Monday, October 6, 2008

New PRs: 5K in 21.46 and the 10K in 44.27

I was up at 4.45am and took a banana and some water then stretched. Obama and McBush are set to debate again tonight. After calling a colleague who had asked me to call him to join me in my run, I hit out at around 5.05am (why do people who have no intention to run insist on being "alerted"?).
Anyways, the tarmac is always exciting because of its flatness, its reliability (consistency), its grip under the shoes and its openness - no hidden stones, holes or bumps. It leaves everything to you. In the clean and crisp morning air with little traffic and quiet, nothing is more welcoming and absorbing. Its liberating to lose oneself in it. After three clean days off running, I wanted to break both my 5K and 10K PR.
Anyways, I did a sluggish first Kilometer which is at a hilly section and took close to 5mins during which time two gazelles, er, runners, glided past me effortlessly.
They have always done that for the past two years. A lean tall one leading with long strides and a shorter one trailing him. From their strides and grace, one can tell they are not in my league. As I tried to keep up with them, we glided past a surprised lady running slowly who seemed to wonder who the heck we were.
Anyways, I was feeling good and decided to hang onto them without killing myself. They went past me but I kept them in sight until the 3Km mark then I lost visual contact with them. It was better than the past interactions when they would zoom past me and disappear within a couple of minutes from my vision as If I am standing still. But I was okay to let them drift away because my watch indicated that I was surpassing my past times.
Anyways, I competed successfully against myself and broke my PRs: I cleared the 5K in 21.46 mins and the 10K in 44.27 mins. This is great but I will confirm it on Thursday on the track where the exact distance is known. I will be attempting a 15K in 1hr 10mins. The most important thing is to be able to clear the first 10K in 45mins or less. I felt some tugs like injuries in gestation but shifted my efforts from one leg to the other to completion. I hope on Thursday, no damn injury rears its gratuitous and unwelcome head up.
At any rate, I am slightly optimistic that I can do 15K in under 1:10 mins (70 mins). MacMillan's running calculator says I can do it in 68.52.51 mins. I hope that the calculation is right. I have uploaded the relevant section and helpfully highlighted it below.



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