I don’t have a whole lot to say about my race today, but it’s become a tradition of sorts for me to write up a little report every time I race, so here it goes…
My main goal today was to finally get an official 5K time under 20 minutes. It seems like I’ve been cursed with this in the past. Everything from huge pacing mistakes to malfunctioning clocks has kept me from hitting this seemingly simple goal. I’ve run it on a treadmill before, I’ve finished longer races at the paces required (including a sub-40 10K), but for whatever reason the official 5K just has not cooperated with me.
Today, the 20 minute mark finally fell. (The 19 minute mark did too.) I finished the 3.1 miles in 18:59, a 6:06 min/mile pace, which I was very happy with considering how sore I was when I woke up this morning. My whole body still ached from the 20+ miles yesterday and I wasn’t sure how it would react to a race on such a quick turnaround.
The first mile was pretty rough. The course was very crowded and there was a lot of contact. Plus, I was really having trouble getting my muscles to warm up and function properly. I hit the marker at 6:10.
Going into Fort Tyron park, we ran down this huge hill. The whole time I was thinking, Wow, this is going to suck running back up. I was right; it did suck. The hill ripped away what little energy I had left and left me completely on fumes. It made for another slow mile and I hit the mile 2 marker at 12:25.
Strangely, I managed to actually run my fastest mile at the end. It helped that it was mostly downhill, but I think the fact that the crowd was getting less dense and that my muscles were finally warming up played a part as well. The last 1.1 miles took me 6:34, a 5:58 pace.
So, I got the P.R. and I broke the elusive 20 minute barrier. Not bad for being so beat up. Still, I definitely feel like I could do better at this distance with a pair of fresh legs and hope to get a chance sometime later this year. I’d love to drop under six minute miles.
But, today I did what I promised myself I would do — running the race just to have fun and not focusing on the time too much — and I have to feel pretty good about that.
Congrats on finally breaking the 20 minute 5K! Sounds like you earned it a long time ago, but it’s still good to get it in the books. Good work.
Yeap…you got what you came for, so there can be no complaints about that. Awesome job considering you are less than 24 hours removed from a 20 miler.
Congrats on a great race and a kick-ass PR!
Dude I don’t even run 2 miles in 20 minutes ;-) Fantastic job, especially given that it was after a 20 miler. I’d probably show up to the start with a walker LOL
WOW…very nice PR! And after a 20 miler????? Are you Superman?????
We don’t really have hills here in Florida, we wince at the speed bumps….LOL
That’s not a hill. It’s an opportunity. One great thing about 5Ks is that you get to the 2 mile mark and you’ve only got a bit over a mile to go. Yet somehow the 5K is a brutal race. (Try doing it on the track.) That may be NYRR’s only one. We have a couple up here in Westchester though.
Especially after your 20+ adventure of Saturday, that was very sweet.
Congrats on breaking the elusive 20 minute barrier!
I love the Coogan’s course, even with that freaking hill! it’s true, Joe–the NYRR’s do not have enough 5k’s in their calendar.
Cowboy, that’s terrif that you knocked over 20 and 19 in one fell [uphill] swoop.
There are some random non-NYRR 5K’s here in the city too. I love the distance (even though it has traditionally not been kind to me) and am also on the lookout for them.