So almost 9 weeks since I last raced and that felt like a long time, for me. As I mentioned above I didn’t really know what to expect but honestly went in prepared to be happy with a result around 15:30 and that would have been a good starting point. I’ve felt pretty sluggish and rusty in sessions and easy runs but it’s all part of the game, you just can’t be in flying form all year round and you have to be patient when you’re rebuilding. Some of my clubmates have been flying it recently so it’s really given me the motivation to keep consistent and just show up each week regardless of how crap or good I’m feeling. As I also mentioned, Leevale as a unit are really gunning for the Kia series club title so I also felt a bit of duty go show up for the team on this one after missing the first race due to Covid. Besides, a Tuesday night road trip might be fun, and it actually was. We arrived at 6:30pm for a 7:30pm kick off. The town was buzzing with people and there was a nice pre-race atmosphere with well over 700 in attendance and plenty of amused spectators. The course was 2 laps around the epicentre of the city, which was not exactly flat but not exactly hilly either. I was feeling a terrible pain in my stomach once I got out of the car, maybe from sitting for so long but it’s also hard to get food right for an evening race. As the start drew closer, my pain was subsiding but I still felt so lethargic on the warm up, which at this stage pre-race, I’m actually used to. I gingerly made my way to the start line, ready to do battle not only against the field, but myself also. My plan? No plan really but my primary motivation was simply to score on the team for the race series which meant being one of the first 3 home from my club. We had 6 Leevale men running so I did have my work cut out.
Mile 1: 4:47
I lined up in the second row and there was a seriously deep field of quality runners here today which was great to see on a Tuesday night in April, if a little intimidating. The start was downhill but some people really got overly carried away when the gun went. I got elbowed and pushed out of the way by people squeezing through to get a good start. Utterly pointless and ridiculous carry on, it’s a 5k race not a 400m race. About 30 seconds later we hit a hill and people were already coming back to me. Ok, that’s my rant over there. I was somewhat resigned to not going out really hard in this race, probably lack of confidence but also just didn’t feel race sharp going in so I fell in behind a group which looked like it was moving well. Little did I know, I actually was going out harder than I thought but I was so far back it didn’t feel like it. I had already decided I wasn’t looking at my watch today, just get a race under the belt and race it. I was a little uneasy with how far back I was, probably sitting somewhere between 30 and 40th place watching a mob of people ahead of me. I felt ok though and was feeling decent.
Mile 2: 4:54
On to the second mile as we barrelled back towards the finish line area to start our second lap. The course, while very fast, has it’s fair share of drags but likewise some quick spots where you could just let the legs go free a little. I noticed I was really starting to come through the field in this mile and observed my breathing and stride was feeling pretty good. As we got back to the very first hill from the 1st mile, I made a conscious push up the hill and took a few runners who were slowing. When I pass someone in a race, I like to pass aggressively and confidently to try convince the passee that I’m too fast to bother trying to stick with. I’m not sure if it works but it keeps me entertained. I still was running alongside a Leevale clubmate, and noting two other clubmates well up the field ahead of us so it was basically us battling it out for the 3rd spot on the team, a nice little bit of healthy interclub rivalry and really kept me honest. Today I really just felt I was battling for position and for that reason it really felt a lot more like a cross country race…on road…with magic shoes….and no muck. Nearing the end of the mile, I felt I was pulling away and reeling in about 4 or 5 lads ahead of me but still absolutely no idea of the time I was on for.
Mile 3: 4:57
The splits show I was slightly slowing but it didn’t feel it. I felt I was getting quicker but in reality, people were just coming back to me and I had pulled away from the group I was with. I think I was running solo for the first half of this mile and then on the final stretch into the city, I was tracking a group of 4 ahead of me who at one point felt too far away but every step I took they were starting to get bigger, i.e less further away. I realised I was running out of road so I had to start scraping the barrel for some fast juice. There was a testing climb with about 400m to go and it was here where I really reeled them in. Suddenly the last corner is in sight and time really is running out. For some reason I had started to relax once I got within touching distance so without thinking I made my way to the side of them, taking the long route and I started charging. One of them out of nowhere just pulls away with a turn of speed I could only applaud. I was able to take the other 3, sneaking one spot just before the line as one chap just took his foot off at the last second and I nipped by. I was utterly gassed but had put in a really good shift. Once I gathered myself I took a look at the watch and was a little stunned but pleasantly surprised to see 15:07! For some reason, that was a little off and my chip time was actually 15:04. Upgrade! I came 16th in the end and there were 14 guys under 15 minutes. Now that’s a quality race.
I really don’t know where that performance came out of but I’m really pleased with it and that race has given me a new drive and a hunger knowing that I’m clearly in better nick than I have being giving myself credit for. I thoroughly enjoyed coming through the field, having a strong finish up the hill and taking 4 places in the closing stages. Only at Christmas when I felt in super shape was I running these sort of times (14:52 in Newmarket, 15:04 in Togher) so I think this is a good indicator and a mental boost for me. As always, you can’t beat an honest, hard race and it really doesn’t matter what shape you are in or think you’re in, it will give you more than you’ll ever get from a session. A great evening overall and capped off with a team win. I was really happy to be able to put that score on the board which was my ultimate goal for the evening. The women nailed it (1st, 3rd, 5th) and a massive result also for two clubmates ahead of me running PBs of 14:40 and 14:52, it’s nice to see that progress in the group and to be a part of it.
