Turkey Trot 5K and 5K Memories

Twenty eight years ago I ran my first 5K.  It was in Canoga Park, I don't remember the exact date, and I don't remember my exact time.  It was 24 minutes and change.  The documentation of this race is long gone.  What I do remember is going out too fast and dying during the second mile, getting enough energy back to finish relatively strongly at the end.  I was hooked.  I've done countless 5K's since then.  In many ways, the 5K is my favorite distance.  You get up in the morning, put on your shorts and running shoes, maybe do a 3 mile warm up run on the course, race, and head home.  If I want, like this morning, I'm back in bed as I write this blog and may even take a nap!  And I still have the day ahead of me.  This is very different from an Ironman, or even a half ironman.  It's different from a triathlon and everything that goes into one.  It's simplicity. And, it's still a solid challenge.

Over the years, the 5K was my running north star.  In the 90's, as I began running and focused on marathons, I still made time for 5K's.  I got my 5K time down into the 21 and 22 minute range.  Somewhere along the way, I don't remember exactly when, I did a 5K at UC San Diego and managed a 20 minute and 12 second finish.  Tantalizingly close to the 20 minute mark that I'd set as my 5K goal.  Yet, that goal was elusive.  I worked on my one mile time and managed to do a mile on the track in under 6 minutes.  Then, in 2008, on the weekend of my 49th birthday, I ran a 5K in San Pedro, California.  I was living in Denver at the time, so there was a benefit of coming down to sea level.  My coach told me to "run like you stole something."  I was in the zone that day, and remember how easy it felt to run fast.  I crossed the finish line in 19:30.  My first, and only, sub-20 minute 5K.  They never published the results of that race online, but I still have the data.

In the last several years, my focus has been on Ironman training, and my 5K times haven't been under 23 minutes for quite awhile.  I wasn't sure what I could do today.  I'm still recovering from Kona, but I'm finally starting to feel like myself.  It was cold and raining today, which helps in some ways, but not in others.  I did a solid 3 mile warm up comfortably and got in a couple of 45 second strides at around 7 minute pace.  There's always a difference between training and racing, however, and once the gun goes off, the adrenaline kicks in and helps.

I ran the first mile today fast and relatively comfortable.  I like to call it comfortably hard.  I wasn't looking at my watch at all, and was pleasantly surprised to see 7:17 for my first mile, which had a slight net downhill to it.  I upped my breathing over the second mile, which had a slight net uphill, and started feeling the strain of a 5K.  Fortunately, I didn't "die," like I did in my first 5K twenty eight years ago, and felt very positive to see 7:35 pop up on my watch for my second mile.  Unfortunately, the third mile didn't turn out to be the kind of mile I'd wanted.  I had hoped to bury myself during the third mile, but my legs weren't feeling it, and honestly, I wasn't either.  I didn't slow down too much, and managed 8:17 for the third mile.  Somehow, if I'd left everything out there today, I might have gotten the third mile under 8 minutes.  I was able to run fast for the final tenth of a mile. about 7 minute pace, to finish the 5K in 23:37, my fastest 5K in five years, and not too shabby for a 60 year old.  It's a great starting point for the upcoming year, where I'd like to focus on my speed and seeing what I can do with my 5K time.  While I love goals, I think I'll just let this one come about naturally, and let it be whatever it will be!