I had a 5k race today help in Niagara Falls State Park (the whole race had great views of the rapids and falls). It was a smallish race (~600 people) and the weather was perfect, about 40 and overcast. My goal was 18:36 (6:00) pace. The course was pretty flat with the little hill being a bridge we ran over. Did a nice 1.5m warm up and got in place. I worm my HRM to see what my max HR looks likes, I wanted to get a more accurate reading.
Mile 1 (6:02, ave. HR 180) A little congested at the start but once it cleared out I got into a comfortable pace. Got settled and passed a couple people who started a little fast.
Miles 2 and 3 (6:07 and 6:08, ave HR 184) Wasn't feeling super strong but kept trying to keep the pace up. People around me we were all settled and not much passing was going on. Just worked on holding my place.
Last 0.1 (39 seconds, ave HR 186). Hit my highest HR (187) coming into the home stretch and pushed across in 19th place (4th in my age). Almost caught the runner in front of me. Total time 18:54 (6:05 pace) chip and 19:00 on the dot for gun time. Overall I felt pretty good but a little sad I missed my times by 18 seconds but I pushed as hard as I could. It was my fastest 5k in 7 years so I was pretty excited about that and now I have a new PR I can work to beat! I have a lot of hard workouts lined up this winter for racing in the spring. Based on hitting 187 in the race Id expect my Max HR to be around 192-3 which is what I thought it was.
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