Warmup: 2.73 mi. in 21:06 - 7:44 ppm.
Race: 5.0 mi. in 30:34.32 - 6:07 ppm. Splits - 6:15, 6:04, 6:19, 6:07, 5:47.
Cooldown: 1.8 mi. in 15:51 - 8:49 ppm.
Running Buddy (Garmin data)
Well...I surprised myself today, to say the least. As discussed in yesterday's post my legs have felt heavy and my only ambitions today were to have fun and possibly treat this as a tempo run. I got a free entry from Theoden so I didn't really care. What happened instead was that I ran my best race of the year, with a faster pace-per-mile today than I achieved in any 5k I ran (out of six events). The conditions were right but, as expected, the crowd made this thing a little nutty. Let's get to the details!
The race wasn't until 9 so I didn't wake up until just after 7. I decided not to eat anything and instead just stretched and put together my racing outfit. I made it to Southpark mall a little early and found a parking spot on the first level of the deck near Dillard's. Then I set out past the crowds at the porta-jons and began warming up on the course. I passed by a young couple that was wearing matching outfits and ran down Barclay Downs to turn on Runnymede. This part of the course was hilly. I ran into Jason Martin and jogged back to the start with him, but he wasn't racing. He was - you guessed - running as a bandit. I was glad to see him there because he always screams at everyone near the finish.
I ran past the massive crowds of people at the start and plopped down in front of the Dixon Hughes building to stretch. The race director announced that we had less than five minutes until the start. I didn't believe him so I took my time loosening up, and then he announced we had two minutes. Ok fine, I'll head to the pack. I wasn't really sure what to do. I busted my way past several people so I was at least in the road, but I didn't have time to get any closer. I estimated there were at least a hundred people in front of me, and that didn't include those on the other side of the median (on Morrison Blvd.).
I heard, "one minute!" and then a bit later heard a gun go off. Was there not a "runners set..." or had I just not heard it? It didn't matter because I couldn't go anywhere. People were gradually easing towards the start as I put my finger to the watch and looked for the timing mats. I finally crossed them and immediately panicked as I was stuck behind a huge pack of people with no room to maneuver. My casual attitude immediately went out the window as I bolted for the curb and sprinted around as many people as possible, just hoping the spectators would stay out of the way. They did, and I found a small clearing up the hill on the Morrison and darted across the median. I was running like a wild animal and continued to weave through people. I had not begun to consider the possible consequences of such a disorganized start. To be honest, I was actually having a blast weaving through the crowds.
I passed a cheering Mike Kahn and came upon another pack. I was on the right side of the road so I just went around them on the sidewalk instead of darting back across the road. I played this fun game for the entire first mile and came through in about 6:15, but I was feeling great, so I kept pushing. I passed Matt Jaskot, who was just chillin' after running 20 miles yesterday, and Jeremy Gray. I motioned for them to come race with me and then got ready for a fast downhill section on Barclay Downs - after passing designated CRC cameraman Mike Kahn again.
It wasn't until the hill on Runnymede in the third mile that I began to question what kind of effort I really wanted to put out today. There was a woman that kept trying to pass me, and between fighting her off and realizing that there was no way my endurance would fail me, I decided to throw in another surge. I passed by my CMPD friend Alex Watson on Sharon Road as he shouted and waved, and began to reel in more people. No one passed me this race, something I'm proud of, and I had lost count of how many I had reeled in. Of course, that wouldn't have happened if I had actually been where I needed to be at the start. In front of me with 1.5 miles to go was a high school kid, then another four or five runners up ahead of him. I caught him and encouraged him to come with me to reel in the others. He said, "let's do it," and hung on my shoulder for about a quarter-mile before I dropped him.
We ran through the Coca-Cola Plaza and I tried to really pick up steam. My last mile would prove to be my fastest of the race by far at 5:47, which is also faster than any mile split I've hit in any race this year. I was remarkably pleased with my efforts. I passed a group of runners, one of which called out, "way to fnish, Jason" but I don't know who he was. I saw Jason Martin standing and screaming at the corner of Morrison and Rexford as I tried to dig in to catch Anna Donlan. I wondered if I was going to break 30 but then realized the finish line was further away than I thought after my eyes focused. I gained on Anna considerably but I couldn't catch her. I crossed the line in a time of 30:34 on my watch - 30:36 chip time for an average pace of 6:07. My gun time? 31 minutes. I was so far back at the start that it took me 24 seconds to get to the line. Whoops.
I was elated at how well I had run, especially after such a chaotic start and with such a nonchalant attitude. I know a lot of it had to do with the extra fitness from marathon training and all the weight I have lost this year. I found myself extra motivated to keep working harder and improve my overall outlook towards the sport.
After the finish I congratulated some people I knew who had run - Aaron Linz, John Christiano, Jeremy Gray, and a few more. I looked around for Adrienne but there were just too many people so I gave up after a few minutes. I joined Thomas, Michelle, Jaskot, Anna, Dalena Custer, and Ethan Coffey for a cooldown run. We all had fun and raced well!
Race: 5.0 mi. in 30:34.32 - 6:07 ppm. Splits - 6:15, 6:04, 6:19, 6:07, 5:47.
Cooldown: 1.8 mi. in 15:51 - 8:49 ppm.
Running Buddy (Garmin data)
Well...I surprised myself today, to say the least. As discussed in yesterday's post my legs have felt heavy and my only ambitions today were to have fun and possibly treat this as a tempo run. I got a free entry from Theoden so I didn't really care. What happened instead was that I ran my best race of the year, with a faster pace-per-mile today than I achieved in any 5k I ran (out of six events). The conditions were right but, as expected, the crowd made this thing a little nutty. Let's get to the details!
The race wasn't until 9 so I didn't wake up until just after 7. I decided not to eat anything and instead just stretched and put together my racing outfit. I made it to Southpark mall a little early and found a parking spot on the first level of the deck near Dillard's. Then I set out past the crowds at the porta-jons and began warming up on the course. I passed by a young couple that was wearing matching outfits and ran down Barclay Downs to turn on Runnymede. This part of the course was hilly. I ran into Jason Martin and jogged back to the start with him, but he wasn't racing. He was - you guessed - running as a bandit. I was glad to see him there because he always screams at everyone near the finish.
I ran past the massive crowds of people at the start and plopped down in front of the Dixon Hughes building to stretch. The race director announced that we had less than five minutes until the start. I didn't believe him so I took my time loosening up, and then he announced we had two minutes. Ok fine, I'll head to the pack. I wasn't really sure what to do. I busted my way past several people so I was at least in the road, but I didn't have time to get any closer. I estimated there were at least a hundred people in front of me, and that didn't include those on the other side of the median (on Morrison Blvd.).
I heard, "one minute!" and then a bit later heard a gun go off. Was there not a "runners set..." or had I just not heard it? It didn't matter because I couldn't go anywhere. People were gradually easing towards the start as I put my finger to the watch and looked for the timing mats. I finally crossed them and immediately panicked as I was stuck behind a huge pack of people with no room to maneuver. My casual attitude immediately went out the window as I bolted for the curb and sprinted around as many people as possible, just hoping the spectators would stay out of the way. They did, and I found a small clearing up the hill on the Morrison and darted across the median. I was running like a wild animal and continued to weave through people. I had not begun to consider the possible consequences of such a disorganized start. To be honest, I was actually having a blast weaving through the crowds.
I passed a cheering Mike Kahn and came upon another pack. I was on the right side of the road so I just went around them on the sidewalk instead of darting back across the road. I played this fun game for the entire first mile and came through in about 6:15, but I was feeling great, so I kept pushing. I passed Matt Jaskot, who was just chillin' after running 20 miles yesterday, and Jeremy Gray. I motioned for them to come race with me and then got ready for a fast downhill section on Barclay Downs - after passing designated CRC cameraman Mike Kahn again.
It wasn't until the hill on Runnymede in the third mile that I began to question what kind of effort I really wanted to put out today. There was a woman that kept trying to pass me, and between fighting her off and realizing that there was no way my endurance would fail me, I decided to throw in another surge. I passed by my CMPD friend Alex Watson on Sharon Road as he shouted and waved, and began to reel in more people. No one passed me this race, something I'm proud of, and I had lost count of how many I had reeled in. Of course, that wouldn't have happened if I had actually been where I needed to be at the start. In front of me with 1.5 miles to go was a high school kid, then another four or five runners up ahead of him. I caught him and encouraged him to come with me to reel in the others. He said, "let's do it," and hung on my shoulder for about a quarter-mile before I dropped him.
We ran through the Coca-Cola Plaza and I tried to really pick up steam. My last mile would prove to be my fastest of the race by far at 5:47, which is also faster than any mile split I've hit in any race this year. I was remarkably pleased with my efforts. I passed a group of runners, one of which called out, "way to fnish, Jason" but I don't know who he was. I saw Jason Martin standing and screaming at the corner of Morrison and Rexford as I tried to dig in to catch Anna Donlan. I wondered if I was going to break 30 but then realized the finish line was further away than I thought after my eyes focused. I gained on Anna considerably but I couldn't catch her. I crossed the line in a time of 30:34 on my watch - 30:36 chip time for an average pace of 6:07. My gun time? 31 minutes. I was so far back at the start that it took me 24 seconds to get to the line. Whoops.
I was elated at how well I had run, especially after such a chaotic start and with such a nonchalant attitude. I know a lot of it had to do with the extra fitness from marathon training and all the weight I have lost this year. I found myself extra motivated to keep working harder and improve my overall outlook towards the sport.
After the finish I congratulated some people I knew who had run - Aaron Linz, John Christiano, Jeremy Gray, and a few more. I looked around for Adrienne but there were just too many people so I gave up after a few minutes. I joined Thomas, Michelle, Jaskot, Anna, Dalena Custer, and Ethan Coffey for a cooldown run. We all had fun and raced well!
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