Going to the Well

In the course of running my last 5K in York, I found myself in a quandary relating to how much effort I wanted to exert for the race.  During the first mile of a race I am focused on both managing my adrenaline and compiling a personal assessment relating to how fluid I feel for the day.  Do I have any lingering muscle ailments ?  Am I comfortable with the energy being expended for the distance I have completed. ?  How am I faring in relation to the others around myself ?

I ran the first mile at the Quarterback Club of York 5K at a moderate pace. There was a clock at the one mile mark and it read 7:00 minutes as I passed. So far so good.   I felt if I could sustain the comfortable pace I had set for the first mile I would have a good run for the day.

Although the hill from the 1 to 1.2 mile point did not present a problem at the time, my quarter mile split time associated with this section of the course indicated I had struggled with the ascent.  I did not feel beaten by the hill because it appears I had not attacked it very hard.  After I climbed the hill, I spent a fair amount of time trying to recover from the extra energy expended from the climb.

It was at this point in the race I knew I had to physically shift gears into a higher intensity level to achieve a personal record.  As fate would have it, I didn't want to put myself into the next level of exertion (i.e. pain) to achieve a better finish.  I chose to place a premium on enjoying the run.  I chose to not 'go to the well.'

I believe I need to begin a strength training program this winter in an effort to build my core and leg muscles to enable myself to tackle hills within a course.  Running hills within a race is definitely a personal weakness i need to address.  My legs have become stronger this year, but I need to appreciably build my leg strength.