Some running God made me click on www.hkaaa.com to check if I was successfully enrolled in the track meeting due on June 4-5...
to my sleepy eyes, it took a while to realize that I was not only enrolled, but also scheduled to race on that same day 27th due to a change of calendar...
Being after a couple of hard session, I was not really sharp for a 5000m track race, but nonetheless I had to run in order to mark a presence in the series and eventually be able to race the finals in November...
Fast forward 14 hours later, I am eventually able to leave the office at 19.15 and show up at the Stadium in suit and tie with a sport bag in tow...
Being 26C/80%rh the warm-up did not take long and I find myself on the start line, together with other 30 runner whose average age was half mine... (I do not know why, but these track meeting looks like taboo to over 23...).
Honestly I felt dreadful, and my race plan was to stick to 3'20" pace until I could keep it and maybe increase a bit on the finale...
Until 3k I was more or less there and incredibly I was also near the race leader (yes... this meeting was really low level...). Then I felt my total lack of specific training... I was not really hurting, but simply my pace was slipping from 1'20"/lap to 1'22" or more...
Better said... I was NOT able to hurt...my engine had a kind of rpm limiter...
For the last 3 laps I tagged a boy (whom I know is 15yo...) and then just unleashed a kick to outsprint him for the 4th place overall in 17'00"...
Regardless of the time and placement, I was quite satisfied that I did not have any tightness or soreness in hamstrings, calves, abductors, whatever...
last season usually after every track session I was tight everywhere... so is a sign that all the stretching and ancillary exercises are working...
MORALE: if you enroll in race, check the calendar
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| The race venue... appreciate the typical HK-downtown landscape... high-rises |
2 comments:
Roberto my first race after the London marathon was very painful!
I did a 15 K a week later and my effort felt like 5k pace yet I was only running at Marathon Pace!
It will take time to recover but I can see you run a 15 something 5k when your fully recovered!
well, you know, what was quite interesting was that I felt not really pushing hard, breath was not even heavy, etc... but simply I could not go any faster.
Anyway for us here the real racing season is 4 months away, so plenty of time
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