2007 Freedom 5k
On July 4, 2005 I ran my first race - a 5k. Last year, I went back and I ran a 5k again. It seems to be a tradition now because I ran another 5k this 4th of July. This year it was a different race (the last two years was the Marathon Relay, this year was the Freedom 5k). Luckily, the Freedom 5k used most of the same course as the Marathon Relay so it's a good way to compare my progress over the last couple years:
2005: 36:09 - 11:38/mi
2006: 34:53 - 11:13/mi
2007: 27:56 - 8:57/mi
In two years, I've knocked over eight minutes off my 5k time. Seven in the last year alone. Not to mention, today's race was also a PR by almost 2 minutes. My previous 5k was in December at 29:50 (9:39/mi). I'm definitely improving!
I don't really have much to report about the race. I made a conscious decision not to worry about going out too fast or negative splits. There was a recent article in Runner's World that a good 5k strategy actually appears to be to go faster for the first mile. They don't necessarily advocate this strategy for longer races or for everyone. In my case, it seemed to work for me today in this fairly flat 5k. Surprisingly, I held on to the crazy pace for a full 2 miles.
They didn't have mile markers or race clocks (weird), but I was wearing my GPS. The interesting thing is that my GPS measured the course at 3.18 miles. It's usually not off that much. Roger's GPS also measured the course long. So according to the distance and time off my GPS, I ran an 8:47/mi average. Either way, I'll take it. :)
Splits:
Mile 1 - 8:44
Mile 2 - 8:44
Mile 3 - 9:02
last .1-.18 miles 1:24
(If it really was .1 miles that puts me at a 14 min mile for the last chunk, which I definitely wasn't doing. I was seriously hauling ass. The GPS says 7:58/mi pace which is more what it felt like.)
There are a couple other random things about the race I want to mention. When we were driving down there, it was dark and threatening to rain, then it started raining. When we arrived, it was slowing down and by the time we parked and walked to the race site, it was letting up. The weather held and we didn't get rained on during the race.
Just before the race, we were heading for the bathroom line and a TV reporter with a camera asked if he could talk to me. So I should have about 15 seconds of fame on the CBS new tonight. If I find a link on the internet, I'll post it.
In the final stack-up, I was 68 out of 184 women and 231 out of 415 participants overall.
2005: 36:09 - 11:38/mi
2006: 34:53 - 11:13/mi
2007: 27:56 - 8:57/mi
In two years, I've knocked over eight minutes off my 5k time. Seven in the last year alone. Not to mention, today's race was also a PR by almost 2 minutes. My previous 5k was in December at 29:50 (9:39/mi). I'm definitely improving!
I don't really have much to report about the race. I made a conscious decision not to worry about going out too fast or negative splits. There was a recent article in Runner's World that a good 5k strategy actually appears to be to go faster for the first mile. They don't necessarily advocate this strategy for longer races or for everyone. In my case, it seemed to work for me today in this fairly flat 5k. Surprisingly, I held on to the crazy pace for a full 2 miles.
They didn't have mile markers or race clocks (weird), but I was wearing my GPS. The interesting thing is that my GPS measured the course at 3.18 miles. It's usually not off that much. Roger's GPS also measured the course long. So according to the distance and time off my GPS, I ran an 8:47/mi average. Either way, I'll take it. :)
Splits:
Mile 1 - 8:44
Mile 2 - 8:44
Mile 3 - 9:02
last .1-.18 miles 1:24
(If it really was .1 miles that puts me at a 14 min mile for the last chunk, which I definitely wasn't doing. I was seriously hauling ass. The GPS says 7:58/mi pace which is more what it felt like.)
There are a couple other random things about the race I want to mention. When we were driving down there, it was dark and threatening to rain, then it started raining. When we arrived, it was slowing down and by the time we parked and walked to the race site, it was letting up. The weather held and we didn't get rained on during the race.
Just before the race, we were heading for the bathroom line and a TV reporter with a camera asked if he could talk to me. So I should have about 15 seconds of fame on the CBS new tonight. If I find a link on the internet, I'll post it.
In the final stack-up, I was 68 out of 184 women and 231 out of 415 participants overall.
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