I wasn’t planning on running the mile again so soon. The last one took too much out of me — both mentally and physically. But, last night, riding the subway to Brooklyn, it suddenly seemed like a good idea to give it another shot. My legs were feeling good, I got in a solid workout on Tuesday, and I knew that I could approach this with a little more knowledge than I had the last one. We chatted about it and I decided that I’d head up to the Armory, but that my goal would be 5:10, not five flat.
On my lunch break today, I headed over to the Asics store and picked up a pair of Pirahna SP 2 racing flats. They are a ridiculously light 4.2 ounces, feel surprisingly comfortable, and, if nothing else, they make me look faster. I left work a little early so I could get up to the track before the meet started and test them out. I ran a mile-and-a-quarter quick and they felt great. It was like being barefoot.
Eventually I was up there in the center of the track, the fast guys were running around us, and they started calling out the bigger numbers closer to what I’m capable of. Instead of lining up with the 5:00 group, though, I waited for 5:08. This made a huge difference in the race I ran.
There were a ton of people so they were crowding the lanes with 12 runners each heat. I drew the number 12 stick and had to start forward and on the outside. I launched off the line quickly, trying to get in position to drop in ahead of the pack after the cone. This worked. I was in fourth coming down the straightaway and finished the first lap in 34 seconds using less energy than I had the last time up there when I ran a 37.
But the slowness of the heat hurt me overall, I think. Two guys shot off ahead and I was sitting right behind another who ran steady for a couple laps but then started slowing. I didn’t quite feel like I could pass him right away, although thinking back on it now, I probably should have. After being so used to being dead last up there, I felt like I was running faster than I was because of my place. I hung behind the third place guy until the sixth lap. When I passed, a crowd followed me and the sound of their footsteps pushed me to run faster.
It was hurting here, but I thought back to the moments last night and today when I kept running through my head how it would hurt and how I would push through. I kept a fairly constant pace, but I hit lap 6 at 3:59 and knew that 5:00 was completely out of reach. (Even though it wasn’t my official goal for the day, of course it was on my mind.) I kept pushing, but didn’t really kick until the last half lap. I definitely should have done that earlier. Even if the time wasn’t close today, it would be good training to give that extra push when everything is burning.
After crossing the line, I smartly hung around and stole a glimpse at the timer’s clipboard so I wouldn’t have to wait for posted results. 5:09.6. I made today’s goal, set a new P.R. by five seconds, and didn’t feel too destroyed. All in all, a pretty good Thursday night.
I definitely have a lot to learn about track racing and short races in general. A quick look at my times will tell you that I’m obviously never going to be great at them, but it is a fun change of pace and a little side project that I want to keep going. After tonight, I feel much more confident that I can break 5 later this year if I start sticking a little bit of speedwork into my schedule.
Great job, Robert! I’m not so sure about “A quick look at my times will tell you that I’m obviously never going to be great at them”. Have you taken a cycle to train specifically for that type of racing? You wouldn’t be able to say until you did. You’re doing amazingly well at the mile for someone with the amount of mileage on your legs and what seems like hard biweekly racing lately. Never say never. ;-)
I think you’re right that I could speed up a bit if I focused more on the shorter distances (To answer your question, no, I’ve never done a cycle training specifically for short stuff), but not nearly enough to be competitive. Even though I’m not focusing on the short stuff, I’m in decent shape now and imagine I’m running fairly near what I’m capable of. Of course, there’s no way of knowing for sure other than training for it and finding out, but that’s not going to happen because the long stuff just appeals to me so much more.
nice recap on the positioning! i have some asics racing flats too and they are the jam. see you at the armory on the 25th?
Nope, probably not. They’re doing the 1500 and not the mile that night. Plus, that’s only 4 days after my marathon, so I’ll probably be pretty beat up.
Wow, that’s amazing!!! Congrats on the PR!
Nice kicks! I’ve been toying with grabbing a pair of those or a pair of hyperspeeds soon. Not quite comfortable wearing them for halfs/marathons yet though…
Yeah, I wouldn’t be comfortable with wearing them in longer distances either. They provide no support and I’ve had injury problems in the past because of Nike Frees. I am considering wearing them in an upcoming 5K road race, though. We’ll see how that goes.
Well, I’m not brave enough to run on a track in front of people, so you get major admiration from me there. If you want to, you could work toward breaking five. You’re so close. You’d just need to do a bit more specific track work to get there.
Jonathan bequeathed a pair of Hyperspeed 2s to me, as they’re slightly too small for him. Even though they’re men’s, they fit me very well and I can’t believe how light they are. I will probably try racing in them for a shorter race or two this spring once I’m sure they won’t irritate my achilles (they really are “flats”). Ryan Hall has worn them for the marathon, but I can’t see wearing them for even a half.
Yikes, I can’t even imagine wearing these things for a marathon. My joints hurt just thinking about it. Someone like Ryan Hall can get away with it because his form is impecable, but I’m just not there yet…
First, I plugged your Manhattan Half into a calculator and it translated into a 5:21 mile. And before you say apples-and-oranges, when I plugged a decent HM for me from a couple of years back, it translated into a mile about 2 seconds off what I did at the time. (McMillan has me 5 seconds faster; I wish.) So you may be a bit faster than you think (although I don’t know if you have a sub-5 in you).
Running on a 200 meter indoor track is a world of its own. Big fields, banking, short turns, short straights, limited air, truncated warm-up. That you did so well is testament to your overall improvement. I would expect you’d be a bit faster on an outdoor track. I forever wonder about the hordes that go the Armory when few show up at Icahn for those races. I hope you make it there, even if only for 1500s (or 3000s).
If you don’t train specifically for the track, it’ll show. But as with cross, it’s something everyone should do. And as you hint at with your shoulda, it takes experience to know what to do and courage too.
So, a fine result, and fine-looking shoes. But if you’re going to do a chunk of track racing, think of spikes. They’re not too expensive and they do make a difference.
I’ve seen similar things in the calculator. In a way, it disappoints me because it feels like I’m not living up to my potential at the longer distances. I guess that’s something I’ll have to work on…
And, I think you may be right about 5. I keep running so close to the same time, I realize that the mile’s not like the longer distances where the times fluxuate so much. I still want to give it a shot though.
Yes, spikes. They do wonders for track work. I like the Asics “Dirt” series — the ones with interchangeable spikes/nubs: the former for the track, the latter for the trail. Plus they come with a little key that reminds me of old school roller skate keys from the seventies…
Hey Robert, saw your race last night from trackside (I was in the next heat). You looked real smooth out there, good form, and it also looked like you were doing even or negative splits. I have no doubt you could break 5.
Nice, I’m glad you left a comment. I felt bad for not remembering your name. I hung around and watched your heat top and was cheering you on (by clapping, since I had forgotten your name). Very impressive race yourself. I especially liked your last-second re-pass of the guy coming down the final stretch.
Robert, I think that if you trained to excel at the shorter distances, you would get much faster at them. Right now you’re training to excel at ultra distances, so that’s where you’re seeing the most improvement. Makes sense to me, but then again I am no where near as techncally savvy as Flo, Joe and Julie.
Well done on the PB Robert. You mentioned not immediately passing when the guy ahead slowed, and also the possibility of starting your kick earlier. The tactics of short races are one of the things that makes them fun – like positioning and ‘do I go’, or ‘do I sit’.
Like TK, I believe you could improve a lot at 8,15,mile if you devoted a season to it. Something you could come back to a few years down the track. At the moment, there’s the possibility of getting damn close to 5 while training for ultras. That’d look good on the CV too. As Joe mentioned, if you can get some outdoor races with fewer in the field to impede an even schedule, go for it.
This shorter stuff is intriguing. I’d say there’s a decent chance that I come back and focus on it more seriously after knocking Badwater off the to do list.