I've been doing some nice shorter distance racing towards the end of spring/beginning of summer. Things have been going really well and I feel like I have gotten a lot more efficient at running faster. I've hit some PRs this spring, so far in the mile, 5K, and my coach and I agree that Cherry Blossom would have been, but the course got changed and therefore is an unknown(even though they re-measured it again and again-at first saying it was 9.54, then making it 9.39. You just don't know what the result for 10 miles really would have been(they have me at 50:56 extrapolated). What we do know is that I competed very well in that race(#20, 12th American). Kieran O'Connor, one of the top runners in the area(and a sub 1:06 half marathoner), beat me last year by nearly 30 seconds, in 50:30. This year, I surprisingly beat him by nearly a full minute, however I later learned that he had a tough time since his shoe came untied during the race. Interestingly, last year, I was 5 minutes and 28 seconds behind winner Stephen Sambu(he ran 45:29 and I ran 50:57). This year, I was 4 minutes and 28 seconds behind the repeat champion, exactly 1 minute closer to him. Stephen certainly ran slower than last year, and the distance was slightly shorter, but I'll never really know what these times mean, just that maybe, just maybe, I have gotten a bit closer to these world class guys, and clawing my way closer to the top American guys. I also believe Jacob Riley would have gotten Greg Meyer's 46:13 American record. It was impossible for the Cherry Blossom race organizers to do so, however. Again, you just don't know-it wasn't the full 10 mile distance and it was a different course. I give Cherry Blossom's crew a huge applause for keeping the race going, I was amazed they were able to do so given the circumstances. There were some very good athletes in this race. Jared Ward, the 2015 US Marathon Champion, placed 10th, and Luke Puskedra(1:01 half marathoner) out of Eugene, Oregon, was 12th.
Top 25 Results:
1 STEPHEN SAMBU 43:20 KEN
2 JACOB RILEY 43:28 ROCHESTER, MI
3 ELISHA BARNO 43:31 KEN
4 DANIEL SALEL 43:34 KEN
5 GIRMA MESCHESO 43:43 WEST CHESTER, PA
6 DOMINIC ONDORO 43:53 KEN
7 PHILIP LANGAT 43:53 KEN
8 LEONARD KORIR 44:00 KEN
9 MOURAD MAROFIT 44:05 MAR
10 JARED WARD 44:20 PROVO, UT
11 DERIBA YIGEZU 45:11 ETH
12 LUKE PUSKEDRA 45:25 EUGENE, OR
13 CHRIS KWIATKOWSKI 45:43 ARLINGTON, VA
14 JOSH DEDERING 46:02 MINNEAPOLIS, MN
15 BRIAN HARVEY 46:28 BOSTON, MA
16 MATT SONNENFELDT 46:38 JOHNSON CITY, TN
17 ANDREW BRODEUR 47:01 BETHESDA, MD
18 TYLER ANDREWS 47:04 ARLINGTON, VA
19 MATTHEW BOUMEESTER 47:13 SAINT PAUL, MN
20 CHRISTOPHER SLOANE 47:48 GAITHERSBURG, MD
21 BRIAN FULLER 48:02 CAMP HILL, PA
22 KIERAN O'CONNOR 48:35 ARLINGTON, VA
23 JERRY GREENLAW 48:37 ARLINGTON, VA
24 MATT DETERS 48:47 ARLINGTON, VA
25 PAUL BALMER 48:58 WASHINGTON, DC
May 11 - May 17
On Monday, May 11, I competed in the Swarthmore track meet 5,000m. There were 3 heats of 25 runners in each heat, and I was in heat 1. I placed 7th overall in a new personal best of 14:49. My splits were pretty even(4:42, 9:25). My friend Ashwin took some really cool photos and I will post soon.
The rest of that week was just general distance running and then a short workout on Saturday, May 16. The goal was to start working on switching gears. I did a 2400m, running the first 1,000m in 3:10(5:05 mile pace), and then I did the last 1400m in 4:05(4:40 mile pace), to finish the 2400m in 7:15.
71 miles for the week.
May 18 - May 24
5/18: 3200m of 50m on/off: 10:10 total time. I've gotten much better at these. What used to be my best 2 mile in high school is now a moderate workout that is small compared to the rest of the week.
5/19: 3 x 1600m: 4:47, 4:48, 4:49, w/ 1 lap jog between each interval
5/20: 15 miles 6:30 pace
5/21: 3 x 400m: 62, 63, 64
66 Miles for the week.
May 25 - May 31
On Monday, May 25, I raced the Loudoun Street Mile in a new PR of 4:21. This will really help the slower paces feel a lot slower, and was good to work on my running efficiency. I placed 8th.
On May 28 I did a 3 mile tempo run on the track in 15:05.
On May 30 I did a pace changing workout again. The goal was to switch from running 5:00 pace to 4;30 pace. Splits below:
3 x 1600m, w/ 800m splits below:
2:30, 2:16
2:30, 2:16
2;30, 2:18
80 Miles for the week.
On Monday, June 1, I did 3200m of 50s again(10:15 total time).
On Tuesday, June 2, I did a ladder workout @ 4:46 pace:
1200m: 3:34
1600m: 4:46
2000m: 5:59
Wednesday, June 3 I got in 16 miles in the morning, followed by another 3 miles in the evening. My mileage should be higher this week, and it is gradually climbing up over the summer.
My next race will be the Lawyers Have Heart 10K on June 13.
