20 Second PR

The 5,000m at Nationals was the one race I thought I might come away from empty handed,while my trio of 5ks on the track in April,May and June had seen me run 15.57.7. 15.56.5 15.59.6 which in recent years would have probably been good enough for gold this year I found myself behind the likes of Francis Burdett{15.23}Mike Blackmore{15.48} and Pete Magill who despite his NT {no time} was still a force to be reckoned w/ as I laboured to a 17.16.7 last October in Syracuse at the Masters 5k Road Race C'ships Pete was running a 14.59.1....... so you can see why I wasn't as confident of a medal over 12.5 laps as I was over 2 laps and 3.75 laps,however that's why you run the races isn't it?

For all the horror stories about"the heat and the California sun" I have to say when the gun went off at 10.45am it was the least of my worries.....taking on these three 5,000m giants was enough to concern myself w/ thank you very much.
Remembering what my former coach had said to me prior to Spokane in 08 about not allowing anyone in between me and my targets I made sure to move up into 4th after the opening 200m and tucked in behind Pete,Francis and Mike.
I was so focused on the back of Mike's Bowerman Track Club vest that I was oblivious to the clock at the start and subsequently missed my opening 400m split and ditto for the clock at the finish though I kept hearing splits of 74/75 each time the four of us came through a lap on the bottom turn.

I think I saw 4.56 at the first mile,to be honest my main concern was staying in touch w/ these guys,I don't think I ever allowed more than 10 meters between Mike and myself,if they went all Young MC on me and"Bust A Move" I had to be close enough to respond.
W/ 4 and a half laps to go the race broke open,Pete made his move past Francis and Mike followed him,I had two choices tuck in behind Francis and hope to out duel him for the bronze or give chase and hope if Francis launched an attack I could repel him.....rather than play safe,I went for broke and struck my claim for bronze.

I still wasn't paying attention to the clock which may've been to my advantage,w/1,100m to go I felt my first pang of discomfort but at that stage of a 5,000m that's about right,Pete and Mike were a decent distance ahead of me but to be honest at this stage I was more concerned about"holding onto bronze"I had no clue where Francis was but I also had to recall how he reeled me in over the 3,000m in Boston over the closing laps b4 my blistering final 200m took me from 4th to 2nd and allowed me to past him coming up the home straight.

I know I looked at the clock as I went through the bell but have no idea what it said all I could think about was running the final lap as quick as I could and hoping it'd be enough to win the bronze,going into the final turn I had the birds eye view of Mike making his move to overtake Pete for the gold and made a note of Mike's finishing speed,I'd heard Pete say prior to the gun going off he was going to scratch the 800m and suddenly Mike Blackmore had become a bigger threat in the 800m in 2 days time.
Mike won in 15.25.7. w/ Pete 2 seconds back in 15.27.4. and me in third.......oblivious to my time and the fact Francis was further back than I realized,bronze not bad for a rookie at 5,000m if I say so myself.....

When I saw my time I couldn't believe it,15.36.8.......................a 20 second pr,in my last 5,000m I bitched about the fact there were no clocks and no one calling splits as I ran 15.59.6. and began to think I'd plateaued at 15.50s and began to write off my plans of running the 5,000m next year at Worlds,todays time would've gotten me bronze last summer in Finland and suddenly the 5,000m next summer seems very much on,who knows how much more time I can shave off of the 5,000m??