Here is my 5k race report from the weekend.
First let me say that before this race on Sunday, I hadn’t run since Tuesday’s interval effort, which was cut short because I felt like crap. So, stressed by Thing 1’s party preparations and still ailing from some nagging chest congestion, my endorphin-starved self had some decisions to make. Do I even bother going? Should I just stay home and do a snail’s pace long run? Although I’m “rested” running-wise, my cardiovascular capacity is in serious doubt.
Thing 1’s party turned out great. The games went off without a hitch, the food and cake turned out, even the weather cooperated. But I was on my feet all day. But it’s a 5k not a marathon. No big deal. Knowing myself, I’ll be ticked off if I blow the race off entirely so I leave it to chance. If I wake up ontime I’ll go. And I do so I go.
Thankfully the swamplike humidity we’ve been experiencing in these parts has lifted. But hold on to your hat it’s windy, like blow me over windy.
And just when any hope I had of putting some spice in my pj rotation has faded, the packet pickup lady hands me an electric-blue, tye-dye race shirt. Except it’s XL. Hmmm nightgown I guess . . .
I have no expectations for today. The plan is to just do what I can. The field looks smallish, but this is a popular triathalon town so I won’t underestimate the abilities of anyone here. I know the 10k is hilly and challenging so I’m not expecting fast and flat for the 5k either.
We are off. The first mile, all one looooong incline hard into the wind. The lead pack surges ahead. I try to find a pace that doesn’t send me into cardiac arrest. I must be running on 1/2 lung capacity because surely I’ve coughed one up by now. So be it.
Mile 1: 7:50
The 10kers continue straight while we turn to scale yet another looong incline. Thank heavens I didn’t sign on for the 10k. Im running alone now. Am I dead last? Dead, pretty close. Last remains to be seen.
Mile 2: 7:48
Finally we turn into a neighborhood and get a downhill break. I say to myself “recover, recover, recover.” There’s a woman ahead of me now. A spectator tells us we’re running 8 and 9.
Mile 3: 8:06. Ugh. So much for a finishing kick. I manage to pass the woman and a couple of men fall away as well.
Finish time: 24:47. 7:53 pace. Well off my PR. But today I am not in PR shape and this is certainly not a PR course.
By some miracle I managed to win my AG and come in 8th woman overall. So I’ve gone 3, 2, 1 on my shorter races this year. Trifecta!
Marathon Training starts today. And to assuage my guilt over doing a 5k instead of a long run yesterday, I was out this morning for a COD 8-miler. Gorgeous but still windy.
Fantastic! Good for you!