Adventures of a Marathoner: CityBlast 5k RR

Time: 18:59
Overall Place: 6th/574
Age Group Place: 1st/18

After the race was over, I had a lot of mixed feelings. Now that I've had a few days to think about it, I'm happy with my performance.

This was my second time running this event. I was registered to run in last year but ended up making a trip to St Louis so I missed out. It is a local event put on by my church and the local YMCA.

My lovely fiance was nice enough to come out and support me :) I picked her up at her folks' place around 6:30 and we headed downtown to the start. The race starts and finished at the local fairgrounds. The course is mostly flat with one large hill at mile 2.

I had some high hopes for this race (which lead to my original mixed feelings). As such, I lined up at the front of the field. There were only a few people who worried me at the start (as they should have, they all beat me), three high school kids and a two other runners. I really wanted to PR at this event. I made a race plan the night before and followed it well.

I went out around 5:52 for the first mile. The plan was 5:50-5:55, then hold something close to 6:00 for mile two, let the hill slow me a little on the way up and blast the down hill to the finish. So the first mile was right on. Mile two was a little slower than expected, and the hill hurt more than I had planned. I was still able to dig a little speed out and finish strong in 18:59. Here is where the mixed feelings start. My PR is 18:58. I was close, but missed it. And I placed well. I was upset about missing it by one second.

After some thought, I am very happy with my performance for several reasons:

1. I haven't done any speedwork since before Boston. Sure, I've done a few tempo runs but no track/5k specific work.

2. I hadn't really planned on running the race. I didn't sign up until the 1st.

3. It was day 22 of my streak (which is currently at 25 days). I'm sure that played into my effort a little.

For now, I'll keep working on my base hopefully getting to 50ish mpw by August. I may look for another 5k later this summer and do some speed work so I can make a serious attempt at breaking my PR.

Since the Kid was there, you all get photos :)