Sale Sizzler 5K

One month ago I attempted to go sub-19 at a 5k for the first time but fell short, ending up with a 19:03.

Last Thursday night I had another chance with the final Sale Sizzler of the summer.

Having had a cold all week and a fuzzy head all day I wasn't sure if I was in PB shape but my legs felt good during the warm up so I decided to go for it.

The plan was to stick to 6:10 pace as long as I could. If I could do 3 miles at this pace I would go sub 19 as the Garmin measures the course slightly short and I would speed up at the end.

During the first mile the lap pace often slipped towards 6:20 but some surges in the second half of the mile got the time down to 6:09. Step one complete.

One month ago I didn't manage to maintain the pace for the second mile but this time I felt stronger and mile 2 clocked by in 6:10.

However early on in mile 3 I glanced at my Garmin and the lap pace was saying 6:30 so I knew I needed to up the effort. Fortunately a lady then overtook me and I sped up to keep up with her and then overtake her back. This cycle repeated a few times and the frequent surging got my mile 3 time down to 6:11. This could be a lesson for the future. In flat races you are always using the same muscles so by speeding up for a few seconds you are breaking the monotony a bit for your legs.

After 3 miles it was back onto the track for the final 200 metres. I spotted a club mate ahead and managed to overtake him and sprint past a few more runners for a time of 18:52.

Eighteen months ago my 5K PB was about 21:15 so I am obviously happy with the progress. That will probably be my last fast 5K of the year so next summer I can target a sub 18:50.

Compared to the previous Sale Sizzler this one was much more fun. Although I was tired in the last mile I managed to dig deep and keep moving up the field. In an ideal world the tiredness of the final section of a race is balanced by the excitement of being near the end and that is what happened.

My half marathon and especially my marathon PBs are now slow compared to my 5K PB. Hopefully 8 more weeks of marathon training should help that!