I had hoped to run faster in the Twilight 5000, but it wasn’t in the cards. It’s not surprising when I reflect on the week before, tired legs and just “not having it.” But at the moment, I was, of course, sad. Some days you have “it” and other days you don’t. That day, I did not.
Before the Twilight 5000:
I did a shorter shakeout run on the morning of the Twilight 5000. I felt pretty good, and the weather was as close to ideal as you’ll get in the middle of summer. I felt pretty good that morning. I worked a full day and left Edwards around 4. My nutrition for both track races has been pretty good. It can be hard to fuel for a night race but I stuck to the boring, basic foods. Bagel and pasta for most of the day. I got to Occidental College around 5:40. I was lucky there wasn’t too much traffic going into Los Angeles during the rush hour time. When I looked, it said it would take 4 hours to get home.
I met up with Rich, and he worked on my legs prior. I try to see Rich from VFE as much as my schedule allows, although working is much harder full-time now. Vision for Enrichment is awesome if you have a running injury or are looking for some TLC on your legs. After that, I warmed up and waited for my race. It was kind of hard to warm up in the area because it was so hilly with a lot of main roads. I didn’t particularly enjoy my 20-minute warmup. After that, I sat around for another 20 minutes and it was finally time for my race.
My heat went off around 7:40 and had both 20 and 21-minute pacers. I lined up behind the 20-minute horse since that’s my current goal.
Twilight 5000 Race:
My goal for the Twilight 5000 was to come as close to 20 minutes as possible and, if lucky, go under. But that’s not what happened. During the first mile, I stayed as close to the pacers as possible. That meant I was running in a pack, and it was crowded. There were a few moments of jostling, and my rhythm was impacted a few times. It wasn’t worth it to me to run in lane two, though. We went through the first mile in 6:39. I hadn’t left the pacer.
During mile 2 of the Twilight 5000, I just focused on keeping it together. During the first Twilight 5000, I held on for 2 miles and then faded for mile 3. It was a hard crash fly-and-die, and I wondered if that would also be true. But the difference this week was we started at a much slower pace. I was confused of why we were running so “slow” but I also didn’t have it in me to go any faster and I knew I was running on the edge from the beginning.
During the first mile of the Twilight 5000, I knew my body didn’t have it. Running hadn’t felt great at the start, and I didn’t feel good now either. I ran the second mile of the Twilight 5000 at 6:35.
By the last mile, the pack had spread out. I could see the pacers pulling away; my body had nothing left in the tank. Running felt extremely hard, and running around a track felt even more hard I was counting down until we finished. I was running alone, trying to hold on as much as possible. I passed a few people running 21+ 5ks. It was kind of uneventful and I was also trying not to make eye contact with anyone of the sides. Finally, I rounded the last turn and gave it everything I had (6:15 pace). I crossed the Twilight 5000 in 20:35.
Twilight 5000 Thoughts:
I was disappointed to run about 20 seconds slower than the last Twilight 5000, but my body didn’t feel great. It was hot and humid (around 80 at the start), but I also didn’t feel great. Sometimes you have those days. It just stinks it was on the flattest course available. The drive home was pretty uneventful, and I got back around 11. I enjoyed the Twilight 5000, and if you are looking for a fun track event in a fast environment, they are a great option. Hopefully, I’ll do it next year.
You can see Strava here and race recaps here.
Love running? You can subscribe to my weekly newsletter or read more about running shoes in my ebook.
Questions for you:
Have you done a track race?
What is the goal you’re training for?
I ran a shortened track season as part of my marathon training. I ran a 1k, two 3ks, a 1500, two one mile races and a 5k. I also ran a solo 5k time trial. I like running on the track because I know the distance is accurate. But the racing and strategy is something I could improve on. In the last mile race I ran, I led for the first 1/3 of the race and then blew up spectacularly. 6:40 pace seems to be quite a ways off the 6:25 required to run a 19:59. Even if the pacer’s plan was a negative split, a 30 second negative split in the last mile is hard for anyone at any pace. I sometimes pace half marathons, and I generally pace to within a second or two of the per mile split required for the goal. Constant pacing is best for amateur runners. I’m fast enough that the elite runners pace when I want to hit a goal. I think it’s harder for them to run slower paces because it feels like jogging, and dropping down 30 seconds or even a minute feels like a moderate effort.