Purple Stride 5K - Nov. 10, 2019

So, yes, after four relatively disappointing 5Ks, I immediately started training for a December 10K using Hal Higdon's Advanced 10K training program.

And, wow, it is a killer program.  With Tuesday tempo runs (up to 60 minutes), Wednesday 400-meter track sprints (up to 12), Saturday runs partially at race pace, and Sunday runs in which the last 25 percent of the miles are done near race pace, we are essentially talking about four days of speed training per week.  That leaves Monday and Thursday for easy runs and an optional (!) rest day on Friday.

As per usual with Higdon's programs, races are included midway through training.  This past Sunday, being halfway through the eight-week cycle, it was time for yet another 5K.  It just so happened that this fell on the day of the annual Purple Stride 5K in Parsippany, a benefit for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.  In support of our friend, whose mom died from the disease, Gloria and I and our friends jogged it in 2016 and walked it in 2017.  Last year, I raced it competitively while training for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon, taking third place with a time of 18:11, my last sub-19 5K.

At the start line on Sunday, some guy said to his kid, referring to me, "Just stay behind this guy and draft him if you can.  He looks fast."

That made me feel good, but I wondered if I would live up to his expectations after my past four outings.  At the sound of the horn, I blasted off, legs in full extension, pumping as hard as I could to get off to a good start, and to warm the hell up on this 30-something degree day while wearing only shorts and a single long-sleeve polyester running shirt.  For the first mile in this flat course through what is essentially a giant park of office buildings, a young runner in a cape took the lead and I stayed elbow to elbow with Justin Tufano (literally - he actually kept bumping elbows with me - even as we approached the left-hand turnaround, he kept drifting and pushing me to the right).

I hit the first mile 5:52 and it felt great.  I did not even feel like I was pushing hard enough to get a split like that.  Both Mr. Tufano and I pushed ahead of the caped runner and pressed on into mile 2.  I pulled away from Tufano and briefly held the lead until I heard footsteps coming up behind.  I was surprised to see the person passing me was not Tufano but someone else - an 18-year-old kid named Sam Fowler - and he was doing it effortlessly.  There was no catching up to him, and I was already slowing down, but I was OK with my 6:09 second mile.

Turning around again (those turnarounds are such momentum killers!), I gave it everything I had, with Tufano right behind me.  I only managed to stay in front of him by three seconds, but it was enough as I threw my body forward into the third mile with a 6:04 and a finish time of 18:50.

Unbelievably, I had managed to get my first sub-19 in a year, at the same race as my last one.  It was a pleasant surprise, and just what I needed to fend off the sometimes depressing sight of my drastically lower 5Ks lately.  This was a nice boost.  I may not be close to what I was a year or two ago, but at this point, I will take any sub-19 I can get.

Last year's event was fraught with problems, notably the course being too short.  In addition, the timing company, Best Race, screwed me over with the results, putting me at fourth place, rather than at my rightful third (they never fixed it on their website).  This time, though the course was re-measured to accuracy, Best Race once again managed to screw me over by spelling my name wrong - check out the results and you see that Daniel Falioto took second place at the 2019 Purple Stride 5K in Parsippany. [eye roll] 

But hey, it was a good cause with good friends and my best 5K of the year.

PCTI Winter 5K Series, Race 4 (Finale) - March 4, 2018

The truth of the matter is this: speed training works. 

Even now, at a point when I am on the downswing and dealing with the reality that there will be no more PRs, doing the speed work still yields results. 

Case in point: This fourth and final race of the PCTI series ended up being my best of the bunch, likely because I have been hammering out 400s, 200s, tempo runs and 5Ks for the past three months.

While I was immediately ready for it to be over as soon as this fourth installment started, I felt good about keeping my leg turnover consistent after the initial downhill. Even the first big uphill did not feel like it took the wind out my sails the way it had in the previous races, so I was able to cruise into the first mile at 5:50, as I pushed from fifth to fourth place, passing Walter Hass (who quietly exclaimed, "Shit!" as I did so.  Sorry young Walter, the old guy passed you again.).

The steady incline before the second big descent slowed me down, but the downhill gave me a boost. The grunting and moaning started just before I hit the second mile marker at a 5:58, finally passing Anthony Bertollo and reclaiming my third place position once again. 

I was more than ready for this nonsense to end, yet somehow, my legs managed to push up the last big hill. I knew I needed to gut it out for only five more minutes. It hurt, but it was almost over. 

Digging into any reserve I could tap and extending my legs as much as possible, I hit mile three with an even 6:00, and mustered the best sprint I could. I finally hit the finish with an 18:53 (which would have been 18:27 if the course was not too long at 3.17 miles). 

At this point, I will take any race with a sub-6 average pace, so in addition to the beautiful trophy I took home for winning my age group, I consider this a personal win for my first and last 5K series.

"Never again," I told Rob Albano, the perennial and inevitable winner of this (and every) race.  He told me he said the same thing after his first series. 

We runners are gluttons for punishment, so I guess might, against my better judgment, end up doing this again next year.