Greed or ambition…

Kipchoge came and went at Berlin in 2:01:09, 30 seconds faster than his previous world record. His time is seventy seconds from a ratified sub-two finish. More speculation on his future plans and possibilities in a future post, as this is not what greed and ambition refers to…

Following unplanned time off earlier this summer, I focused my training on getting my 5K time back down to the high nineteens, if not faster. In a race in late July, I posted a 20:13 and knew that with a few more weeks of training, I could probably get to my time goal.

The Dry Creek Striders did a 5K time trial in early September and a formal race two weeks after that. My goal for the trial was to go under twenty minutes. If I could do that, I felt reasonably confident that with two more weeks of preparation, I could post nineteen-something in the next race. If there’s any suspense about whether I went under twenty for either, I’ll cut that off and say I happily went 19:31 and 19:11 for the trial and race, respectively. This is where the greed or ambition debate comes in.

Both the trial and race were out-and-back courses, net uphill for the first 1.55K and then net down for the second half. On a course like this, assuming you haven’t completely burned yourself out on the opening half, you can use the way back to pick up some speed. In the time trial, I hit the two-mile mark at 12:46 and in the race, at 12:35. Sub-twenty, or 19:59, is basically a 6:25/mile pace, or 12:50 at the two-mile mark. In addition to being under that, I had paced myself well enough that I knew my chances of staying under twenty were very high. In fact, I felt so good in both races that I considered whether I should push for an 18:59. Was this greed or ambition?

Hitting an 18:59 in the time trial would have meant running a 5:29 final mile. My mid-race math wasn’t that precise but it was close enough that I knew my chances were absurdly low. My time in the Mile High Mile was 5:42. That was a single mile on a flat surface. Though I was technically going downhill, running thirteen seconds faster than that was not reasonable so I stuck with my goal as part of the larger plan. I likely left a little on the course but felt comfortable about the race in two weeks.

During the 5K race, I would have needed a 5:40 final mile for 18:59. My mid-race math remained a little imprecise but I knew again that my chances were absurdly low. Not only did I not want to fall apart and come up short on my time goal, I was in third place which meant a spot on the podium. My usual checking methods told me I had a good lead on fourth place, but I didn’t want to lose that.

Was 18:59 greed? Probably, which is why I decided against it. While I wonder if I could have picked up more time, I also ended up with times I was pleased with.

When is it ambition and not greed? That will differ from person to person. In a ten-miler last year, around mile six I thought my chances of going under seventy minutes were shot and then with a mile to go, I realized I could probably make it, and then did. While I suspect my math was still imprecise, it was close enough to make the attempt reasonable, even if it was a substantial push. It’s also good to keep goals in mind. While you don’t want to leave time on the course, in theory you set the goal knowing your abilities and you don’t want to torpedo that by overreaching.


Source used: Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:09) Smashes World Record; Tigist Assefa (2:15:37) Stuns World at 2022 Berlin Marathon – LetsRun.com