Jan 11
2nd Annual Run for Young
This was the first of the races i’ve committed to for my running resolutions this year, and i set the bar pretty high for myself. With an unofficial finish time of 30:47 (according to my GPS watch), this might be the best time i’ve ever run a 5k.
This result gives me a lot of confidence in my ability to get faster. This is an amazing 4 minutes off my last 5k in September, which i completed in 34:49. 30:47 is definitely a personal record for me for a standalone 5k. I would love to get that under 30 minutes. (I may have had a 5k split under 30 minutes during one of my sprint triathlons in 2002-2003).
Here’s the breakdown:
Mile 1: The start felt pretty slow. There were too many walkers crammed near the front, so there was a lot of weaving around them to get to a place where you could find your stride. Despite having made a concerted effort to warm up before the race, i still didn’t feel warm or hit any kind of stride until near the end of the first mile. I happened to glance down at my GPS right as i passed the one mile mark. Odd, but there were no volunteers out yelling out your time to you. The race started near Edenton/Wilmington intersection downtown, and went to the NC State Bell Tower and back. It was pretty flat, but the first half was definitely more uphill than down. But that’s OK - it means the finish should be downhill. I pushed myself a bit in the first mile, but didn’t really feel like i hit a groove. Mile 1 finished in 9:42.
Mile 2: I started this mile feeling pretty good b/c i knew my first mile had been under 10 minutes. I wondered to myself if i could really keep up that pace, which is pretty fast for me. But then i found a groove. A good breathing pattern. Some good music on the ipod. I started to recognize some of the people around me. There was one lady in a white windbreaker who i seesawed with a bit. I told myself i wouldn’t let her get away from me. Both water stations happened during this mile. I stopped to walk for a few seconds at the first station - it was before the turnaround and it was on an uphill climb. However, i wasn’t willing to stop at the second water station b/c i didn’t want to waste the downhill momentum. Even though water would have been really nice. I noticed myself breathing fairly heavily. It sounded loud to me, maybe too loud? I couldn’t hear the others around me breathing that loud. But i felt pretty good, so i trusted my body to warn me if i was pushing too hard. I finished this mile in 9:57.
Mile 3: At this point i am psyched! I’d walked in a couple sections during that second mile, though i was disciplined and only allowed myself two 30-second breaks. But even with walks, that mile was under 10 minutes. And the rest should be downhill. Well, except for the one dip on Edenton that has a pretty steep hill right after it breaks off from Hillsborough, but if i could just get over that, i’d be fine. I was still pacing white windbreaker gal, and we chatted for a few minutes, but then i pulled ahead. As i left her i glanced at my watch and said “just half a mile left.” When i got to the bottom of that steep hill, i almost gave up and walked again, but the lure of the good time kept me going. I decided to at least do a slow jog up this damn hill. No more walking allowed. And it was painful, but i did make it up that hill, then down the final quarter mile toward the finish. Mile 3 finished in 9:44.
The final .1: This final segment was tough, but i knew a good time was waiting for me if i could just finish strong. Windbreaker woman started her sprint before me, and i saw her coming up in my peripheral vision. I kicked it up a slight notch to finish just ahead of her, and we high-fived at the end. The final segment was 1:22.
The course was pretty flat, and it was nice weather for running. That surely helped with my good time, but wow, four minutes difference! I’m very pleased, and looking forward to trying to beat that time in next month’s race. 
January 11th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Congratulations!!! Wow! What a great race report and a great race! These are amazing splits!! It is an amazing feeling to break those PRs!