It’s been a few years since I ran my last 5k race. I tell myself that if I’m paying for a racing and lacing up the shoes, I should be running farther than 3 miles. That is certainly part of the reason I haven’t done one lately, but the main reason is 5k races are fast. I much prefer going longer and settling into a nice comfortable pace.
This year, we stayed in Boise for Thanksgiving and had several friends running the Turkey Trot 5k so we decided to sign up. On Tuesday, I did 3x 2 mile repeats on the track which is what the training plan called for, but the training plan didn’t include a race on Thursday. I woke up the morning of the race, still sore from the track workout. Oops. My plan was to race (rather than just jog) and I checked last year’s results to see where my estimated finishing time (~18:30) would put me. I decided that if I finished around 20th, I would hit about the pace I wanted.
Before the start, I got to the front, knowing there were probably people behind me who were faster, but I like toeing the line at races. When the gun went off, about 40 people along the line surged ahead of me. I didn’t want to go out too fast, but I also knew that if they got far enough ahead, I wouldn’t be able to catch them, so I picked up my pace. I felt like I was in trouble. I was pushing pretty hard and some of the high school cross country runners were laugh and joking. This was going to be much tougher than I thought. Then after about four blocks, I heard one say, “Well that was fun, but I think I’m done now,” and a whole group of them slowed down significantly. I should have known better.
I was able to maintain close to my starting pace and when I looked at my watch at the mile mark, I was a little disappointed. I read 6:32 which was slower than I had hoped for and it was hurting more than I expected. Then I did a double take. Turns out, it didn’t say 6:32, it said 5:32! I was flying! If I could keep this up, I might be able to beat my high school PR of 17:15. It hadn’t seemed possible an hour ago, but it was within reach, so I kept pushing. I crossed the two mile mark at 11:00. On the third mile, I started feeling the track workout from Tuesday as my calves started to tighten. I wasn’t the only one hurting at this point and I was able to pass about a dozen people over this mile.
Coming into the final stretch, I realized I’d had a good race, but not one to beat my PR. I finished at 17:30, a minute faster than I was hoping for and within sight of my all-time fastest 5k. Looking back on it, I might have been able to shave off those 15 seconds if I’d skipped the 3x2s on Tuesday, but I’ll take it. I now have a reason to sign up for another 5k and this time, I’ll put a little more thought into my training.
- Have you been able to break any of your high school PRs?
- Did you do a Turkey Trot this year? How’d it go?
Boise Brew Minute (Episode 16) – I’m traveling this week and stopped in a new brewery in Olympia called Three Magnets. Grant was happy to talk to me about their triple IPA with 180 IBUs (theoretically). We also discussed their new, bright red beet beer which they have been working to perfect for five years.
A Runner's Ramblings 