Sunday, April 18, 2010

My first podium (if I can say so)

Yes, that's it. I knew- I'm in shape! Today at Scotiabank 5 km, I have proved. It was chilly, the wind was quite unpleasant, but I was ready. At 23: 19.9, I improved my personal best by 30 seconds (less than 1 / 10 sec, to be precise). Beyond that, I reached a 48th place amongst 768 participants and, even better, the 2nd place in my age group. No medal around the neck, but a second place is honest!
I thought I could do a good result for my last trainings seemed not too difficult (and yet they were demanding). But we can never predict what will happen on race day. For example, my friend Yves fell ill only two days before this race. All his hard training was in vain. But this happens even to the best.
In almost the same conditions, last year I made 23: 49.8. When I say so, I think on my parameters: heart rate of 166 (ideal, just a beat below my anaerobic threshold, the same as in 2009), the maximum heart rate during the race (175 compared to 174 last year), but the final time a lot better this year. Conclusion: I'm in better shape.
And my "pacing" during the race was also better this year. Thanks to my "magic bracelet" in Excel, I used the strategy of equal splits at every km, with a very fast final sprint. Thus, I avoided the "crisis of the fourth kilometer that was happening to me regularly on this course and I kept enough energy for the finish kick.
For years, I quickly began, then lost some speed at the first curve (with a small slope - this year the trainings at the Boulevard de Maisonneuve helped me greatly), and  with a slowdown in the fourth km, then the finish was not fast enough. This year - not the kind of errors. Next goal: under 23 minutes and it could happen already this year.

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