2006 Daisy 5k
I woke up at 6:00 this morning to run the Daisy 5k. Still battling a cold, I rolled out of bed, donned my running gear and headed downtown to run in the longest running (no pun intended - running as in number of years) 5k race in Austin.
I arrived about 30 minutes early, picked up my timing chip and made a final pit stop before warming up. They got started a little late because of some road blocking issues. A little after 8:00 they started all the chip timed women (my group). Five minutes or so after that, the chip timed men got to go, then after that everyone else.
I started off well, actually, a little too well. I probably went out too fast, but at the time, it didn't feel too fast. Mile 1 came quickly and I remembered to lap my GPS at exactly the mile one mark - 10:14. Yay! I tried very hard to concentrate on my form and I heard Karen's voice in my head shouting "floppy feet!" I did my best to keep my feet floppy which seems to be the main thing that helps alleviate my shin splints when I run.
Mile 2 wasn't quite as good and I was feeling my cold and lack of run training lately. I slowed down and walked a bit during mile 2 but still managed to do it in 11:10 (again, I actually remembered to lap my GPS). Mile 3 was the hardest mile. The course was actually relatively flat. A few gradual hills here and there, but no super hard hills. My heart rate was alarmingly high and at one point I felt a little dizzy. I decided not to push it since I was sick and I did a walk/run for much of mile 3 (blowing my runny nose constantly in my hanky while walking). I did mile 3 in 11:38 - still pretty good, especially for all the walking I was doing. (And again with the lapping - go me!)
I tried to pick it up for the final stretch, although by this time I felt like I was dying. My sinuses were pounding in my head, my nose was doing it's faucet routine (sorry, gross, but I'm sick) and I felt very out of breath. But I pushed hard - all form flying out the window regrettably and did the last 1/10 of a mile in 1:24 (9:03/mile pace) just to be done with the thing. Total time according to my GPS was 34:17 - a PR for me for a 5k.
I would love one day to do a 5k in under 30 minutes and I think that is realistic some day. Given that my previous PR for a 5k was 35:42, I'm pretty happy with 34:17 which is my first sub-11 minute mile pace (10:54/mi).
This is all according to my GPS. My chip time is actually a few seconds better (since I started my GPS before I actually crossed the starting mat). My chip time was 34:08.
After the finish I was given a towel, bottle of water and a daisy before I wandered off and started back to my car. Halfway back to the car I realized nobody had cut my chip off. Usually after a race you are in sort of a post-race daze so really nice volunteers holler at you to get your chip cut off. Nobody did that and I didn't even remember seeing anyone. I walked back over to the finish and found little girl scouts off to the side. Their buckets (for the chips) were nearly empty. I have a feeling that there will be a lot of people mailing chips back in for this one. I stuck my shoe out to one of them and she looked at me like I was a space alien, then a light went on and she realized I wanted her to cut off my chip.
After I got my chip cut off, I also realized I missed all the food. I found Krispy Kreme donuts but that was the last thing I wanted at that moment so I had to ask two people before I finally located the fruit. I ate a half a banana, an orange slice and an oatmeal/walnut/raisin Clif bar on my way back to my car.
After the race I was glowing in my PR-ness. It was a fast course and probably not hard for most people to PR, but I was excited since I was sick and haven't been training much running-wise lately and still managed it. I feel pretty optimistic now about the run portion of my tri.
I arrived about 30 minutes early, picked up my timing chip and made a final pit stop before warming up. They got started a little late because of some road blocking issues. A little after 8:00 they started all the chip timed women (my group). Five minutes or so after that, the chip timed men got to go, then after that everyone else.
I started off well, actually, a little too well. I probably went out too fast, but at the time, it didn't feel too fast. Mile 1 came quickly and I remembered to lap my GPS at exactly the mile one mark - 10:14. Yay! I tried very hard to concentrate on my form and I heard Karen's voice in my head shouting "floppy feet!" I did my best to keep my feet floppy which seems to be the main thing that helps alleviate my shin splints when I run.
Mile 2 wasn't quite as good and I was feeling my cold and lack of run training lately. I slowed down and walked a bit during mile 2 but still managed to do it in 11:10 (again, I actually remembered to lap my GPS). Mile 3 was the hardest mile. The course was actually relatively flat. A few gradual hills here and there, but no super hard hills. My heart rate was alarmingly high and at one point I felt a little dizzy. I decided not to push it since I was sick and I did a walk/run for much of mile 3 (blowing my runny nose constantly in my hanky while walking). I did mile 3 in 11:38 - still pretty good, especially for all the walking I was doing. (And again with the lapping - go me!)
I tried to pick it up for the final stretch, although by this time I felt like I was dying. My sinuses were pounding in my head, my nose was doing it's faucet routine (sorry, gross, but I'm sick) and I felt very out of breath. But I pushed hard - all form flying out the window regrettably and did the last 1/10 of a mile in 1:24 (9:03/mile pace) just to be done with the thing. Total time according to my GPS was 34:17 - a PR for me for a 5k.
I would love one day to do a 5k in under 30 minutes and I think that is realistic some day. Given that my previous PR for a 5k was 35:42, I'm pretty happy with 34:17 which is my first sub-11 minute mile pace (10:54/mi).
This is all according to my GPS. My chip time is actually a few seconds better (since I started my GPS before I actually crossed the starting mat). My chip time was 34:08.
After the finish I was given a towel, bottle of water and a daisy before I wandered off and started back to my car. Halfway back to the car I realized nobody had cut my chip off. Usually after a race you are in sort of a post-race daze so really nice volunteers holler at you to get your chip cut off. Nobody did that and I didn't even remember seeing anyone. I walked back over to the finish and found little girl scouts off to the side. Their buckets (for the chips) were nearly empty. I have a feeling that there will be a lot of people mailing chips back in for this one. I stuck my shoe out to one of them and she looked at me like I was a space alien, then a light went on and she realized I wanted her to cut off my chip.
After I got my chip cut off, I also realized I missed all the food. I found Krispy Kreme donuts but that was the last thing I wanted at that moment so I had to ask two people before I finally located the fruit. I ate a half a banana, an orange slice and an oatmeal/walnut/raisin Clif bar on my way back to my car.
After the race I was glowing in my PR-ness. It was a fast course and probably not hard for most people to PR, but I was excited since I was sick and haven't been training much running-wise lately and still managed it. I feel pretty optimistic now about the run portion of my tri.
Comments
Post a Comment