5000 meter race report

Warming up with Rob before the race.

The start of the race entering the first turn. I'm in the back and Robs up front.

Exiting the final turn just after making my final push.

Running by Vye on the final stretch.

Crossing the finish line at 0:21:30

Friday evening was my 5000 meter track event. It consisted of 3 heats of runners of various skill levels. I was in the first heat, or the heat for those who were going to run slower than 18 minutes. They had a 16-18 minute heat and then an elite, faster than 16 minute heat. This was a great opportunity for me to practice my speed and get an official 5000 meter time so I can have a base to compare my progress against throughout my training schedule this year. This was also a great excuse to immerse myself in the running culture, which is such a big part of Victoria, and to watch some phenomenal runners compete. There were some amazing athletes and Olympians there including: Jon Brown, Victoria (UK), 3 x Olympian, UK 10,000m record holder, 5,000m personal best 13:19, marathon best 2:09; Sean Chester, Chemanius/Victoria, UVic Alumni, World Mountain Running Championships competitor 2008; Cam Levins of Black Creek (Campbell River), Southern Utah University Div 1 NCAA Athlete, 14:19 personal best; and one of the spectators was Simon Whitfield the gold at Sydney and silver at Beijing Olympian in the triathlon. This race had some awesome international talent. I was super stoked to be amongst greatness.

I showed up a little after 5 so that I had an hour and a half to warm up and get prepped for the race. I had never ran on a track so this was a first for me. I am used to trails, rocks, and mud. I was excited to increase my depth of running, and I was interested to see how I would like racing on a track. My running partner Rob showed up a little after 5:30 so we decided to start warming up while the race was getting set up. We started out just walking around the track once and followed it up with a slow jog at about a 2:45 lap time. We then walked a lap and ran another 2:15 lap. We registered and got our electronic ankle bands and numbers (I was 1815) a good number I thought. We then ran 2 laps at 2:00 minutes each. This would be a 25 minute 5000 if I could maintain it. It felt manageable and I thought that 25 minutes would be very achievable. Rob talked me through some strategies and what to expect. He mentioned that the first lap will feel really uncomfortable and that my heart will be pounding in my chest. He told me to just relax and focus on hitting my goal times which at first were just 2 minutes a lap.

It was almost 6:30 and all 15 runners began to congregate at the starting line on the back straight away. I was a little nervous but not nearly as bad as I had been earlier in the day, the warm-up helped cool my jitters and my task began to come into focus. They went through a role call and talked us through the procedures and then they said that the faster guys (those expecting to finish in the low 18's) should line up front. I instantly found my place in the back, whereas Rob hopped up front. They counted down and said GO!! I felt my body lurch forward in a slight delayed reaction but soon found my pace. Everyone was in a tight group ahead of me and I was in the second lane through the first turn. The pace was quick, I couldn't believe it! It was much faster than 2:00 minute laps. I instantly began to realize I needed to come up with some sort of game plan to be happy with my performance. The group began to stretch out and I saw Rob ahead of me several positions. I have been running with Rob for 8 months and he is a very calculating and consistent runner. He also lives for the 10 Km run so I feel he was my best chance at getting a good time. I quickly caught him through a difficult and slight increase in effort. My blood was really pumping and my body had no idea why I was forcing it to run so fast. My body is used to slow long runs and this fast pace felt unnatural. I focused on Rob's back and positioned myself 2 paces behind him. I visualized a chord connecting us together and I was determined not to let that chord stretch or break. The first few laps saw this as a very difficult challenge. I was in last place and the pace was ridiculously fast. I began to tell myself that I am a distance runner and that my ability to endure is what I am strongest at, and so I just needed to hang in there and I would find my wind. Around lap 3 we passed a woman who's pace had slowed, and this was a sign that we were maintaining our speed and our stamina. It was a boost of confidence to know I was no longer in the last spot. The most challenging spot of the whole run occurred at about the half way mark. Between lap 5 and 7 I really had to fight to keep that two pace distance between me and Rob. I would feel the gap widen and instantly I would grit my teeth and push with all my might to tighten the gap back up. This was the story for those three laps. Slip back and fight forward. I reminded myself to run loose and noticed the last 6 laps had slowly tightened my upper body. I forced some relaxation and kept trying to run efficient and strong. Lap 8 came and my body finally accepted the fact that I was going to be going this pace for the duration and I was going to ignore all signals to slow down. This marked a turning point in the comfort and effort of the run. From this point on my pace was strong and maintained and I no longer fell back I was now in perfect unison with Rob. We maintained a trance like pace of 1:45 laps through almost the entire race. We were running consistent and weren't slowing at all. It was at this time that we passed a second woman who couldn't keep up her previous pace for the full distance. I now was settled into the event and was intently focused internally. I often thought that I would be so utterly bored when running on a track because of the countless loops of unchanging scenery. This was not the case. I was so focused on my legs, pace, breathing, form, and a million other things that I didn't have any time to notice my surroundings. To let my focus slip would be devastating to my whole race. I remember passing the 10th lap mark and realized I was feeling great. I knew I had enough to keep up the speed I was running and I even began to strategize where and how I would give my final push. The 11th lap was spent sitting right on Robs heels and I suddenly felt my wind come on. I typically, on any training run, don't feel good or find my wind until about 4 or 5 km into the workout. I now felt those same effects take hold and I sensed my body lurch forward with new vigor. I was tempted to start my sprint a full lap early but I held it off and decided it would be unwise. We passed a third woman and now we were on the last lap of the race. I rounded the second to last turn and began to intently focus on how I was feeling. I felt good and knew I had fuel in the tanks still. I had to force myself to hold back. Finally I was at the half lap to go mark and I couldn't hold my body any longer. It began to speed up. I was surprised how easily the speed came to me. I passed Rob half way through the last bend and found the inside rail. I kept waiting for him to take off during the previous few laps but he never changed his pace. I then knew I had to really crank because he would be turning on the speed at any second. I am sure he wasn't too thrilled to be seeing my back. I came out of the turn and felt my pace slow as a slight dizziness began to take hold. I now had less than 90 meters to go. I suddenly heard Vye yelling for me to "pick it up, pick it up" which meant Rob was making a rally. I felt a third wind and I sprinted to the finish line. I had done it. I had no idea what my time was. I was so focused I didn't look at the clock or my watch. I felt a slight dizziness and little queasiness in my stomach but quickly walked it off. I found my family and was superproud. I had run way better than I expected. I have only been training for three and a half weeks and I have been building distance that whole time. I was super happy with my performance. Rob and his wife Pam came to see us and Pam told me my official time was 0:21:30! Rob was 1 or 2 seconds behind me. I know that the only reason I did this well was because of Rob's consistent and strong pace. If he was not there I may have finished minutes slower perhaps closer to my 25 minute race like I initially predicted.

The night was only 1/3 over there was still two heats to go. We all flocked to the starting line and watched the second heat start. It was amazing to see these athletes consistently run 1:15 laps. There was a competitive finish in the second heat but the elite heat belonged completely to Sean Chester a competitor of the World Mountain Running Championships in 2008. He was awesome to watch and consistently ran 1:06 mins per lap.

It was a great time, I have some huge expectations and lofty goals for myself, but I feel I will be running this event in the high teens next year. I am excited to see where I will be then. It was an amazing experience and I learned I could definitely run track events, and will do so in the future. Running this race was so different from my many trail runs but was new and exciting and I couldn't stop beaming all night and into the next day. The crowds were great and though I took 10th I still got words of encouragement from elite runner's from around the world. I loved the experience and can't wait to race some more!