
I was planning to run my virtual race on Saturday, the day after the media folks got together in Miami to run their race. The weather was bad, and we had a children’s birthday party to attend, so in the end it didn’t happen Saturday. Looking back, this was actually a good thing - it was after all just a day after my leg-heavy weight training session. And the requirements were to run sometime on the 22nd through the 24th, so I still had another day, Sunday. Sunday my mother flew in to visit, and the day proved busy, but around 4PM she, my wife, and the kids all laid down for a nap, and it had been at least 3 hours since my last insulin bolus, plus I was running a nice blood glucose, so the timing was right. Quietly, I suited up and headed out for my run with one goal in mind, 3 sub 8 minute miles, NO EXCUSES.
I finally saw my strength training and interval workouts pay off. I knew I could pull 3 sub 8’s, since recently I’ve been running periodically at that pace without feeling overexerted. I decided to run to the point that I felt my breathing become more intense - not out of breath, but certainly more than the relaxed breathing I’ve grown accustomed to. I gobbled up some carbs, as I wanted to avoid a low during my soon to be intense workout, avoiding having to stop for a gel mid-run, and this worked. I started out strong, I would end up increasing my pace throughout the run, but wanted to be sure I would not need to stop and rest. I felt great, and at one point a song came on that had the perfect tempo, forcing my turnover to quicken to keep pace with the beat - I can see this period in my data before mile 2, and looking back I wonder if I would have been even faster if I would have kept repeating the song… I felt as though I kept increasing my pace as I went on, getting more and more confident that I would finish this thing strongly. In actualitiy, I was lengthing my stride, but slowing my turnover, so I didn’t get the huge speed increase I thought I had, but hey, the numbers don’t lie - I had my best 5K race EVER. 22:50, about a 7:20 minute/mile pace. Great for me actually, and the time was a good 2 minutes better than my previous best, so I was pumped. Got out of the shower to a household now awake, and shared the good news with them. I feel like I’m faster these days, don’t get me wrong, there is no way I could have maintained that pace for a 10K, or even a 5.5K, I gave it everything I had, but I certainly see improvement, and can call it a sucessful day just knowing that.
Thanks again to Marcus for putting on the race - I look forward to another one in the future!
PR’d,
Jamie, The Diabetic Runner



2 people have commented on this post
Great time! Oh to be young again!
I am striving for a 9:30 mile, so you are an inspiration to me!
BTW - I am well on my way to the 1,000 mile goal this year!
Charlie (Q2)
Congrats on the great run and the progress you are making. Keep up the great work.
Post your comment