Very interesting results this meet. First, it took me nearly 2 hours to get to the track, due to it being on the other end of London from my work and transport links. By the time I changed and got on the track, the meet already started and javelin already had warmup going on. I got to be a scoring runner on it again (I think it's going to be a constant, since no other women in the club seem to know anything about javelin). That meant no warmup running for me at all. It was a mixed event with men, and there was only 1 other woman. I did ok, improving my PR by 2m compared to last week, and got 12.97m in my best try. The other woman only did about 7m, so I won and scored 6 points for the club. That was pretty cool.
Because of javelin and no warmup at all, I couldn't do 800m (it was at the same time) or 1500m - it was immediately after javelin. I managed to jog about 800m between other events, and decided to do 200m and then 3000m again. So I did 4x50m strides and practiced my low start ONCE. This was the first time since 19 years ago! Most other runners were pure sprinters, in spikes and looking pretty fast, so I thought I'd the last one for sure, but who cares, I just was curious what I can do in 200m all out. There was a drawing for lanes, and I drew lane 6, not a bad lane, actually, as you can see runners ahead and try to catch them. My low start (no blocks though) was okay, but in about 3m runner from lane 5 already passed, followed by most others soon thereafter. It was rather depressing, but I knew it was going to happen. I just ran as hard as I could. After rounding the curve and starting on the second 100, I could feel lactic acid building up in my legs already. I think I was slower on second 100, but can't be sure since I didn't take any splits. I finished third from last, beat the same lady I beat in javelin and a lady in her late 50s or 60s (so I'm not really counting it). Didn't know my time at this point, it would be posted later in the evening. I felt pretty tired after this, and not really in the mood for 3000m, because I still could feel this tightness in my hamstrings.
Then there was maybe 5 min. break and 3000m. My breathing didn't even recover, since I was jogging after 200, not to mention my legs. This was also a mixed race with men, and still being in sprinting mode, I started too fast - :49 first 200 and 1:40 first lap. I started hurting right after the first lap, and had to slow down to 1:45-1:46 laps. The final lap was 1:41 (last week I managed 1:33) and final time was 13:04, 7 sec. worse than last week. I got lapped by countless men, and also 2 women. This race hurt a lot, but I'm sure it was good training coming so close after 200, despite slower result.
Then I went to the posting board and checked my time in 200m. I was hoping that maybe I broke 40sec. Looking at the board, I couldn't believe my eyes. There was my number and my name, in red ink, and the time written across the line - 33.1. I didn't expect that at all. This means I can probably run 100m. in 15.5-16 sec. - much faster than I even run in my strides. So, Sasha, this may answer your question how much your time in real competiton can differ from running on your own, even in time trial. With this spees, my equivalent 5K time should be ~ 19:25, but in fact I cannot break 22:00 even with all the right elements in my training. Perhaps, I'm better in sprints than distance. Or maybe my aerobic capacity is still underdeveloped. But how much more mileage I need to run, because I was already running 45-50 when I ran my 22:05 5K?
Now I want to do 400m to compare to the 200. I suspect, the same pattern will be present as in my competitive years in college - there will be a sharp drop in time in 400 and then maybe from there all other times in longer distances will be equivalent to that 400 time. I should be able to do 400 in 1:10, but I doubt it's the case. I'll have to see. Overall, I had a lot of fun again!
Afterwards, I only had time to cooldown 1 mile before they kicked everyone off the track, it was after 9PM. So far, I learned that with track meets, it's impossible to get good mileage in. I just get there too late, and javelin doesn't give a chance to run (unless you run in small circles in between your tries). I'm thinking of doing few miles early in the morning on the days when I have track meets.
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