miles 2 and 3 and an overall faster finish. However, then again it is sometimes also good to test your limits at a low-key 5K race.

As far as age grading, that was an 85.8% age grade and easily the best overall for the day (second best being an 81% by Jay another competitor in my age group). Converted to sea level that would be an 88.3% and and 14:31. So considering that I worked through this race, it’s not bad at all. The fitness is there, even if the 5K sharpness is not. It was a good day!

Thanks to the Denver 5K crew and volunteers for making this a good quality event for the city.