This week I broke my 10 year hiatus and ran a 1500m race! Sounds scary right? Especially to a distance runner. However, I was actually really excited to race the distance! I think it didn’t feel quite as scary as I initially thought it would, because I did a mile race a few weeks ago. I found the mile had the positive effect of enticing me in, rather than scaring me away. Long story short, I ran an open meet, so I was racing against guys, and ran a 38 (I thought it was 39) second PB of 4.18. My previous best was from 4.56 from 2014. I thought I’d use this blog to answer the questions you may be wondering. If you have any questions that I haven’t answered, drop me a message and I’ll do my best to answer :) HOW?! I hear you asking yourself, how did a 10,000m runner manage to run a 1500m race?! And you would be justified in wondering this. However, speed is something I have really been working on the past couple of weeks in my sessions. This has really helped sharpen my legs up and get them a little bit more comfortable moving faster. There is still a lot more work to do, and they still aren’t quite as reactive as we’d like, but progress is being made, and that’s the most important thing. Why? Speed always has been my weakness. For so long I have struggled to move my legs at any pace faster than 5k pace. This has always put me at a disadvantage when races go from slow to fast quite suddenly, or when it comes down to the final sprint. Therefore, in order to improve this, I have been working on my speed and doing some shorter races. Also, if I can get my legs and mind more confident moving at faster paces, I will be much more confident at moving faster in the 5k and 10k. The shorter distances will therefore allow me to improved in my main events, something which is obviously our main aim. Did you do anything differently before?
This time round, the race was on a Wednesday evening. On Monday I therefore did a few 200m’s in the middle of my easy run to get the legs turning over, but this isn’t really out of the ordinary. I would tend to do something shorter a few days before a race. Everything else was the same as always. The day before the race, the race morning, the warm up, the food I ate on race day, it was all the same as it would be for any other race. Did I enjoy it? I actually really really enjoyed it! I didn’t think I would enjoy it quite as much as I did, but it was exciting. Compared to the longer distance races I usually do, it was over with in a heartbeat. I found myself having to be super focused and on it in order to not make any mistakes or let my mind wonder, because it would be over so quickly. It was also fun to do an event that wasn’t my main focus so there was no pressure, but one that I know is benefitting the distances I am focusing on. Will you do another one? Absolutely! Doing the shorter distance races is so beneficial to the longer distances that I focus on, so I will absolutely keep them as part of my racing schedule. I find them really helpful ahead of a 3,000m or 5,000m as they get my legs moving faster, so 3k, 5k & 10k pace feels much more comfortable. I also had an absolute blast doing them, so can’t wait to get a few more under my belt to give me some more confidence of what to expect and how to race them.
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Hannah IrwinI love to run and I love to write, so I write about running! Archives
March 2023
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