Baby Steps

I had another solid race last night, with another PB.  But if you were to tell me I would end up with a PB before the race, I would have expected something a little faster.  I was trying to finally break through this 3:58 barrier, and through 1200m I was on 3:55 pace.  In my last 1500m, I came through 1200m at 3:11 and closed in 47.  Yesterday we had some great pacers that brought the entire field through in sub-2:06 with me near the back at 2:05.  I reached the 1200 mark watching the clock turn from 3:07 to 3:08, and knew I was in good shape.  But I lost my legs over the last 300m and closed in 50 to run 3:58.25.  It's 0.02 seconds faster than I ran last time, so I suppose I can't be too disappointed because after all, a PB is a PB.  One of the upsides of yesterday was the fact that I actually managed to split 3:08 in a race.  Now the only thing missing is that extra gear to close in 46-47, which would produce a 3:54-5.  Another upside was that my training buddy Phil (a Junior stud on the Ontario High School circuit) also managed to dip under the 4 minute mark last night, so we're definitely on the right track.  He's been dropping big times all over the place, and it was just a matter of time before he broke 4.  Actually, the funny thing about last night was that he wasn't even supposed to run the 1500.  He was entered in the 800 earlier in the night, but he arrived so late that the race was already over by the time he got to the track.  He always manages to find a way to be late for everything, but I guess this time it was worth it as he came home with another big PB.  I'll be running a 3000m in London on the 6th, where I will be looking to get under that 8:42 mark I set last year.  Also, despite getting a PB, I'm still a little annoyed that I couldn't hang on last night so I may just end up going for 3:55 one last time after my 3000m.  It's getting a little late in the season, but when you're fit, you have to race.  It's as simple as that.  After all, almost all of the great world records were set when guys threw themselves into fast races sometimes only a few days apart, until one day it all came together.  Look at David Rudisha's stretch of great runs last year.  He ran 12 800's during his season, and 4 of them were run in a span of 14 days (2 of which happened to be world records).  Now it's my turn to go after a few more big times.  I'll be back with an update of London next week and a definite plan for the end of the season.

P.S. Gotta give a Happy 144th Birthday shout out to Canada!

Change of Plans

This past weekend went well at 1500m night.  As expected, there were a few big breakthroughs for a handful of guys and girls this year.  Among the notables, Rob Denault managed to run 3:45 mostly on his own, and a bunch of the other high schoolers got down into the low 3:50 range.  I came in with a 3:58.72 PB, and left with a PB of 3:58.27.  We had a pacer who led us through 800 in 2:07, which was a little slow considering we were 28 at the 200 and 61 at the 400, but nonetheless it was good to get someone else to run up front and let me tuck in behind.  I was hoping that I would end up in the 3:56 range, as I am certain that my fitness is way ahead of last year, but at the same time a PB is a PB, and I can't complain about that.  But, my coach and I have decided to change things up a bit.  Originally, the plan was to try and hit the 5000 A standard, and try to snag a ticket to Pan Am Juniors at nationals, however being 31 seconds off the standard with only 2 more weeks left in the qualifying period makes it a little improbable, but not impossible.  Additionally, the 1500m specific work that we've been doing over the past few weeks is another reason to scrap the old plan and go hunting for some PBs. We're aiming at a 1500m on the 30th, a 3000m on the 6th of July, and another 1500m to close out the season on the 13th.  None of this is set in stone quite yet, and it may turn out that I can't even get into a few of these races, but that's the plan.  I also have a series of ball-buster workouts on the horizon, so that should give me a real good idea of how the next few weeks will turn out.  I should probably get back to studying. I have 3 more exams left, and I can't wait to scribble correct answers all over them!

I've been taking some tips from Mr. Bean, I should be fine!

P.S. The video of my 3:58 in London can be found by clicking here

Searching for a PB

Sorry for taking so long to get blogging about Ofsaa, but I have been loaded with schoolwork that I've missed out on while in Sudbury.  It was another great year for Ofsaa, with a great 3 days of racing, but this year Ofsaa wasn't as nice to me.  The past 3 years, Ofsaa gave me a few sweet PB's, but my luck ran out this year.  I ran 8:51 for 15th place, but I was completely out of the race by the time we passed 1km.  The first lap went out in 63, I came through near the back in 66, and the pace continued at that pace for a few more laps.  I went through 1km at 2:48, well back of the contenders.  I was hoping for a top 8 finish, and looking at the results, my grade 11 time would have put me in 9th, so there really was no excuse for not being up there, I just simply didn't have it that day.  And my 3000 race result wasn't the only thing I overestimated that day.  As soon as the meet ended, I jumped on the school bus to head back to civilization, and we stopped in at McDonald's halfway back.  I was pretty hungry, and I was just thinking about how nice a couple burgers would taste.  One of my buddies next to me said he was going to go for 6 burgers, and I thought this was my time to beat someone at something on this trip.  I sucked at Ofsaa, and this was my one chance at success.  But I was wrong.  I ordered 4 burgers, a drink, and 3 fries, but after getting through half my meal, I was already auctioning off my final burger and the rest of my fries.  It really wasn't my day.  And don't expect to see me at another McDonald's for a long time.  Anyways, it's good to be back at home, to give myself a chance at a few fast 1500's this upcoming week.  I'll be running on the weekend, as well as the 18th (1500m Night), and I need a PB!  And I also need to get back to school and hand in my English project!  Goodbye for now!

8:45.34

My first outdoor race of the 2011 season is officially in the books, and I am looking forward to what the rest of the year has in store for me.  I ran the Nike Invitational 3k in 8:45 today, and I have to say that I am pleased with the time, without being ecstatic.  I'm sure it was a great race to watch, as there was a pack of 8 or so, running right around 8:32-8:36.  Through 2k, it was more like a pack of 15 with myself included, but I wasn't able to respond when they decided to ramp things up.  I believe my last km was 2:56 or so, while they ran around 2:44-2:48 leaving me in their dust.  However, there were some upsides to my run today, as I ran 15 seconds quicker than I did in the same race 1 year ago and came within 4 seconds of a new Personal Best.  Also, being able to comfortably stick with the leaders through 2k gave me a little more confidence in my strength, and has already got me thinking about how I'm going to close that gap in the last kilometer, in order to truly compete with some of the fastest high school runners in Canada.  It's only about 4 more weeks until OFSAA which will be one of my big focus races this year, so the plan is basically to run one race each week until the beginning of June. This will give me a few more opportunities to race well and work on changing gears in the later parts of the race, as well as running a few more quick times.  I will be running next on May 11th-12th, and hopefully I come home with something worth blogging about.