On July 8, I did the 5,000 meter race-walk event at the National Senior Games in Pittsburgh. This was my second of three events. I did the 1,500 meter race walk yesterday, and I’ll be doing the 5K road race tomorrow.
The 5,000 meter race-walk
is my best event. At last year’s National
Senior Games, I came in second in my age group.
My goal this year was to place in the top three at a minimum, and
hopefully place higher.
My biggest concern is how
my right leg would feel after yesterday’s race.
I felt OK during that race and for the rest of the day. I got up a few times during the night, and
each time, the back of my right leg felt stiff.
I felt better after a hot bath and some stretching. I didn’t expect it to bother me during the
race, but I worried about how it would feel afterwards. I was walking three times as far today, and
the pace would be almost as intense.
For the 1,500, we were on
a track. For the 5,000, we were on a
road loop. Our race venue today was Highmark
Stadium. Our course was an out-and-back
loop along Station Square Drive, which is right next to the stadium. We had to walk five laps of a one-kilometer
circuit. The out-and-back circuit made it
possible for each of the race-walking judges to see every competitor ten times
(twice on each lap).
We were divided into two
heats – one for women and one for men. The
women started at 7:00 AM. The men’s heat
wasn’t until 7:50, but I still made a point of arriving by 7:00, so I could
watch the women’s race.
There was one woman who
was much faster than the rest. I was
impressed with how fast she could walk.
After the race, I congratulated her, and I asked her what her time
was. It was 31:04. It was a little intimidating to hear
that. That’s about the time I was hoping
for, but she looked like she was going really fast.
The weather today was cooler
than yesterday. When I arrived at Highmark
Stadium, it was in the mid-60s. Partly,
that’s because we were starting earlier, but it was also a cooler day.
There were ten men in my
age group, including me. Of the men who
competed in yesterday’s race, all but one were back again today. There was one new competitor. I expected to be at least as strong at this distance
as I was at the 1,500. I didn’t know anything
about the new guy, but I knew which men beat me yesterday, and I was going to
try to keep up with them if I could.
Before the race, I made a
point of spotting the men who were seeded higher than me. Most of them were in different age groups. I didn’t need to compete with them. I was only concerned with men in my age
group.
Because all age groups
were in one heat, the start was somewhat crowded. Right off the bat, I realized I would need to
get around a few people who were in front of me, but not starting fast enough. With effort, I was able to get around
them. Now I could see six or seven men
who were still in front of me. I knew
the two fastest were in different age groups.
I scanned everyone else’s back bibs.
Only two of them were in my age group.
One was the guy who won my age group yesterday.
At either end of the
circuit, we had to go around a circle of cones.
After the first turnaround, I started to focus on the closest walker in
front of me. He was one of the guys in
my age group, so I worked on catching up to him. It took me almost 500 meters, but I passed him
just before the second turnaround. Now I
was in second place in my age group.
I walked the first lap in
6:06. That put me on pace to finish the
race in 30:30. I wasn’t expecting to be
that fast.
When I realized I was
gaining on two of the walkers ahead of me, I pushed hard to try to catch up to
them. They weren’t in my age group, but
working to catch up to them helped me focus on maintaining a fast pace. As I went by them, they must have noticed
that I wasn’t in their age group. One
said to the other, “62 – I’m OK with that,”
Now there wasn’t anyone
else between me and the guy who was leading my age group. He had a lead of about 20 meters. I wasn’t gaining on him, but I also wasn’t
falling any farther behind. For the rest
of the race, I was focused on two things – keeping my knees straight and chasing
the guy ahead of me.
The course was in
kilometers, but my watch gave me splits in miles. I finished the first mile in 9:56. I had been training to get my pace down to 10
minutes per mile. I was off to a good
start.
When I finished my second
lap, I checked my time. I slowed to 6:12
in that lap. I was still on pace to beat
31 minutes, but I couldn’t afford to slow down much more.
Yesterday, one of the
judges flagged me for having a bent knee.
Today, I really focused on that.
I was even more focused each time I approached one of the judges. I passed one roughly every 100 meters.
In my third lap, I seemed
like I was gaining ground on the guy I was chasing, but it was only a couple of
meters. The only way I would catch him
by the end of the race is if he began to fade in the last two kilometers.
There was a set of white
boards that we passed toward the end of each lap. They showed which runners had been given red
cards by the race-walk judges. As I
neared the end of my third lap, I took a look.
So far, only six walkers had red cards, although it can take time for the
boards to get updated. One walker already
had three, so he was disqualified. I
didn’t have any, and neither did the guy I was chasing.
My third lap was one
second slower than my second lap. With
2K to go, I worked hard to keep up my pace, but I was at my aerobic limit, and
I was also starting to get hot. It wasn’t
as humid as yesterday, but it was sunny, and I could feel it now.
When my watch recorded
another split, I saw that I had slowed to 10:06 in the second mile. That was a bit discouraging, but I cared more
about my place than my time. At worst, I
was going to finish second in my age group, and I had not given up on trying to
catch the leader.
As I neared the end of
the fourth lap, I took another look at the white boards. I was still clean. So was the guy ahead of me. As I finished the lap, I checked my time
again. I sped up to 6:09 in that
lap. If I could hold that pace for one
more lap, I could still break 31 minutes.
When I look ahead of me,
I could see that I had fallen farther behind the guy I was chasing. He wasn’t going to fade. He was speeding up, and I couldn’t keep up
with him. Realizing I was going in
finish in second place, I did my best to keep up my pace, and I focused on
keeping my form legal.
After making the last
turnaround, I could see the finish lien ahead of me. My watch recorded my split for the third
mile. It was 10:12. I wasn’t going to break 31 minutes. I just couldn’t hold my pace in the last lap.
I finished in 31:08. It’s not a PR, but it’s my fastest time in
the last two years. After finishing, I
walked back to where the white boards were.
None of the judges warned me about anything, but I just wanted to make
sure. I had a clean race, but three
walkers were disqualified.
Walking around after the
race, I started to noticed soreness in the muscles behind my right knee. I felt it both above and below the knee. Walking all-out while keeping my knee
straight is too much strain. I’m going
to need to take a break from race-walking.
The awards ceremony was
inside the stadium. For the second
straight day, I got to step up onto the podium.
Yesterday, I earned a bronze medal.
Today, I earned a silver medal.
Tomorrow morning, I’m
doing the 5K road race. I’m hopeful that
the issues with my right leg won’t bother me running. When I run, my knees are slightly bent. It’s only when my knee is completely straight
that it puts too much strain on my leg.
ReplyDeleteGreat Race!!! I hope you get back into racewalk in time for the 2025 Games in Des Moines.
Great race. Congrats! I hope you return to Racewalking in time for the 2025 Games in Des Moines.
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