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CoachCraig
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Joined: 23 Dec 2003
Posts: 276
Location: Eugene, OR
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 Posted: 10/18/04 - 18:38 Post subject: Duck Dash 5K Race Report!!!
I hadn’t really planned on racing this, but I felt I was is good shape so I wanted to take advantage of that and pop a fast time. However, not wanting to sacrifice any quality training and not deciding to definitely race this until the night before meant I did no taper at all. In fact I racked up 30 miles in the 48 hours before the race began. I hadn’t run this race before, and I discovered something as I warmed up that worked against running a real good time – this course was slow. There were an amazing 34 turns crammed into the 3.1 miles. Most of the race was run on narrow sidewalks that cut between buildings on the University of Oregon campus. It would be tough to get into a rhythm, and I would have to slow down to navigate many of the sharper corners. The course had a series of minor hills as well. Nothing major, but enough to have an effect.
On the plus side, the weather was perfect, it was a nice sized race (about 175 people), and as it turns out there was some excellent competition at my level. I always seem to run faster when I’m in a competitive situation instead of one where I’m just gunning for a time. I think the other runners take my mind off how I’m feeling or how fast I’m going, and they certainly help me run more aggressively. As a final plus, in spite of training through this race, I felt pretty sharp once I completed my warmup.
As the gun went off, I was a little surprised no one jumped out to a big lead. We actually got a nice bunch going at the front. Initially there were 5, but as we headed up a long uphill this shrunk to 4, separated by just a few feet. I was at the back of the group, just fighting to hang on. A few times I fell back a few yards, and I had to strongly resist the temptation to just let them go. Ahead of me was one of our top local road runners, who routinely beats me by large margins in spite of the fact he just turned 40. With him were two young guys I didn’t recognize. It turns out coincidently they were both in Eugene from Georgia, although they didn’t know each other.
I survived and hung on to the leaders to the mile mark, which we hit in 5:10. Being in the back of the lead pack was kind of tough with the narrow course (only 3-4 feet wide in many areas) and tight turns. I couldn’t really see were the next turns were going, or see the footing which was tricky in spots. With 4 guys running just a few feet apart, it was also a safe bet that we really weren’t that closely matched, and at least a couple of the guys weren’t pushing that hard. I decided to throw in a surge partially to try to break up the pack, and partially to get some clear running room. At the very least I wanted to put some pressure on and see who was ready to race and who wasn’t.
I made as aggressive of a surge as I dared so early in the race. I could feel my legs burning, and having opened up no more than a 10 meter gap, I knew this move wasn’t going to stick. I tried to back off to no slower than we had been going before, but I was quickly caught and passed by two of the other runners. The only good news was my move proved to be too much for the 4th guy, and he was gone. Once the two runners passed me, however, I was able to stick with them, and I felt this gave me a competitive advantage. Once someone makes a move and gets reeled back in, their race is usually over, so I figured my two competitors might write me off as a serious threat. I was hurting, but still in the fight, and I think I may have given myself away by moving back up and challenging for the lead a few times. With all the turns, there was a lot of movement and battling back and forth, but the three of us in whatever order were never separated by more than a couple yards.
We hit the 2 mile mark in 10:16, having speed up a bit to a 5:06 second mile. With just 1.1 miles to go now, strategy was going to become critical. The 3 of us had been pounding on each other but we were all holding tough. I knew I have a horrible kick, and would lose if it came down to the last 100 meters. However, I had run the course during my warmup, and studied the finish in detail. You couldn’t see the finish until you were very close. During the warmup I had picked out a spot to start sprinting that was maybe 200m from the finish, where I could go all-out if I was in a tight race, but it wouldn’t necessarily be obvious to my competitors that the finish was so close. Now in later part of the race itself, it seemed like I was going to have to use that move, and I was thankful to have tough ahead enough to plan that out. However, it was a big risk, since it relied on surprise and neither of my competitors being familiar with the finish. Clearly my competitors were setting up for whatever their best move was as well, and I was starting to get tense in spite of growing fatigue as I tried to just keep running fast and keep the pressure on.
Suddenly the leader slowed a bit at about 2 ¼ miles. It wasn’t a huge change in pace, but it was abrupt enough that it seemed to be a strategic move, and not increasing fatigue. As the other two of us bunched up on his shoulder, I hesitated. It seemed he wanted one of the two of us to take the lead so he could rest up for a final sprint. I didn’t want to play into his hands, but I also felt like this might be an opportunity. An attack can seem more decisive if made after slowing first than off a near all-out pace to start with, since it can involve a greater change in pace. I made a split second decision, and decided to go.
For the next 30 seconds, I ran as fast as my legs would go. Unlike my earlier surge, this was the move to win or lose the race. If I didn’t drop them, or if they reeled me back in, I was toast. The idea with a move like this is to make it decisive enough that no one in their right mind would go with you, and they decide to race for 2nd. At this point we were all hurting bad, so I needed to convince them that either I was way better than them and could sustain this pace for ¾ of a mile to the finish, or that they would have to go through more pain than they were willing or able to in order go with me. I of course knew that I couldn’t sustain the pace, as I was hanging on for dear life just a few seconds earlier. I was just using my finishing kick now instead of later to try to psychologically break them.
I didn’t dare look back, as that was a sure giveaway that they could still take a run at me. However, I knew neither of them had covered the move, and I had opened up at least a little bit of a gap. Unfortunately we had an 180 degree turn up ahead. This was good because I could see where they were, but back because they could see I was dying. As I rounded the turn, I forced the most relaxed look I could on my face, and tried to control my flailing arms (like they couldn’t see my arms from the back). The gap wasn’t much – probably less than 20 meters separated the three of us.
I knew I couldn’t give them hope by letting myself inch back, so I just ran as hard as I could as I prayed for the finish line. My legs were dead, and felt fairly certain they would catch me. Finally I reached the previous mark where I had planned to make my move, so I knew I was close. No sign of footsteps yet… and then there was the finish. I crossed the line and I had done it. I staggered through the shoot and looked back as the next two guys finished just a few feet apart.
My third mile had been 5:05, with 31 seconds for the final .1 miles. My official time was 15:54, a fantastic time for me. Second and third were clocked with identical 16:02’s, so I actually opened up a comfortable margin in the last ¾ of a mile. All-in-all, a great race.
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unreal!
and 
