Besides a first place finish, the time puts my VDOT at 52.

I haven’t specifically been training for a 5k. I do tempo runs once a week, but no speed work to speak of. My goal in July is to break 1:28 in the April Sorensen Half Marathon here in Albert Lea, and my 52 VDOT puts me at 1:28, so there’s a chance I could hit it.

Note: I wore my new Asics Piranha 3 racing flats, which I’ve also been training in. They’re expensive shoes, but I got them used on eBay for $30. A guy wore them one time on a training run and didn’t like ‘em. I love ‘em! They’re my second pair of Asics Piranha running shoes. I also have a pair of the second generation shoe of the same name.

I’m now using a Garmin Forerunner to log my workouts. Last Saturday I ran a tempo run at the Blazing Star trail, which was 20:00 at 6:40 pace. Turned out that was a touch too fast given my current level of fitness. This Saturday I am aiming for a more conservative 6:50 pace.

As a result of last Saturday’s overextended run, I’ve got a very tight tendon down the inside of my lower leg. (Flexor hallucis longus muscle (FHL)). A little research this morning uncovered the scope of this mild injury. It’s the tendon that flexes my big toe. I get relief by gradually stretching my big toe back.

It wasn’t just the run on Saturday that caused this. I also increased my mileage last week. Ah, the perils of getting into race shape.

I really wanted the first third of the race to feel as though I were running at a medium effort. The first mile was around 6:15, but I felt very relaxed so I wasn’t overly concerned with the possibility that I might be going out too fast. The first half of the next third, I started to push myself into a medium hard effort and then settled in to medium hard for the rest of the second third, making sure not to over extend myself and dip too far into anaerobic energy systems.

The last third of the race, or actually the last three miles, which is slightly less than a third, I prepared myself for running hard, with measurably hard breathing and a feeling that I couldn’t keep my current pace up much past three miles. My strategy worked well and I had more left at the end than I figured I would.

Amazingly, too, I ran in my 4 oz. Asics Piranhas, which are about the most minimal pair of shoes a person can run in, outside of something like Vibram Five Finger shoes, etc. Most of my training has been in those shoes as well. So far no injuries.

I felt some tight tingles in my left achilles tendon, but those were resolved by doing calf extensions off a step on the stairs up to the kitchen from our main back entry way. I extend my heel down below the edge of the step and back up. This gets blood flow to the area and prepares the tendon and surrounding muscles for use.

My biggest lesson from this race is on the importance of taking a regular inventory of effort levels, categorizing them as I go.

Also, as far as training is concerned, it’s amazing how I can still maintain and improve my race fitness levels by simply doing some medium long runs and tempo runs that aren’t particularly long. I find it is enough to simply stimulate those energy systems rather than expect to really hammer them.

My time was actually a few seconds slower than last year: 1:30:08, but it’s hard to compare times because the course changed. Also, times were slower this year because the last few miles were on scorching new asphalt backtop, which caught a number of runners by surprise in the late stages of their racing.

One fellow I chased nearly the whole race, simply stopped and walked around mile ten or eleven, I can’t remember which. I do know it took him a while to start running again because he came in at least a minute or two behind me.

The other reasons why I think my time was fairly slow, 6:53 pace per mile compared to 6:35 per mile for my PR, are these:

1. This course still had very long rolling hills, which take their toll over time, but aren’t immediately apparent as a source of exhaustion.
2. I really haven’t done the miles yet, to merit a fast half marathon time. There’s mileage for base building and then there is mileage for simply getting through a long race with enough endurance. My aerobic capacity was okay, but legs felt remarkably heavy, which is partly hydration, but also having to do with arriving at my lactate threshold.

I’m going to pick up my mileage carefully in the next few weeks and see if I can’t better prepare for a couple races in August.

Do my lower leg muscles feel stronger as a result of having trained in minimal footwear? Absolutely. Every step felt far more solid than in past races. I noticed I felt particularly comfortable on the downhill portion of the race. Steep downhills sometimes cause me to feel slightly out of control. This was not the case on Monday.

I did notice in the last mile that my form started to fall apart, which is a result of a weak upper body. My goal this summer is to do a little more strength training: core work and some upper body work. Recently I’ve read a few articles that stress the importance of doing deadlifts. One of my favorite books, “Healthy Intelligent Training” by Keith Livingstone, argues that a runner can address up to 90% of his running muscles using the deadlift. Low repetitions with heavy weight. Who would have guessed?

But then why do world class runners keep even and/or negative splits when they race? According to the article, elite runners keep their pace up right from the start and know how to run right on the edge of their anaerobic threshold, which of course is much higher than most runners.

I’m torn on this one because I really like to see runners take their races out conservatively. But maybe they shouldn’t. Perhaps it is best, in races at 5k or less to take out the first mile reasonably fast and then hold on for dear life.

When races are 5 or more miles, however, I wonder about diminishing returns on the fast start approach. The 5k is a relatively short race and an exhaustive start won’t catch up with a runner in quite the same way as if they have a few more miles to go.

Regardless, the most important part of increasing your chances of having a successful race is to come up with solid a race plan. And the best possible scenario involves a couple alternate plans to account for conditions that may be a little different than anticipated.