It’s only early April but the USATF Masters Grand Prix is half over and by the end of the month it will be three quarters done. Go figure.
This was my third race of the series for this season, which starts with Club Cross Country in December. I was only 64 for that race and placed 14th in the 60-64 age group, but would have been 2nd in the 65-69 age group. I only get credit for the 14th place.
There were only a dozen racers entered in my age group and none of the heavy hitters so I channeled my focus on age grading and making a top 5 in the overall age grading category. That’s a tall order, and I expected that it would take a 92% to make that top 5, and that was my A+ goal.
Training
For my 14 week training/base block I used a modified Norwegian system with a Nordic twist. Averaged 9.2 hours of aerobic work a week, 45 miles running (5 or 6 days a week) at 5300 to 7500 feet elevation, and cross country skiing another 21 miles (35 km) with the skiing (1-3 days a week) at elevations of 8500-10000 feet. This is the most skiing I had done since 2015 and jumped into several races, so it was good to mix that in.
For the first six or seven weeks I did a double threshold day every week and on five of those weekends did a ski race (7.5 to 32 km). The threshold workouts started with 5 or 6 minutes at current estimated marathon pace (low 7s), usually progressing toward actual threshold pace. The afternoon session were hill reps of 1.5 to 2.5 minutes at a faster effort, 10K to CV, and I would jog down equal time for recovery. Those were really hard this year (I did double-doubles, mostly running last year), and consistent snow, cold, and wind on those days didn’t make it easier.
After that period I shifted more to weekly threshold/progression work one day, and a progression from 10K to 5K repetitions on another day, plus a long ski or run on the weekend (1.5 to 2.5 hours). I raced one 5K, an 18:24 on a rolling course in Atlanta at the end of February. On paper, I think 1:02:30 was about what to expect, but I knew the course in Sacramento was fast and over the last couple weeks some of my reps started to creep down so I thought something in the 1:01s wasn’t unreasonable. I did a one week light cutback, with one easy ski of 90 minutes and 34 miles of running in 5 days, one day of rest.
Pre-Race
Traveled to Sacramento the day before, on an early flight that really messed up with my sleep. So that was a bit of ding. But I did get an hour nap after a short shakeout run. Slept okay the night before, getting maybe 6 hours of actual sleep. Did a short 15 minute warm up, on a cool breezy morning. Mid 40s and a stiff breeze from the south. So it would affect us more on the first half of the race, which was primarily an out and back along the Sacramento River, with a couple ~1 mile city loops for miles 1 and 10. My ideal plan was to go out cautiously, 6:15 and then wind it up to low 6s over the final miles.
Race
I lined up in about the 5th row. And we were off, but double clicked my watch so it stopped at the starting mat and I didn’t notice it until the first turn on the next block, so it was off about 30-40 seconds. I got swallowed up pretty quickly, but at about a quarter mile in I could see a number of runners I knew a ways ahead and they were pulling away, so I moved up a bit to get back in contention.
Coming from altitude to sea level without an adjustment period is always a mild shock. Your legs are going faster, you are breathing harder, and you just feel off. I have learned that you can push through that because you don’t go under as quickly. As a result I was running faster than comfortable but it also felt sustainable.
Things strung out by the end of the second mile as we crossed the bridge and headed south into the wind. The next group was pretty far up already so I settled into a pack of five or six other runners, a mix of masters and open men and younger women, going about 6:05 pace. With the headwind I mostly tucked int. Mile 3-4 was the hairiest because they narrowed the course two narrow lanes the out and back, and our pack congealed into 15 or so runners navigating a 6-foot wide section of road way, so it felt almost like track. But with some potholes you had to be wary. No one fell but there were a few close moments and a bit of bumping.
Back on the open road we opened up and I got to front of the group, trying not lead much but staying out of the way from feet and elbows. Splits for the first 5 miles were 6:01, 6:05, 6:03, 6:15, 6:06
Hit the 5.4 mile turn at 6:05 pace and was hoping to pick it up with the tail wind. However, my body said otherwise. I felt okay through 7 to 7.5 miles, and then it became a lot of work to maintain pace. A couple of the female runners from that big group caught up and I hung on through 8 or so, and fell back a bit more. One young guy encouraged me and I kept him in contact for another half mile but he also pulled away.
Even with the tail wind my 9th mile was a 6:13 (but did have a couple rollers). We had to turn back into the wind for about a half mile but I kept the effort going. Turned onto the bridge and toward the state capitol building, a half mile from the finish, I think one guy caught me but I held him off, but the three runners I had been running with/chasing since the middle part of the race pulled away some. So I didn’t didn’t close those low 6s I was hoping for, but held on okay.
Splits for the second half of the race were 6:06, 6:09, 6:02, 6:13, 6:13 (average of 6:09)
Officially finished in 1:01:09, and 92.24 age grade, an A+ goal time! I was pretty thrilled. Won my age group by several minutes, and ended up third overall in age grade rankings, so got some extra bling and chaching! Our age group team placed second so that was great as well.
Post-race
Had a good time rehashing the race with friends. I have been doing the Grand Prix circuit for five or six years now and know a lot of the competitors across the different age group. So we’re rivals on the course but once the race is done there is a lot of camaraderie. Took the train west in the afternoon to the Bay Area to visit family.
rrunnin234 