New 5K PR - 2nd Place in My Age Group

I ran the Lake Mary Community 5K Run & Walk this morning.  I got up a little later than I planned and had to cut my breakfast short.  I only ate half a whole wheat bagel and didn't feel like I had enough energy leading up to the race.  I did drink plenty of water, though.

I started at a good clip and felt like I could have just eased into a nice, comfortable pace.  Around half mile, I just felt like pushing more and wanted to start passing people.  I guess I had more in the tank than I originally thought.  I didn't go crazy getting into oxygen debt.  Just a little burst here and there.  The course had a lot of turns, so I would give a burst usually from 100 yards up through each turn.

I reached the first mile marker in 6:27, which seemed way too fast for me.  Usually when I run around that speed, I start feeling tingly in my hands and feet.  This time I did not, so I kept it up.  I hit the second mile marker at 13:01, so that's a 6:34.  I knew I was going to die or blow my PR out of the water.

Unfortunately, I felt like my chest was going to explode from the heat shortly after the 2 mile mark.  I slowed down to get some water and couldn't get the hand off and just splashed the water cup all over the place.  Didn't get any on me, though.  So I slowed down and that ruined my pace and then I didn't get any water to boot.

Shortly thereafter, I had to take my shirt off for a little ventilation.  I stopped and walked for 30 seconds while I removed my shirt and tucked it into the back of my shorts.  That helped immediately.  I remembered to leave the number facing outward, so they could read it.  There was someone reading the bib numbers on the far side of the track heading towards the finish.  Someone else sitting in the announcer booth read our names as we sprinted the last 100.  That was definitely a nice touch on the part of the race organizers.

I didn't catch my 3 mile split, but my finish time was 21:53.  What's crazy is that I was on pace to run a low 20 minute 5k.  I walked for 30 seconds and obviously slowed considerably otherwise on the 3rd mile.  I ran the final 1.1 miles in 8:52, so that's about an 8:04.  My average pace for the entire 5k was 7:03.

I definitely finished strong for the final 300 yards.  Coming into the final straightaway on the track, there was a guy about 10 yards ahead of me.  I went after him, he went into his sprint to challenge me and I put the afterburners on and held him off.

So not only did I get a new PR by 24 seconds, but I also took home a 2nd place medal for 35-39 Age Group.

This was a great day for me!  PR and some hardware!

Greater Maitland 5k - Race Report

Needless to say, there was a small field of competitors this morning.  Now with that being said, I took home FIRST PLACE in my 30-39 Age Division!!!!  I was 20th overall with a time of 22:17.  I said it was a small field.

I got up early and had a good breakfast and 3 cups (mugs) of coffee before the race.  I was definitely eye-opened by race time at 7:30am.  I also took a couple of pain pills when I woke up, so my back and hamstrings wouldn't hurt.  That definitely helped.  I've read recently that it's not a good idea to do that, but I think it mainly pertains to marathon runners since a 5k isn't that taxing on your system.

I ran this course 2 years ago, so I knew what to expect..  It is relatively flat the entire way.  There was one hill that was nice at the beginning and hurtful toward the end, because the course it pretty much an out and back.  For anyone outside of Florida, you probably wouldn't even call it a hill.

I ran the first mile in 6:55.  The second mile trailed off a little at 7:20 (14:15) and I maintained that through the last mile with a 7:18 pace (calculated since I didn't pay attention to my 3 mile split).  This is my "over 30" PR.  My previous best was 22:29 from a couple years ago.  I also bettered my last race time of 23:07 by 50 seconds.

My average pace was 7:10 per mile which is 16 seconds per mile faster than my last race.

Now, I need to pick a race in about a month and see if I can knock my average pace under 7 minutes per mile.  That means my next goal is to get under 21:44 (-00:33).

Celebration of Running 5k Race Report

This morning, I woke up and calculated my half mile splits the whole way through the 5k and looked up where each point was located on gmap-pedometer.com so I could keep my goal pace.

I was trying to hit 23 minutes, so my goal splits were:  3:42, 7:24, 11:06, 14:48, 18:30, 22:12, 23:00.  I started the race only a few feet back from the starting line to make sure I was in my correct pace group.  I went out a little fast, but it felt good.  I tried to stay with a few of the people in my training group.  I did that through half a mile and noticed I was going out a little too fast.  Again, it felt good, so why mess with it.  I hit the mile in 6:45.  That's 39 seconds faster than my goal pace, but I was at the tail end of my training group and I thought that maybe I had improved.  I don't remember what my 1.5 split was, but my 2 mile split was 14:06.  Now I was 42 seconds ahead of pace.

I had my splits on a small piece of paper like a cheat sheet.  When I hit the 2 mile clock that far ahead, I crumbled it up and threw it on the street.

That's about when it started to not feel good.

I definitely started to slow down by the time I was at 2.25.  I got a cramp in my right abdomen around 2.5, so I stopped and walked for about 10 seconds taking very deep belly breaths.  I got back on my horse and finished up.  It was a pretty weak last half mile even though I did a little sprint to cut a few seconds.  I finished in 23:07.

I had a 42 second lead on my goal pace heading into the last mile and finished 7 seconds off.  Talk about crash and burn.  I definitely have more speed, but I need to work on my stamina.

I need to incorporate long runs every single week and make sure that they are more than 6 miles.

This was my second best time since turning 30yo.  My over 30 PR is 22:27 in 2008.  40 seconds away.  I was close and let it slip.  Hopefully, I can beat that mark the next 5k.

Seminole State College 5k - 3rd Place Male 35-39

I ran the first annual Seminole State College 5k on Saturday, March 28th at their Lake Mary campus.  There were only around 150 participants, because it was their first race event.  I liked my odds when the race started due to the small field.

I tried to keep to my pace, but got a little carried away.  I wanted to run 7:40 miles.  My first mile was fast at 7:20.  My second mile was a little fast at 7:25.  That small amount seemed to take its toll, because the third mile was 8:20.  I finished in 23:54.  I was hoping for a little better time, but I took over a minute off my last 5k race in February.  My average pace was 7:43.  Pat on the shoulder.

Next 5k is the IOA Corporate 5k on Thursday, April 15th in downtown Orlando.  My goal pace will be 7:20.  I have 2 weeks to take a minute off that last mile.

3 Weeks to Race - Time for Tempo Run

I know it's only a few weeks to my next 5k. For some, it's no big deal, but I only run 2 or 3 races a year. So I get an email today from Vanos, a coworker, and he says that he has something going on with another team. I don't know if he's putting money on it, but pride is enough for me.

I put 24:30 on my expected time for the race. He says that I need to dig deep and try to shave off a couple minutes. Doesn't sound too hard. I ran 2 minutes faster than that at last year's corporate run, but my last 5k time was 24:30.

I tell him that I'll know if I can take off 2 minutes in another couple weeks. Time to guage my progress. That's right. Tempo Run Time. For newbies, that means that I am going to run my race pace. Usually, you'd run a bit shorter distance. I want to see exactly where I'm at, so I need to run a 5k.

After dinner, I get on the net and search on MapMyRun.com for a 5k course in my neighborhood. I find one that is 3.15 miles. Nearly perfect.

I figure it's a little cooler than what I can expect on race day since the sun was already down.

I started off with a mile and half warmup. I have a decent sweat going and head back home to check the time. My watch broke, so I have to check a clock. My cell phone says 9:20 and I head out the door. Conveniently, the 5k course I found goes by my street. I take off and I feel like I'm running a little fast. Maybe around 7 minute pace. I feel a little out of breath after about a quarter mile, so I ease back just a hair. I keep about the same pace through 2 miles... just over 7 minutes.

When I hit about the 2 mile mark, I start getting tightness in my mid-back. I'm obviously getting tired and my core back muscles feeling tight and painful is the signal to work on them. I will have to increase my mileage on long run days from around 5 to about 7 or 8 miles and on easy run days, I will need to include some middle back and lower back training.

I slowed down the final mile plus, but still finished up at 9:44pm. So I did 3.15 in 24 minutes give or take 30 seconds since there is no second hand on my cell phone.

I did some calculations based on an even 24 minute run. My average pace was 7:37. If I ran just .05 less, my time at that pace would have been 23:37. It will be a little hotter at 7pm, but I didn't sprint tonight either. To meet my goal of 22:30, I need to shave off just over 20 seconds per mile in the next 3 weeks.

In addition to longer runs once a week, I need to make speed work mandatory. For the 5k distance, I probably need to do 880's on the track. 440's are better for mile speed and 1 mile repeats may be too much for the 5k.

I need to run 7:15's on race day or better. I probably need to train for 6:15 speed on the track. That makes my 880 repeats around 3:07. I will probably do my speed work on Saturday. I'll need to do 4-6 repeats to do any good. I'll only have 2 Saturdays of speedwork until the race, so I better do all 6 both times. Some people try to run faster as they go, I will try to ladder my times. Start fast, taper, and end fast. Something like 3:00, 3:07, 3:15, 3:15, 3:07, 3:00.

The last time I ran 440 repeats, I was running around these times, but I wasn't doing 2 laps each time. Saturday is going to be tough, but Vanos said I need to dig deep. My old cross country coach used to tell us to dig deep sometimes. It brought back some good memories. It definitely fired me up for tonight's tempo run.