I have only been focused on marathon training lately, so I was pretty happy to PR in the 5K by over 30 seconds.
Though it gets me pretty curious to see what I can do in the 5K with 6-7 weeks of specific 5K training I must admit.
But it was nice going into a race without many self-expectations and just racing the people.
What that meant in this case was the following:
Turkey Leg 5K in Farmington Utah. A small race, maybe 200 people. Perfect 40 degree sunshine and dry roads made for a great morning to run.
After 1/4 mile it was just three of us way off the front of the rest. It was 2 Davis High school runners and then me following a few feet behind.
First mile was really comfortable and slightly down hill in 5:32. Then it started up hill and my plan on the day was just to hang with the leaders and see if I could out kick them for the $50 overall prize at the end. I knew that one of the kids was a solid enough runner because he had won the race last year beating Nan by 10-15 seconds running low 17. It was obvious he wasn’t working that hard.
I stuck right behind them as the effort increased in the 2nd mile uphill. Split was 5:42. Then one of the kids started to fade. I stuck with the leader.
Then came the sharp downhill drop. I looked at my gps out of curiosity and it said 4:27/mile pace. It was a STEEP section, but quickly levels off. I pulled slightly ahead of the kid on the steepest part and noted how loud his feet were slapping down with each step. But me pulling ahead must have given him the impetus he needed because he held on to the 5:00/mile pace even on the flat and after a bit he started gapping me. Then it looped back up hill to the finish and he gapped me more. I dug in and did my best to stay as close as I could to him and finish strong.
Sprinted to the finish with the clock registering 16:53.
Sweet! Finally broke that 17 minute mark. Feels good to see the fitness improvement this last marathon training block has provided. The 1st place kid beat me by about 15 seconds I think.
I found out after he ran a 15:27 at regionals the week prior. I was glad to have him there pulling me to a new PR. And it felt good to negatively split. Splits were: 5:30 downhill, 5:40 uphill, 5:17 down then up, :26 for the last .1
I wasn’t thinking about my finish time as I ran, just running to keep up with the kid in front of me. So it was pretty nice to see the 16 on the clock as I rounded the last corner.
Nice! Congrats. Hitting a PR shortly after you didn’t hit goal (not that I’m discounting your marathon!) is always much sweeter!
Happy PR!!
Nice job on the PR! Sounds like all of the marathon training paid off in terms of better overall fitness.
Huge! That marathon may have been frustrating (thanks Aeolus /sarcasm) but it sure paid some dividends in fitness.
30 seconds in 5K is giant!
Thanks guys. The marathon training certainly has shown marked improvement in fitness. So I guess one positive side effect of the windy day/slower time meant that I recovered really fast and was able to have a good race less than 2 weeks later.