Tuesday, May 29, 2007

NO EXCUSES

Yesterday’s race brings about an ethical question. The race did not have chip timing, so I just started my watch when I crossed the start line. Did I run 17:52, as my watch said, or 17:54, as the official results say? Personally, I think it’s okay to create your own chip time in this situation.

I’m always amazed at how different runners perform at different distances. Two weeks ago, I beat one of the guys I train with by 2:33 in a half marathon. Yesterday he was 8 seconds behind me. 8 seconds! Good for him. Not so good for me. Maybe that’s why I’ve stay away from 5Ks as much as possible.

Actually this race had me thinking it’d be fun to focus on some shorter stuff. Heck, I was only 62 (or 64) seconds from my all-time PR. While that’s still 20 seconds per mile, it’s nice to be so close. Even if I could shave 10 more seconds per mile off my time and get into the 17:20-range, I’d be happy. That was kind of my standard time in college with a couple of sub-17s mixed in.

But with Grandma’s right around the corner I can’t be worrying about 5Ks. To be honest, I have a totally different mindset than prior to any other marathon. At Chicago, last year, I thought I was in PR shape, but I still had those doubts in the back of my mind. As a result, I never really went after it and was content to run slower than I needed to in order to set a PR.

Right now I’m thinking there’s no way I can mess this up. I know those can be famous last words, but seriously, given decent conditions, I just can’t see not breaking 2:55. My training has been consistent since recovering from Chicago, I have decent mileage, solid tempo runs, half a dozen 19-22 mile runs, along with my fastest races since college from 5K through the half. As of right now, I have no excuses.

I've posted a couple of new interviews on my other blog, including one with the winner of yesterday’s 5K.

Quote of the day;

“Coming off the last turn, my thoughts changed from ‘One more try, one more try, one more try…’ to ‘I can win! I can win! I can win!’” – Billy Mills
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4 comments:

  1. Andrew5/29/2007 7:55 PM

    Great attitude. Go for the PR!

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  2. Anonymous5/30/2007 3:03 PM

    Personally, my race starts and when I cross the starting line (and start me watch) and finishes when I cross the finish line (and stop my watch).

    If it's within 3 seconds of my posted time, I don't quibble about it...but if it's more than that, I keep my watch time as my race time.

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  3. Chad5/31/2007 5:31 PM

    Thanks George. 3 seconds is still 3 seconds. It can be the difference between a PR or a sub-18 (or whatever other number).

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  4. Don5/31/2007 5:32 PM

    Is it an ethical question or just an ordinary question? That's the question.

    For my money you ran 17:52 against yourself (for PR and logbook purposes) and 17:54 against the rest of the field.

    ReplyDelete