Of all the personal bests I’m chasing in my 2018 Year of the PBs, the 5km is perhaps the one intimidates me most. To run a 17:37 requires full throttle effort from start to finish. There’s no easing into the race, there’s no respite at the end. It’s 3.1 miles of foot to the floor guts and determination. And frankly that’s a type of running pain I’m not entirely used to. However, I’ve been running well in recent months so when I got the chance to join a team for the 5k Simply Health Great Team Relay I thought it was worth a shot.
I wasn’t expecting The Great Team Relay to be quite such a big event. With 500 teams and 2,000 runners turning up to test themselves over a course that start and finishes in the Olympic Stadium, it’s a popular event. And it’s not hard to see why. There was a cracking atmosphere inside the stadium with a DJ knocking out back-to-back 80s power songs and some excellent commentary as runners left and the re-entered the stadium to finish the 5km on the track.
The team dynamic meant there were runners of all abilities and the camaraderie within and between the teams was fantastic. I went out fourth, bringing home the last leg for our team on what was a sticky humid night in east London. I’m as new to the relay as I am the 5k and I found the wait pretty tense. I think I warmed up about six times in the 60 minutes I was waiting and by the time it was my turn to run I was already sweating in the holding area with a heart rate pumping a little higher than I would have liked. Still when our third runner finally came into the stadium and eventually thrusted the baton my way it was a huge relief to finally be moving. That relief didn’t last too long.
As ever, I went into my leg putting pressure on myself with big expectations but when it felt like forever for the first kilometre marker to arrive, I immediately knew that this might not be my night. I needed to clock an average 5:40 pace for each of the miles to hit the PB and by mile one I was 9 seconds down and already blowing.
The first part of the 5km took us into the tunnels under the stadium where the team buses pull up to deliver Premier League players who come to take on West Ham United in the now-converted stadium. And this instantly wreaked havoc with my watch, knocking out my GPS and sending my pacing all over the shop. With the watch gone, I tried to learn from my recent experience running blind at the ASICS Blackout Track experiment and ran on feel. The only problem was that I felt pretty awful.
When it felt like forever for the first kilometre marker to arrive, I immediately knew that this might not be my night.
I needed something to hang on to, a reason to keep pushing and so I looked for a mini battle to fight during the run. I found two. First I decided to make sure that no one overtook me and then I started to chase down a runner I’d seen go out of the stadium a minute before me. The first bit was a success with only one person passing me shout as they sped past “Wow! Nike Vaporly Elites!”
The Year of the PBs is inspired by and powered with the Nike Vaporfly Elites
It was great to be back running in the Vaprofly Elites and yet again I found that when you’re running fast they perform brilliantly. I absolutely love the way they feel underfoot when your running hard and your form is good, but sadly the marginal gains they offer with the carbon fibre speed plate and super lightweight construction couldn’t make up for my lack of speed.
I’d like to say that’ s because there were mitigating circumstances. A long day at work, the fact this wasn’t an entirely flat course, the heat and the switchbacks, but the truth is I didn’t have the necessary speed. I can see from my post-race stats that mile two I dropped back from 5:49 to a 6:02, leaving far too much left to do in the final mile. Particularly when my lungs were already considering leaving my body.
I eventually crossed the line in 18:39, 62 seconds outside my PB, disappointed not to have gone quicker but knowing, by the fact I had to hold down my lunch, that I gave it a good crack.
I did, however, find some success in the second of my mini tussles. I eventually caught the guy who went out before me and for the final mile and a half we jostled to pull ahead of one another. We both knew we were in a mini race of our own even though not a word was said. I think we swapped the lead at least three or four times but as we rounded the corner to enter the stadium he found a kick and pulled ahead of me. I found a sprint finish of my own (a suggestion that maybe I didn’t run hard enough overall) but ran out of track before I could catch him. I eventually crossed the line in 18:39, 62 seconds outside my PB, disappointed not to have gone quicker but knowing, by the fact I had to hold down my lunch, that I gave it a good crack.
I always say you’ve got to find a win in every run and overall I still ran relatively well and I’ve come out of this run with some newfound respect for the 5km.
Finding the missing minute
I’ve never really raced this distance before, having only done two Park Runs and that 17:37 PB was set on a treadmill one lunchtime when I only had half an hour to get some miles in. So what did I learn out there that I can use for next time? Well first up, I realise have a lot of work to do to find that missing minute.
Some of the improvement will be about building more sustainable speed and that’ll come from more work in the gym and some decent track sessions. But I’ve also realised that a large part of what I need to improve is psychological. I need to get more accustomed to running at full tilt for 3.1 miles, with all the lung burn and mental misery that comes with it. The mental toughness required to push at close to capacity from start to finish during a 5k is very different to what you draw on to run a marathon or 100-mile ultra. I’ve coped with it over a mile but three was a stretch.
So I’ve got work to do. But that’s what makes it fun.
Get involved in the Simply Health Great Team Relay
Part of the Great Run series that includes the Great North Run and the Great South Run, the Simply Health Great Team Relay is an annual event pitching teams of four runners in relay against a 5k circuit starting and finishing in the Olympic Stadium in London, now home to West Ham United. There are competitions for men, women and mixed teams as well as individual runners. Head over to the official site for more info.
Now read this: Night of the 10k PBs: Track running turned up to 11
