Race Report: 2011 Run Downtown 5K

Overall results based on chip time:

29:04 - 9:23 min per mile average

Overall 922/1761

Age group results based on gun time:
29:58 - 9:40 min per mile average
Age group 47/134

A cow ran too. I am pretty sure he/she was faster than me! ;-)

Pre Race:

Preparation is everything! ;-)

After work, I stopped by Academy Sports and picked up my number and t-shirt. Once at home, I picked out all my stuff for the race the next day... Only to switch from capris to long tights basically two minutes before leaving. It was just too cold out there.

I drove over to the Caine Halter Y and then ran from there to the start line as my warm-up. I made it 10 minutes before the start. Perfect timing! I met up with two of my relay buddies and then fought my way back through the crowds to be closer to the back of the pack. On the way there, I ran into two more acquaintances.... Always good to have somebody to chat through minutes before the race, this time, I didn't even think of getting nervous.

Race:

My (the coach's) plan for this race to stick around 170 bpm and that's what I did. The race starts with a downhill and then an uphill for the remainders and then some of the first mile. I clocked the first mile with 10:09 minutes and it freaked me out a little. I was right on target concerning my heart rate, but I didn't feel like I worked hard at all.... And a 10 minute mile won't bring me in at my secondary goal of making it under 30 minutes. The second mile was a rolling downhill, meaning that in general the direction was downhill, but there were also uphills in this mile. I still stuck to my heart rate goal and then second mile came in with 9:27 minutes. Better, but still not great and I still felt like I wasn't working a lot and it was harder and harder to stay within my goal and the garmin kept beeping at me. So right around the mile two marker, I took the heart rate alert out and just ran... As hard as I felt like it. Mile three and the rest is also rolling, with the last .1 mile is straight downhill to the finish... I sure felt right away, that I was picking up the pace and working harder. Mile three came in at a 8:54 minute pace (WHAT??? ;-) and the rest of the race was done in 37.1 seconds meaning a 7:22 pace.

It was not a PR (not even close), but overall this was a good race. I did what I was supposed to do heart rate wise for most of the race and I also accomplished the secondary goal of staying under 30 minutes. Good stuff after all.

The little picture sequence shows that I was kicking harder at the end.

On the left behind the girl in the pink shirt and black jacket.

This is my "I am sucking air" face.

So ready to be done....

 Post Race:

I walked through the chute and dropped off my chip. They used the chips that are glued to the bib and you just tear off the bottom of the bib and drop them into big bins. Of course, I felt sick for a little while after the race, but I walked it off first. I wanted to grab some water and a little food, but then saw the line and didn't think it was worth waiting, because I wanted to run back to the Y before getting chilled to the bone. So I turned around right away and ran back to the Y and also did some weights since I was there anyways.

Race Review:

This is a great race with a lot of people each year. I prefer the smaller races, but this is just a lot of fun and I am really digging the race shirts. ;-)