5k track race - 17:48

I race in the 17:30-18:00 wave of the MxK Distance Trial last Sunday December 27.  

I pride myself on not dwelling on my race records, but recently I stress that my race times (Litchfield, Brooklyn, Tsukuba, Fuji-Susono) do not reflect my training times.  I clock an 18:03 at a team time trial in late October on a very crowded track and then pull out of another 5k time trial because of concerns about calf strain.  

Per my my recent post on training - I have been focused on shorter distances particularly the 5k, and am determined to at least break 18 minutes.  

You can see from my splits though, that despite all my zeal going into this event,  I did not  start fast at all - my first kilometer is slower than goal pace -- I had assumed everyone would burst out too fast and when gun goes off I immediately drop to very last place in my wave and I only catch the big 18-minute pacer pack at 800-meters. 

I remain locked into this pack of a dozen runners tucked tightly behind the 18-minute pace guy, and even though I am almost clipping the heels of the runner in front of me, I just can’t summon the willpower to break around the big group into the no-man’s land ahead.  

That is until the final 500 meters when I do finally break out and unleash a ridiculously fast kick and end up with a time of 17:47.9 - my fastest time since July of 2016.  

I am relieved to have finally broken 18-minutes again, and enjoy the atmosphere and camaraderie of a doing a real race.  Now after the exhaustion and memory of Sunday effort starts to pass, I start wondering if I might be able to run with the 3:45 pace group in an upcoming MK event?

Meditation Apps for Endurance Athletes

For years I have heard the virtues of meditation, but like most people, my attempts at meditation have been limited to focusing on a few breaths before my mind drifts off.

This year the pandemic spurs me to try out a meditation app - similar to the impetus to finally get Zwift software for cycling in my apartment.

Each and every day for the last 6 months I have devoted 10 minutes to guided meditation and while I am reluctant to say meditation apps will work for everyone, for me it is been highly worthwhile - I benefit from being prompted and reminded throughout the ten minute sessions (even though it is basically the same every day and I’ve largely memorized the basic steps).    

I checked out  the 7 day free trials on several of the most highly rated apps:

The Mindfulness App - Widest variety of meditations including a good body scan session and a fine coffee drinking meditation which definitely helped me savor my morning coffee

10% Happier - My favorite basic meditation and commentary on meditation.  

Calm - True to its name, Calm has lots of soothing music and relaxing visuals and tranquilizing meditations to help facilitate falling asleep 

Headspace - Ultimately I subscribed to Headspace because of its several sports specific sessions, particularly: 

- The ten x 10-minute “Sports Performance pack” where the idea is to let go of thinking and tap into a feeling of flow.   The meditation does help me focus a bit more on the moment during sports activities and gives me a mechanism to help shift away from negative thinking during hard sessions (like how tired I am and how much distance is left).   

- The “Sports Recovery pack” has me envision beams of liquid sunlight melting away muscle tension and discomfort after training, and does leave me feeling better recovered from training sessions.  

I'm not anticipating any direct improvement in my race times, but acquiring the meditation apps seems to have triggered a constructive daily habit and has been another silver lining of 2020.