Keep Rollin'......the quest of a Grand Masters athlete to run fast after 50: Charlie Williamson Memorial 5k

This past weekend I headed over to Glade Springs Resort in Daniels, WV, for the Charlie Williamson Memorial 5k. I’d never been to Glade Springs Resort before, but knowing the area quite well, I had a feeling heading into the race that it could be hilly. Add in the fact that I was training through the race and in the midst of some pretty solid mileage and workouts, and I knew I could be in for a rough day. There was $100 on the line for the overall winner though, so I figured it was at least worth a shot.

The event also had a 10k, and my friend Jason Pyles would be running it. He and I had e-mailed back and forth several times during the week, and we met up before the race to warm up over the course. Twenty minutes later, we both had confirmation that this wasn’t a fast course. It was chock full of long, gradual ups and downs that would prove challenging to run quickly. On the upside, it was a beautiful morning for a race with clear skies, low humidity, and pretty close to perfect temps. After training in sauna-like conditions all summer long, it almost felt like there was a chill to the air. The resort itself made for a pretty setting for a race as well.

After the national anthem and a prayer, we lined up at 9:00AM, ready to roll. I’d felt decent on the warm-up, but I could tell my legs were a little on the tired and heavy side, so between that and the course, I didn’t want to be too aggressive. Jason had told me his plan was to run around 5:10 pace, so I knew I wouldn’t be hanging with him, but I could definitely use him to key off for as long as I could keep him in sight.

The gun fired, and aside from some dude that made a wild sideways move to jump out from behind me and Jason and take off sprinting for about 100 meters, Jason and I quickly moved to the front and began to pull away. Within a quarter of a mile, Jason had put 20 meters or so on me as we ran a gradual downhill to start the race. Shortly thereafter the gap between us stabilized, and we maintained about the same distance apart through the mile. I was feeling decent at this point and even thinking that I wished I’d gone with Jason and at least run the first mile with him. There was a pretty good climb leading up to the mile, however, and I definitely felt it. That was followed by another good climb, and that’s where I began to fade. Jason started to pull away significantly, and I had gone from feeling decent to feeling rough in a matter of about 60 seconds.

Around the halfway mark there was a 90 degree turn, and I used that as a chance to take a look back and check on my competition. I could see a pretty good ways back and there wasn’t anyone in sight, so I adjusted my effort downward a little, knowing that I had the win wrapped up as long as I didn’t do anything stupid and fail to finish. The rest of the race wasn’t exactly fun the way I was feeling, but the effort was controlled enough that it wasn’t that bad. As I approached the finish line I saw Jason heading out for loop number two, which was a reverse of the first loop, so I gave him a thumbs up, said a word of encouragement, then quickly made the turn towards the finish. As I rounded the corner, I could see the clock was still in the 16’s but quickly approaching 17, so I tried to change gears and mount a decent finish. I think I did an ok job of kicking to the line, but it was too late to salvage a sub-17. I crossed the line with 17:02 on my watch but was given 17:05 in the official results. Still not sure why such a difference, but oh well. I immediately wished I’d leaned on it a little harder in the second half of the race, as I would have definitely been under 17 if I had, but that’s the way it goes in distance running. In general, you get what you put in, and I hadn’t put in enough. Still, it was my fastest time of the year, and as sad as it might be, my second fastest since starting back to running after missing most all of 2010 with my foot injury. Considering the course, that’s at least somewhat encouraging.

After the race I was interviewed by the local paper and photographed about 100 times it seemed like then set out for my cooldown. I did a couple miles on my own at a quicker pace, then joined Jason and several others for three more really easy miles. After the race, they had a podium for us to stand on to receive our awards (just like the Olympics – lol) and a decent spread of food and beverages as well. Altogether it was a fun day and a good event, but I left with a couple negatives. First, I should have pushed harder and run a little faster. However, that leads to my second regret. Running basically 17 flat was NOT easy. I backed the effort down not just because I could but because I was hurting. Races should hurt, and I understand that. It’s just the pace I was going shouldn’t have felt as hard as it did, hills or not. I still seem to have a block on running under 5:30 pace, and if I’m going to run well at distances 10k and under ever again, I’ve got to figure out a way to overcome that. I’ve got some ideas along those lines, and a plan has been put in motion, but only time will tell what the results will be. More to come.

Below are a few pics (click to enlarge):