Race report: Loudoun Street Mile, May 27, 2019

I ran the Loudoun Street Mile today, finishing in 5:37.  [well....5:37.7 to be exact, but I'm rounding down]

I wasn't quite sure what I was going to run today, but had hoped to be much closer to 5:30, if not under it.  My PR is 5:25, from this race two years ago.  

I had most recently run 5:36 at the Fifth Avenue Mile last fall, but that was during a gap period between two marathon cycles, when I wasn't in my best shape (and it was also wet that day).   I'm not really focused on mile racing right now, but I don't have marathon legs either, so I expected better.

***

I've done this race enough to have the routine dialed down - allow 80 minutes to get to Winchester from Arlington, and then park on Cameron Street right by the finish line and bib pick-up.  I left home at 5:50 am, which was just right.

After grabbing my bib, I changed into my mile racing flats (I always prefer to warm up in them, rather than change right before the race) and jogged to the start.  I went with my normal short race warm-up - 3.5 miles, including two very hard segments of about 70 seconds each to get my heart rate up (finishing about 20 minutes before).  Then drills, strides, and jogging until we had to line up.

This race pays masters prize money, so I knew there would be some solid competition.  And sure enough, two other masters women - Jackie and Alisa - showed up.  Both are very good and specialists at this shorter distance.  Alisa is a living legend with gold (1500) and silver (800) medals from the 1981 Pan-Am games.  Jackie is a lightning bolt, just a year younger than me.  

At their best, I couldn't hold a candle to either of them.  However, Alisa is now a grand-masters runner, and Jackie was just coming off of the Boston Marathon.  I hoped that under those circumstances that I could eke out a masters win if I ran a smart hard race.

***

We lined up, and after the magic words "on your mark" the starter pulled the trigger.  But....the gun didn't fire.  Just like the last time I ran this race...

After about 30 seconds, he had the gun set for try two, and this time it fired.

My plan was not to go out crazy hard, but to keep Jackie and Alisa in sight if I could, with hopes of powering up to and past them during the second half.  However a pack of women, including Jackie, exploded and were nearly out of sight by the end of the first quarter (downhill).  Well...there went that plan.  

I shifted to racing those around me - as always happens, a pack of high school girls came back to me during the second uphill quarter.  And...there were a few women from GRC (another DC team) that looked like I could reel them in, plus some others.  So....I had people to chase.  I couldn't see Alisa, which probably meant she was right on my heels.

Unfortunately, I was also already heavy in oxygen debt well before the half-way point.  Not good for that early in the race.  I also just didn't feel smooth or bouncy.  I'm not a terribly bouncy runner (good for the longer distances), but I do usually have a bit of spark when racing the mile.  Not today.  I felt clunky.

But it was what I had to work with, so I did.  I was not able to power though the second 800 like I had planned to, but I fought a good fight - nobody passed me after the first quarter mile, and I passed a few others, including one of the GRC girls.  

I gritted my teeth and tried to kick in the last 200, but just didn't have anything - I was borderline tying up.  As I approached the finish, I noted it ticking over 5:30, which was disappointing, but oh well.  At least I had fought hard.

My splits (taken via autolap on Garmin) were 79/88/86/84.  This race is basically downhill; uphill; uphill then downhill; and flat for the four quarters, so my pacing isn't quite as bad as it looks at first.  But I still was just hanging on for the second 800.  

I ended up 14th female over all, and second master female.  Jackie ended up beating me by at least 20 seconds, so her marathon legs weren't enough to balance the difference; Alisa hung behind me for third master.

I'm not terribly happy with this race.  OTOH, I have all summer to work at and improve at this distance after the Garry Bjorklund Half.  

*** 

I keep thinking that at least part of the problem today was that I just wasn't running like a miler - my coach took some pictures of me at the halfway point, and I looked like I could have been racing a 10 miler or longer.  No knee lift or power, all long-low-efficient-glide.

Photo by George Buckheit; 

my fault for being in the shadows.

And I look exactly like this in 

a half-marathon.

So...I think that with some more work at this distance, things will improve rapidly.  This isn't a fitness issue or an execution issue (though I did go out a bit fast); it's a neuro-muscular coordination issue.   I need to relearn how to get up on my forefoot.   I don't do that for longer races because it is inefficient and slows me down, but it's how I run my fastest mile.

The good news is that running this race (and especially hanging on the way I did in the second half) should help me be more aggressive in my future 5Ks, and hopefully move the needle towards a 5K PR.

Other notes:

• Weather conditions were a temp of 73 and a dew point of 66 - not ideal for longer races, but great for a road mile, where I prefer it to be at least 65 degrees.  I did notice a mild headwind for the race - but it was more of an annoyance than a real factor.
• Pollen was high, and my throat was pretty tight - again, not something that would be a factor in a mile, but might have affected a longer race. 
• I wonder if I screwed up a little in the days before the race.  I swam and pool-ran the day before, rather than do a shake-out jog, because I wanted to avoid running 4 days in a row.  Perhaps I would have been sharper with the shakeout jog.  I also did 3200, 1600 on the Friday before.  I did the same exact thing before this race two years ago when I PR'd, but...it was less humid then, and perhaps two years of age does make a difference.  All food for thought.
• And...once again my heart rate stayed low for this race - maxing out at 176, while I hit 180 at the end of my marathons.  I don't think this is a lack of toughness thing - otherwise how could I hit 180 at the end of a marathon?  Just a weird physiology thing for me - no matter how well warmed up I am, my heart rate is very slow to rise when I'm running if I start from a stand-still.  Which is probably why I like to ease into my longer races, and also why workouts feel much easier on my body when I jog the recoveries and don't pause before the next interval.
• Wore my now-ancient Takumi Sens, which carried me to both my mile and 5K PRs.  I love this shoe, and it frustrates me that I haven't found a good replacement yet - the newer Takumi Sens just aren't quite as stiff or bouncy.
• Saw a few people wearing Vaporflys for this race, which amused me as always.  The Vaporfly is a great longer distance shoe (though not magic).  But it's an awful shoe for a road mile, even one with no turns.