Sorry for the brief lull in the blog...I don't have an excuse, just laziness. Anyway, over the past two weekends I ran two races, a 5k and a 15k -- here's the recap for both.
Race 1: Bockfest 5k, 1st place, 15:12
First race was another 5k, this one in Cincinnati as part of Bockfest weekend. I won this one (finished second last year), but more importantly improved my time from a couple weeks ago, which tells me I'm getting more fit each week. My time was a few second slower than at the same race last year, but then I was chasing the eventual winner and was also in much better racing shape (looking at my log, I had done a lot more 5k-10k-LT pace quality work at this point last year). This year, on the other hand, I ran 3 of the 3.1 miles by myself while also coming off of almost sole base training (mileage, sub-threshold runs, and hills). So what does this tell me? At the same time as last year, I'm in about the same physical shape. The difference, though, is that last year I had done a lot of race preparation; this year, however, I've done very little race preparation...just base training. This makes me feel really confident going into spring, because I have a lot more room to improve than I did last year. Oh and also, I finished this one off with a 20-minute tempo like the previous 5k.
Race 2: Heart Mini 15k, 1st place, 47:36
Wow. These two races have been so similar to last year. This race especially was almost exactly the same: cold day, slow first two miles (5:20, 5:40), and then switched gears and ran the last 10k by myself for the win, finishing within 5 seconds faster than last year. Again, though, I'm coming into this off of base training as opposed to race training, so I feel like I have a lot more room to improve this spring. On the bad news front, I missed out on my goal of beating Shalane Flanagan's time of 47:03 from the Gates River 15k the day before (which is a new American Record). Well bummer...still not as fast as the girls.
What are a few of the takeaways from these two weekends?
1. Given the training I've been doing, I'm really pleased with my fitness. My times were fairly comparable to last year, but as mentioned earlier I've done a lot less race-specific work so far this year (which hopefully means more room for improvement). My training has been much more sustainable this year, and I like how it sets me up for later in the spring.
2. Cincinnati races need to get it together. These were not two small, Podunk races; it was a 5k of 3,000 and a 15k/13.1 of about 20,000 (give or take a few thousand). I was by myself for all of the Bockfest 5k and most all of the Heart Mini 15k...both races essentially turned into time trials. I mean, I get it: the vast majority of participants aren't running for the win, they're chasing their own time goals. But these are a few of the big races in the city (the Heart Mini is definitely one of the top-three most prestigious races all year), and they attracted only a handful top runners. Yikes.
3. Seriously, Cincinnati races need to get it together. Three weeks ago I finished fourth in a 5k in Louisville and came home with $125. In the past two weekends I won two local races and came home with...a six-pack of beer. Not that I'm complaining about beer, but if you want to know why these races only attracted a handful of top runners, there's why. They don't provide any reason for top runners to come; no prize money, no comp'd entries, no reaching out to local or regional athletes. In short, no support for the sport. As I've posted about this a bunch, it's clearly something that I'm really passionate about. And I'm getting to the point of being so frustrated that I don't want to do any races in Cincinnati for that very reason: because, with the exception of the Hyde Park Blast 5k, none of them are races in the highly competitive, running-to-win sense. I love this city, and I love the running community in the city, but we need to get faster. After all, isn't that the point of racing?
Race 1: Bockfest 5k, 1st place, 15:12
First race was another 5k, this one in Cincinnati as part of Bockfest weekend. I won this one (finished second last year), but more importantly improved my time from a couple weeks ago, which tells me I'm getting more fit each week. My time was a few second slower than at the same race last year, but then I was chasing the eventual winner and was also in much better racing shape (looking at my log, I had done a lot more 5k-10k-LT pace quality work at this point last year). This year, on the other hand, I ran 3 of the 3.1 miles by myself while also coming off of almost sole base training (mileage, sub-threshold runs, and hills). So what does this tell me? At the same time as last year, I'm in about the same physical shape. The difference, though, is that last year I had done a lot of race preparation; this year, however, I've done very little race preparation...just base training. This makes me feel really confident going into spring, because I have a lot more room to improve than I did last year. Oh and also, I finished this one off with a 20-minute tempo like the previous 5k.
Race 2: Heart Mini 15k, 1st place, 47:36
Wow. These two races have been so similar to last year. This race especially was almost exactly the same: cold day, slow first two miles (5:20, 5:40), and then switched gears and ran the last 10k by myself for the win, finishing within 5 seconds faster than last year. Again, though, I'm coming into this off of base training as opposed to race training, so I feel like I have a lot more room to improve this spring. On the bad news front, I missed out on my goal of beating Shalane Flanagan's time of 47:03 from the Gates River 15k the day before (which is a new American Record). Well bummer...still not as fast as the girls.
What are a few of the takeaways from these two weekends?
1. Given the training I've been doing, I'm really pleased with my fitness. My times were fairly comparable to last year, but as mentioned earlier I've done a lot less race-specific work so far this year (which hopefully means more room for improvement). My training has been much more sustainable this year, and I like how it sets me up for later in the spring.
2. Cincinnati races need to get it together. These were not two small, Podunk races; it was a 5k of 3,000 and a 15k/13.1 of about 20,000 (give or take a few thousand). I was by myself for all of the Bockfest 5k and most all of the Heart Mini 15k...both races essentially turned into time trials. I mean, I get it: the vast majority of participants aren't running for the win, they're chasing their own time goals. But these are a few of the big races in the city (the Heart Mini is definitely one of the top-three most prestigious races all year), and they attracted only a handful top runners. Yikes.
3. Seriously, Cincinnati races need to get it together. Three weeks ago I finished fourth in a 5k in Louisville and came home with $125. In the past two weekends I won two local races and came home with...a six-pack of beer. Not that I'm complaining about beer, but if you want to know why these races only attracted a handful of top runners, there's why. They don't provide any reason for top runners to come; no prize money, no comp'd entries, no reaching out to local or regional athletes. In short, no support for the sport. As I've posted about this a bunch, it's clearly something that I'm really passionate about. And I'm getting to the point of being so frustrated that I don't want to do any races in Cincinnati for that very reason: because, with the exception of the Hyde Park Blast 5k, none of them are races in the highly competitive, running-to-win sense. I love this city, and I love the running community in the city, but we need to get faster. After all, isn't that the point of racing?
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