OldXCguy,

Way to go! It sounds like you ran a really hard race. Congrats on that. It is really tough to push through the pain when you are that close to your goal. Keep up the good work keeping dropping those PR's. So what is your next goal now?

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Jim and XC, those are great efforts!

Matador, congratulations on your sub-20!  MaineRunner, Jason, JimR, thanks so much for your kind words.  It was indeed gratifying to break through, especially since I had been trying for five years.  (Last time below 20 prior to last spring was 2002.)

Jason, surprisingly, the effort wasn't all that tough. I felt like I was going at a strong, controlled pace through the first couple of miles. I tried to focus on form, breathing, and staying relaxed. I wasn't thinking much about time, more about trying to catch people in front of me. Fortunately for me, every time I passed someone, there was someone else just ahead, and I believe that was instrumental in my running a (relatively) fast time. At around two miles, some guy I was passing started talking to me, saying, "Come on, we can break 19" (we couldn't), and stuff like that. I said to him, "Stay with me. I feel great." The only place that the effort felt really tough was in the last half mile or so, when I thought the sub-20 was in doubt and I pushed pretty hard.

I think we need to renew our discussion about properly pacing a 5K, because we neglected to include the annoying (and I believe unfair) Short Course Prevention Factor.  I'll save that for another time.

Scott, you're right, this is a great thread!  Welcome aboard, and good luck to you.  Keep us posted on your progress.

quote:

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Originally posted by JasonsDrivingForce:

I My last quarter of a mile time was almost 30 seconds faster with the stroller than it was without.

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Sorry for the thread drift, but this reminded me of something. There is a lady who recently moved away who was an active local runner. More often than not she ran with her double stroller with twin toddlers. She ran 5K right at 20 minutes and 8K at 33 minutes with these kids, frequently beating me by 10-15 seconds so I got to see her run quite a bit. But she was really no faster when she ran without them. I was talking to her about it one day and she said that, on a smooth road course , flat or with only gentle hills, she was actually faster pushing the stroller. This held true for her in distances up to 10K.

In fact, the times I was able to beat her was when she ran without the stroller.  Maybe part of that was I never wanted to be seen as the a--hole at the finish outsprinting the lady pushing her kids.

quote:

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Originally posted by TomThumbs:

Sorry for the thread drift, but this reminded me of something. There is a lady who recently moved away who was an active local runner. More often than not she ran with her double stroller with twin toddlers. She ran 5K right at 20 minutes and 8K at 33 minutes with these kids, frequently beating me by 10-15 seconds so I got to see her run quite a bit. But she was really no faster when she ran without them. I was talking to her about it one day and she said that, on a smooth road course , flat or with only gentle hills, she was actually faster pushing the stroller. This held true for her in distances up to 10K.

In fact, the times I was able to beat her was when she ran without the stroller. Maybe part of that was I never wanted to be seen as the a--hole at the finish outsprinting the lady pushing her kids.

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The trick is to smile and wave at the kids in the stroller as you pass by her in the finishing stretch.  If possible, handout Halloween candy as well.

Yea, I had a free pass one my race two weeks ago. I beat a local(Very Fast) 14 year old by 20 seconds. I blew by him in the last tenth like I was being chased by O.J.. I didn’t feel so bad because I was pushing the stroller.

Last week was a different story. He beat me by 50 seconds on that hilly course. I just didn’t have it in me that week. Oh well, now the 14 year old is only about 5 seconds behind me in the series race we run in. I congratulate him after every race but next week he is going down! Just kidding! A little friendly competition never hurts. I just never thought I would be competing(trailing, actually) someone who is less than half my age!


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This is a great thread and interesting to read.

When should we start the 2008 version? I've just commenced my base training for a series of Spring 2008 races and reckon others may be in the same boat?