I Hate 5-K Races But...


I continue exceeding my expectations!
What do you do when you already achieved your 2010 5-K goal in May? You make another one right? And what do you do when you made the new goal PR? You smash it 2 months later!!!!!
Goal PR for 2010 – 28:30 (Achieved in May)
New PR for 2010 – 27:59 (Smashed today)
New PR: 27:51

Long Version:
Today I ran the July 4th 5K race in Miami, Florida. I did this race last year and had my sub-30 minute PR here. So in January I decided this would be the race I would train for a 28:30 PR, which was my 2010 5-K goal.

In May I ran a 5-K in Coconut Grove, Florida, in Week 2 of this 5-K training. I smashed the PR and ran 28:30. So, I decided to make a new goal of 27:59, hoping I would break it in December. I smashed it today.

Pre-Race – This week has been blah for me. I came from a 52.20 mileage per week PB to not wanting to do my runs. We are moving to Orlando and DH is already living there, so I guess I was a little sad because I was living alone with the cats. But, DH arrived on Friday and that sort of lifted my spirits. I’ve also been running very slowly these past weeks. The heat has been almost unbearable and my body has not been running well. I kept doing the mileage but I felt I was not improving. Lesson learned: Trust your training! It actually works.

It’s been raining since Friday and they were expecting thunderstorms today. Since I already had my goal PR for 2010 and I was not feeling well (physically and mentally), I decided to try something new for dinner, a recipe of chicken, carrots, shallots, etc., over pasta. I went to bed at 11:30pm (early for me) and went to sleep quickly. But at 2:30am, the worst thunderstorms I’ve ever experienced arrived, scared the cats, and woke me up. I even debated whether to just turn the alarm off and sleep. I did not even know whether the race was going to be held with this bad weather. But me, Ms. Responsible, would not let it go.

At 4:45am I woke up and got dressed. Got a Boost out of the fridge, a Gatorade for pre-race, and left with all my things. The starting line was close to the house, so the drive was uneventful.
Race – This race was NOT well organized. It was horrible. The instructions said: starting line is by the Florida International University Stadium. Well, geniuses, if you’ve never been into the FIU campus (or even know what the heck is FIU) how are you supposed to find it without an address. I entered through the main FIU gates and there are no signs taking you to the parking, the race, etc. Just a lot of cones blocking the way. I find a parking lot near the stadium which turned out to be on the other side of the parking, packet pickup, and start line. So, I walked ¾ of a mile to the packet pick-up, go back to the car, and drive through the race course and cones to reach the proper parking lot. So, I’m all ready to go with no time for a proper warmup. Oh, and there were no signs pointing to the Starting Line.

The weather was cooler, low 80s but 97% humidity. It was cloudy and wet, so at least the sun was not an issue. It felt better than my usual runs so I knew I could at least try my best.
The race starts a little over 7am and we’re off. It takes me around 20 seconds to reach the starting mat. The course is pretty uneventful; it’s through the campus streets with not much to see. Again, not very well organized because there were no volunteers throughout the race so there were cars driving through the campus in between runners. Ugh.

The course is not straight and it has at least 10 curves. My Garmin showed me as running 3.08 miles but I think this may have been because of the tangents, but I’m not sure. I think my proper PR should be closer to 28m but I’m not sure. Garmin said Mile 2 was long and Mile 3 was short with Mile 1 being exact (hardly any tangents there). So, overall, I think it balanced itself out.

Throughout the race I kept passing people. I think only one person passed me and it was a guy pushing a stroller. An older lady that was in front of me kept sprinting every time I reached her, but when we reached Mile 3 and picked up a flag, the lady slowed down so much I passed her without a problem.

The last 0.10 was done inside the Stadium on the grass. I remembered that it slowed me down last year but this year it was well-cut so the running went even better.

Paces:
Mile 1 – 9:03
Mile 2 – 9:12
Mile 3 – 8:38
0.10 – 0:56

Post-Race – After I was finished, I picked up some water, G, and a banana. They had a pretty good selection of stuff around, including massages which I did not see. I did not stay long but waited until the results were up.

Oh, and since I ran 5-6 events out of 10 from the Run Miami’s Running Series, I had this cool medal!

Overall, a great performance.

Now the question is: What should my new goal be? 27:30? 27:45? The sky’s the limit?

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