RESULTS:
Well here are the bets that have been placed so far:
16:25, 19, 20, 23, 24:33, 25, 27:41, 29, 32, 43:12 (a triathlete friend ...)
Official time: 21:38
3.10686 miles/5k
that clocks me at 6.96 minutes/mile
WOW i broke 7!
Fatigue details:
First 1/2 mile
-lower back started to get stiff, massaged it a bit while maintaining pace and it got a little better, tried to lean forward more instead of falling backwards at the torso
-stride felt nice though
-before the half-way mark, I stopped for my first time for a very short period of time, then proceeded to sprint faster
-stopped once more right before the 1/2 way point and then when I turned around the cones marking the half-way point I begin to sprint, letting my sprinter strides to the work.
-afterwards, I stopped a few more times, about 4-5 total in the race, the last pause was the longest, for perhaps a minute.
-limiting factor was most certainly the aerobic system, VO2 max. Although I didn't feel like I was breathing THAT hard, I've worked out at this intensity before, maintaining it for a while was tough. However, I DID NOT feel so winded that I was wheezing. In the past, before I started lifting heavy and training as hard as I do now, running would create this musical breathing pattern that I kind of got into the groove to. In swimming we learned stroke-stroke-breathe; I had a rhythm like that when I used to get really winded running, this is like 7+ years ago when i thought I needed to run to be fit. However, there was not marked breathing pattern, i was not breathing loudly, I just ouldn't keep going at ANY pace. Even an 8min/mile pace I would need to stop. In fact running a 24 without stopping would have been harder for me, i THINK.
-The legs weren't that fatigued, well there was some mild burn in my glutes for some reason, at least that means I am using good form, i've NEVER had that before from jogging, torso was more fatigued than legs. I sprinted the finish, and after the 1/2 way mark I did several slower sprints, taking longer strides, extending nicely at the knee.
-Last 800m: I had paused for about a minute as I had said earlier, several people passed me, including the girl who was to finish in first place for the ladies. I overtook them with my incredible strides, and sprinted almost all out at the end, letting the power in my legs built up from kettlbell swings, heavy squat doubles and deadlifts as well as sprint training at a 90-95% intensity do the work. It was beautiful.
I felt reallllly winded at the end for just about 30s, but after I felt great and could do some squats if my left knee didn't hurt. FOr some reason my left knee started to feel al ittle pain, but i didn't notice it until after the race. doing squats wouldn't be the most fun thing in the world. I could do boxing and lift weights right now for upperbody, so I feel great.
What did I learn? I don't know what i learned, but I observed that taking breaks helped me go faster. Continuing to run at a slow pace, would have imo further fatigued me cardiovascularly, and locally in the calves and leg muscles. This probably means i'm fast-twitch dominant right now, which makes a lot of sense since I do no slow-twich work. I think I could get my VO2 max up a little bit, and proceed to break 6 minutes next time, or aim for 6:30 and break the 20 minute mark, but I'd like to ideally break 18:38 which is about a 6 min/mile pace. I think that's pretty doable, becaue I probably took about 2 minutes in total of walking rest, so if i just cut that out and ocntinue at the same average pace while I was running i think I could do that. So maybe if I start incorporating some longer sprints, maybe 300-400m, i can become more fit overall.
WOW that was fun and I feel great after. maybe I'll start doing 200m repeats again, but not until I get sub 18 on my 150 repeats. Thanks for placing bets!!
