It is rare to see an event in the middle of the week and since I'm tapering off my events this month in preparation for the Jungle Run Half Marathon and the SF Marathon I jumped at the chance to take part in a 5k in the city I grew up in.
Morgan Hill Freedom Run 5k - 0:20:53 (6:44 pace; 58/458)
I've never ran a 5k before other than the 5k that was the run leg for the Lake Almaden Triathlon, so I went into it with a little caution. I had previously ran at a 7:15 pace after swimming and biking, so I had an idea of what pace I should shoot for. The course was a loop course, with the first loop distance of 1.75 miles that followed the route of the 4th of July parade. The streets were already lined with spectators ready to cheer us on. Another plus to this race was that my brother, Mike, joined me again, and my sister, Rochelle, ran her first race.
We were lined up in the front when the gun went off and my nerves got the better of me. I started hard and fast and kept it up for awhile, but realized quickly that I couldn't maintain that pace and finish as strong as I wanted. The first mile clocked in at 6:10, way faster than I had ever run the first mile of a race. Did I push it too hard? My pace noticeably slowed as I settled into a stride. My final two miles clocked in at 7:07 and 7:15.
This amazed me. I was shooting for just under 22 minutes and somehow came in under 21 minutes, or a 6:44 pace, well faster than I thought I could have run my first 5k. This was by far my best result so far. I placed 58th out of 458 entrants, which was 3rd in my age group! I set the bar high for my next 5k. I can only hope that I can maintain my current level of improvement week over week.
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2 comments:
Wow - congrats on such a strong race. Don't know if it was the book or your training - but way to go! A mile that is a 6-7 min range is hero status to me.
Definitely the training on this one. Thanks for the kind words!
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