5K Report
This was my 1st ever attempt at a 5K/10K double and I must say it was actually a lot of fun! Temps were in the mid 60’s, absolutely unbelievable for March in WI. So conditions were what I would consider perfect for this time of the year.
The course was very hilly and we had a tough wind to run against up the hills, which made both races challenging. The 5K is a loop course that climbs a large long hill into the wind 1 time and the 10K does the 5K loop twice. The rest of this course is slight ups and downs. We either had the wind with us or against us in both races. The hill really wasn’t much of a factor because we ran down it an equal amount of times as we went up it with the loop format of this race. I really like the loop format, it gives you a lot of crowd support, it’s good for spectators, and it psychologically feels easier to me. I’m not sure why? The course on the 5K and 10K both had an inner shorter loop and a longer outer loop.
5K Course profile:
10K Course profile:
The 5K started at 9 am and the 10K was suppose to start at 9:30, but the race director planned the 5K to loop through the 10K start and so of course not all the 5K runners finished in less than 30 minutes. We actually started the race at 9:50 as we all waited for all the 5K runners to cross through the start. I didn’t mind the extra rest timeJ.
My day started off a little hectic because I woke up late. I packed last night so, I wouldn’t have to worry about finding everything in the morning. Good thing I did or I probably would have missed the start of the 5K. In the process I forgot to grab my Garmin off the charger, so this race report won’t include splits. I’m kind of glad I didn’t have a watch because it allowed me to run by feel, it was a very free feeling and probably kept me more relaxed through all the hills and wind. I managed to get in a .5 mile warm-up with the short amound of time.
My goal was top 5 in both races and at least a PR in the 5K and a strong effort in the 10K with whatever I had left in the tank.
The 5K started off with a group of 5. I was feeling very relaxed sitting in 5th running off everyone’s energy. I was trying to conserve every ounce of my own energy in this 1st race. The 1st mile does a small loop and then heads back through the start/finish area and past it for another loop in the opposite direction against the wind. The 1st mile was equal wind against/with and about equally up and down. It was the fastest split I’ve run in any race in my post collegiate running. In fact I’ve never even run a 5:10 mile in a workout post collegiately.
The 2nd mile our pack began to break up and I moved into 3rd place about a second back from the leader. The 2nd mile goes with the wind down a big hill that takes us past the turnaround of the inner loop. Down the hill with the wind felt great ;-) !! I have no idea what this split was, but if I had to guess it was faster than the 1st mile. The course has a short section of flat at the bottom of the big hill then turns back into the wind to climb the big hill. Into the wind up the big hill was quite a workout. I focused on staying strong, but relaxed as I climbed what seemed forever… At the top of the hill I was in 3rd right on 2nd place. I felt pretty gassed in the lungs, but found my legs were really strong (got to love that marathon strength). The 1st place runner gapped us on the hill by about 8-10 seconds.
The 3rd mile was slightly up hill into the wind and 2nd place put a strong surge in with .75 miles to go. I responded, but couldn’t shift into that next gear to stay with him. I finished with what I would consider a 6 out of 10 kick in 16:22 – a 30 second post collegiate PR! It was the 1st 5K I’ve officially raced since I started running again in 2010. The only thing I could base it off of was my split from the Literacy Network 10K last fall. Hard to believe I hadn’t run any other 5K’s. I need to run more of these; it was a lot of fun to run fast!!
I rate this race as 8 out of 10. I simply lacked the strength to shift into that finishing gear I know I’m capable of. I think it’s more of a mental thing than physical thing, which is better than the other way around in my opinion. My avg. pace was 5:17 according to the final results. To run that fast on marathon legs on that course is a BIG jump in fitness for me. Best of goal #1 accomplished!
I went inside to change bibs, grab a water and chow on some snacks. Lucky for me they had my favorite candy – Snickers! I had two mini Snickers and went back outside to cheer on the other finishers. I did a little stretching, but mainly just kept walking and doing some light jogging along the course. My legs felt fully recovered after about 10 minutes and the extra rest time wasn’t really needed, but it probably did help a little with the water and food intake I was able to gulp down between races a little more slowly than I would otherwise had without time delay.
On to the 10K for more punishing fun!
10K report below
They managed to squeeze the 10K start between some of the finishers in the 5K and the leader took the pace out fast leaving me leading a chase pack of 2 others. Again going with the wind was nice ;-) The 10K inner loop was a little longer than the 5K loop, which through me for a little surprise. We actually ran ½ way down the big hill and had to do a 180 degree knee knocking turn. Back into the wind we climbed. With no watch I just kept my eyes on the leader. He had about a 10-15 sec. lead through mile 1.
After looping through the start/finish to lots of nice cheers we did another 180 degree turn about a ½ mile in the opposite direction of where we came from (rest of the course was just like the 5K x 2). Before the Big hill there is a medium size hill that gets the legs burning and on that hill the two guys behind me pulled in front of me, but I was able to respond with their increase of pace.
When we hit the Big downhill I let the legs open up and gapped the two other runners a good 5-10 seconds based on cheers from the crowd. I actually pulled up about 5 seconds behind the leader who looked to be struggling.
I made another 180 degree turn back into the wind. When we made the turn I think the leader was really surprised to see me right there! He made a significant surge on the flat leading up to the big hill climb. I should have gone with him, but I starting to feel dizzy I hurled up my Snickers. My concentration was clearly broken for a good ½ mile. I stayed strong on the long hill climb into the wind. My thoughts were #1 I’m never eating Snickers before or during a race again and #2 this hill is no fun the 3rd time around.
As came to the top of the hill (which is about the mile 3 marker), I was still disoriented. I think it was motion sickness, but I’m no doctor. My pace must have slowed down quite a bit because the 2 guys caught me as we came through the start/finish area and the leader now had a good solid lead of 20-30 seconds.
Mile 4 I grabbed a cup of water thinking I maybe I was dizzy due to dehydration, although in the back of my mind I knew that wasn’t the case. It did serve good for washing out my vomit mouth – ick! As we made the 180 degree turn to do 1 more outer loop one of the two behind me pulled up behind me. We were now running with the wind and for whatever reason I started to feel better.
I continued to lead through mile 4 up the medium hill and down the Big Hill. I actually opened another small gap on the Big Hill, but it was short lived as my competition (Kyle) surged to catch me at the last 180 degree turn. I took a quick peak to see where what would be 4th place was and he was a good 15 seconds back. I knew I was strong enough to finish in 3rd place with a little over a mile to go, but I had the challenging Big Hill into the wind to contend with for one last time for the day.
Kyle and I ran neck to neck up the hill and I could tell he was struggling. I felt very controlled up the hill and I was breathing less hard than Kyle, but I was really feeling it in my legs this time around! When we hit the top of the hill we both made a move. We had about ¾ of a mile with the medium downhill and then slightly up hill into the staging area. We flew down the medium hill at a fast clip and I knew when we hit the bottom of the hill Kyle was going to make a move.
Kyle made the move I predicted and I went with him for about a .25 mile, but I just couldn’t hang with his close as he got me by about 7 seconds with the leader finishing about 40 seconds ahead, Kyle 2nd, and myself in at 3rd for a 35:12 – a 10 second PR.
I was really happy with the two 3rd place race finishes and ecstatic about the 2 PR’s off of virtually no taper in mileage this week! Plus I accomplished goal #2 and met a new runner that I’ll see in Boston. I rate this race a 8 out of 10. I'm just lacking that it factor at the end, but I'm making leaps in fitness as I climb out of my 9 year hibernation from running.
Kyle ran for the Badgers about 10 years ago, which would put him close to my age. He was a 5-6 man for the Badgers CC team back in his best years. He’s run Boston 6 times with his best last year in 2:37 on that monster tail wind. He says it took him 6 years to figure out to run Boston with is worst a 3:12 and numerous others in the 2:40’s even running a 2:47 on an injured foot from training. His strategy is to jog the 1st mile – it’s his slowest mile (about 5-10 seconds off of normal pace, but with the downhill he says it feels like a jog). He says the rest of the race is marathon pace or a little slower always error on the slow side to conserve energy for the hills. He says it also helps to keep the quads from getting beat up. I would imagine he and I will be about the same pace, so I might employ a similar type of strategy.
The race was well organized. Other than the debacle of having the 5K loop through the 10K start. My hardware for the effort is two matching dinner plates as trophies.
Finished with what I think was a 7 mile cool down based on the clock I saw in the lobby?
Evening: 4.5 miles w/Jameson in town route - perfect temps and calm winds.
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