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!

Season's 52 Park Avenue 5.2k - Race

The course was flat and didn't have a lot of turns, so that made it fast.  The brick made it slow though.  It's not fun having to keep a watchful eye on ruts as you're thinking about your pace.  I like finishing down Park Avenue running on the shop lined street, but your ankles keep wobbling on the bricks.

As for me, I knew I wasn't going to have a good race from the start.  I don't know what it was, but I felt out of breath after a quarter mile and I was running my pace.  I struggled the entire run until the end.  My right calf hurt the entire race.  That's been building up since Tuesday.

I hit the first mile at 7:05.  That would have been great if I stayed at that speed, but I only slowed down.  My second mile split was 14:35, so I ran a 7:30 on that one.  The 3 mile split was 22:22 (7:47) which is kind of cool, but that should have been my 5k time which happened to be 23:07.  My 5.2k official chip time was 23:52.  I was hoping to break 23 minutes.  My average pace was 7:23.  That was aided by me speeding up for the last quarter mile, which I ran at 6 minute pace.

I haven't run this race or distance before, so at least it is a PR.  I hope to have pictures later.

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It's later!

That's me near the finish line.  No, not the kid!!  He beat me.  I'm the one with the gold glow.  There's more pictures at Track Shack's Facebook page.  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?fbid=10150090713668874&id=68449813873&aid=280604

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).