Mallory Park 5k - Rust Buster

OK so today was the secret squirrel race in the diary. The Mallory Park 5k. Last October the times where off the charts so even though I am only 5 weeks back from injury I had secretly hoped to be pretty decent today.

Decent cut back week (after 4 solid weeks) and the legs felt pretty good.

Mallory is not accurate on the GPS - everyone comes up well long on the Garmin so to avoid getting down on myself I had decided to pace by power and ignore time and average pace settings.

Power wise Bedford was 338w avge for 16.29 and London was 328w for 17.09. Recent training indicated 335w was probably likely for average so if it's a quick day it'll be good, if it's a bad day it should still be reasonable. I was hoping to go sub 17 (obviously lol) but 17.15 should be solid enough. 

I set power targets as incrementing each mile from 330w -> 340w -> 350w (if I can hold it). I knew 330w was comfortable enough but 340 upwards was hard work off current training. I really didn't want top blow up lol

My big concern was being off the back on lap one. I knew I would catch fast starters but boy I was in for a shock.

So the race. Arrive, warm up, catch up with a few people. I'm going to run bang on the inside to make the race as short as possible so I start at the back of the wave (of 30) and I'm 3 secs after the first starters according to the chip.

Mile 1

Fuck me, I am 30m down on the first bend. Power is around 360w and the entire wave is disappearing up the road. A quarter of the lap in I am laughably so far behind the next runner you wouldn't believe we were in the same race. Keep some discipline with power! It's 340-350w so I just try and relax and keep the faith that it's the correct way to run.

The lap counter is about 100m short of the start line and 200m short of the mile. It's basically checking everyone is doing the correct amount of laps but handily gives a reading on everyone's splits.  I am through in 4.48. Next slowest is 4.33 and Oli from Hunts AC is leading in 4.09.

Average power is 347w BUT does feel like I can lift it for a lap. Garmin mile was 5.33

Mile 2

Once it beeps I lift the effort. The front of the field seem like they're already finished and having a shower. But I can start to see some stragglers. Focus on keeping the power right but it's still too high BUT I know I am increasing effort. Stay relaxed and I'm working. Pass the lap counter. This time I am 5.18 (so first lap plus the extra distance which is very slightly faster overall). I was 26th on lap 1, I'm still dead last but I've moved up a few spots on the lap time of 5.18.

Average power is 351w. Man I feel rusty, not sure I can go harder for the final lap. Garmin time is 5.34. Consistent but I guess running solo and further behind the main group than lap 1 means it's been harder and I've had zero draft.

Mile 3

OK lets try and up it. Fells good to be in the last mile anyway. I know it's not been pretty but execution has been spot on so far. Plan A was do not explode!

Start to pass people laying in the grass. Looking at early paces people have been running well under 5 min mile pace and fried themselves. Catch my first straggler half way down the first straight and it's a night and day pass so no draft. Catch 2 more on the bottom bend and then one in front responds before I catch so I have a small draft. See power at 400w on the incline - jesus that's interval effort.

On the lap marker I am 5.21 so 3 secs slower than previous lap but I dig in pretty hard from here to gap the guy and finish the mile stronger.

Average power is 359w. Garmin pace is 5:25

The extra bit

So go pretty hard to the finish. 369w for 4:45 pace

The outcome

17.25 for the race. I'm not going to argue the Garmin distance, it's a measured course ffs ! Time wise, it's not the best lets be honest. Can't really argue with the power though - I aimed to run 330/340/350w and I ran 347/351/359w so progressive effort. Average pace was 5.30/mm so a good solid workout at this stage.

If I had stuck in the group at the start I reckon I would have run slightly faster as the draft would have carried me around further for less effort but no doubt I would have exploded on the last lap. I really wanted to run strong through the race and although the splits were pretty consistent the effort increased significantly.

I'm not panicking by any means. I opened up with a road 5k of 17.02 after I had run 4.28 last season. I was definitely rusty today and I think a really long effort is going to help next time.