A few announcements and we were off! They changed the race course from the last time I'd done this race, which made it more similar to how it was ~5 years ago or so. I think the new-old course is less hilly than the one from the past few years, but there are still a couple of climbs that made it challenging.
In the weeks leading up to this race, I'd had some distant thoughts of maybe trying for a PR. I'd done a good, consistent amount of speed work in the past few weeks, though none quite gave me the confidence that I was in PR shape. I arrived at the race feeling unsure what the day would hold and figured I'd give it what I had. I needed to hold a sub-7 pace in order to have any hope. In past 5k attempts, I've rolled past the first mile around 7:20 so I've known early on whether I was in the right range or not.
The race course this year was basically an out-and-back with an extra side-loop on the return. The first mile is net downhill (or so it feels), so I tried not to get too excited when I passed the 1-mile mark at 6:58... not quite enough for a PR, but it wasn't out of reach yet... don't give up.
Making the turn-around and seeing how far ahead others were... knowing the paces of my teammates, I could tell I was running pretty well. Close to the halfway mark I passed one of my teammates that I know is usually MUCH faster than I am. Again, not getting my hopes up... mile 2 was my fastest. 6:55. Keep going.
The third mile I could feel myself hit an energy wall... but I also knew I was close to the end. Don't. Give. Up. I tried to push hard but also save enough for the final hill climb to the finish line - the hardest part of the course.
Finished and hit the stop button on Garmin... ugh, 13 seconds away from a PR. But definitely the closest I've come to beating it by a long shot, and my fastest 5k since having D (ahem, 4+ years ago). Still pretty proud of this result and I didn't even realize I was 5th female overall in a field of over 500 race participants!
No comments:
Post a Comment