Sunday, January 21, 2007

A new PR in the 3k

Yesterday I ran the 3000m at MIT, 50 seconds faster than when I ran the 3k at MIT last year and 16 seconds faster than I ran the 3000m in outdoor track in senior year of high school.

I was hoping to run a PR so I decided to run each lap in 46 seconds, which is 6:08 per mile pace and would put me at 11:30, eight seconds faster than my high school time. However, despite trying to hang back, my first lap was 42, so I went through the first mile in 6:04. Then I was right on pace, and I had decided to kick from 600 meters out, so I gained a few more seconds there.

Unfortunately, there was no one else around me running my pace. My only contact with other runners was when I lapped them. You can see this from the results:
Women 3000 Meter Run
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Name Year School Finals
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1 Teitsworth, Elly Williams 10:44.98
2 McNamara, Julie Williams 10:47.75
3 Jacoby, Ryan Williams 10:54.72
4 Ellison, Laura Williams 10:58.25
5 Yoe, Moira Williams 11:06.45
6 Links, Elizabeth Williams 11:13.50
7 Davis, Diana Williams 11:22.70
8 Joyce, Melissa Westfield State 12:23.49
9 Daniels, Jennifer Westfield State 12:53.36
10 Messer, Katie Westfield State 13:08.44
11 Leister, Hollie Rpi 13:17.90
So, 11:22 improves upon my previous best of 11:38, and improves greatly on my college PR of 12:12. So, I'm happy. Unfortunately, the 3k was not a scoring event, so I did not earn any points for the team, even though the top eight places scored in this meet and I was seventh. So it goes.

Then I ran the 1600 (anchor) leg of the DMR on the "Williams B" team. I received the baton over a lap behind the "Williams A" team and did not improve that position. My legs were really tired from the 3k. However, when I received the baton the time-clock said 8:02, and when I crossed the finish line it said 13:55, so that means a 5:53 1600, which we'll call a 5:54 mile, which is not bad, only six seconds slower than last week when I had only run an 800 before it, not a 3k. So that's fine.

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