Journey to Kona Day 150: 5K Race Recap

This may be one of my only 5K race recaps ever, but seemed  like a good thing to write about!  5K's are unique.  I'll always remember my first one.  I went out too fast, died in the middle and survived at the end.  That was about 27 years ago.  I was 32 years old and had just worked up to running a mile straight for the first time in my life.  My time was 24 minutes and something.  It hurt a lot.  Over the ensuing years, I endeavored to run a 5K in under 20 minutes, and achieved that goal only once, on my 49th birthday in San Pedro, CA.  5K's have been rare for me the past few years, as I focused on ironman and endurance.  Today's 5K was a general test for me.  It was part of a long run day, and it was an opportunity to see where my leg speed is.

The "warm-up" today was a very hilly 5.25 mile run to the race.  I've been running the same loop, and I was pleasantly surprised to average 9:49 pace despite 400 feet of climbing.  My run cadence was 167, which isn't bad for me right now.  I used the 15 minutes prior to the race start to stretch and relax.  The first mile was mostly uphill, and I wanted to go hard without blowing up.  I kept my breathing at every 3rd step and navigated all the kids who go out fast and flame out.  There was 75 feet of climbing in the first mile and when I hit the first mile marker I was pleased to see 7:51.  My cadence was 175, which is about right for that pace.  There was still some climbing to do (42 feet) before getting to the main downhill portion of the race, and when I hit that I tried to relax and go fast, but not to pound too hard.  At the bottom of the descent, things flattened out. I was breathing every 3rd step, and breathing hard. I moved into my semi-grunting mode, not too loud, but definitely noticeable.  No one was passing me, and I was picking up younger people who'd gone out too hard, like I'd done 27 years ago.  I hit the 2nd mile mark with a time of 7:25.  I'd have liked it to be a little faster with the downhill, but the initial climb scrubbed some time off this mile.  I'm sure I was running under 7 minute pace on the descent.  My Cadence was 178.  I had a mile to go, and I was feeling the effects of a 5K.  Fortunately, there were a few guys in front of me who were clearly struggling, and I made it my focus to catch them.  The third mile was relatively flat, with about 32 feet of climbing and 16 feet of descent.  I was going pretty close to my hardest effort, although I won't say maximal effort.  I don't think that I ever really pushed into breathing every 2nd step mode (at least I don't recall).  Still, I was running hard, and near the 3rd mile marker I passed the person in front of me.  My 3rd mile was 7:40, cadence 175.  There was a slight uphill to the finish and then a short 100 foot downhill to the line.  I was confident that I could stay in front the the younger guy on the uphill, but was concerned about my speed on the short downhill.  As I made the turn, he was on my heels, but I relaxed and just ran as fast as I could.  Remarkably, I had a kick left.  My last tenth of a mile was done at 6:47 pace.  I kept in front of the guy who was now behind me.  My time 23:46, average pace of 7:37, average cadence of 176.  Total climbing 160 feet.  Not a flat 5K.  I felt like I probably would have kept closer to 7:10 minute pace on a totally flat course today.  It was a local race, and I doubt that there were more than 20 people who finished in front of me.

After getting some water and bananas, it was time to run home.  I took the first few miles easy, to get the lactic acid out of my legs, and then pushed a little bit towards the end.  The route home was a hilly 6.65 miles, bringing my total mileage for the day to 15 miles.  I kept a 10:15 pace on the way home, which included another 460 feet of climbing, bringing my total climbing for the day to over 1000 feet.  Pretty solid for 15 miles of running.  Over 2 hours and 23 minutes, averaging ~9:30 pace overall.  I'll take that.  Plus, I felt good. The journey continues!