Alright, so I did a 5k over the weekend, and really used it more as a training run than a race, but I've been eager about getting into some competition so I'm going to write a race report about it anyways.
The race took place at my former university (University of Dayton) and was a memorial 5k for a girl who passed away unexpectedly from a seizure in her sleep in January. She was my age and actually was in the same graduating class/program as my fiancee. Her parents were there and there was a speech given about her before the race. Other than that portion though, the race was more of a celebration in her honor and a way to raise money for research of epillepsy (the condition she suffered from), so the mood was pretty upbeat.
There were only about 50-60 competitors since a lot of her friends live outside Dayton now after graduating and couldn't make it in, as well as the fact it took place on a saturday morning on a college campus, which means the area was basically a ghost town as far as outdoor activities were concerned. The course wound through the majority of campus and the main student neighborhood and had 1 major hill that effected the pace throughout the majority of the middle section of the race. Since I had run around campus the past 4 years, I was familiar with the layout of the course as well as Stuart hill.
I started on the edge of the front line of competitors, eyeing up the rest of the people who looked like they might run a pretty decent pace. As I watched people warmup I thought I might have a shot to take the race, but thought better of going all out and ruining the training aspect of the run after taking a better look at the competition.
Off the line, I accelerated out in front of the majority of the pack just to get myself some space to move and then settled into my pace, allowing the leaders to escape right away so I'd avoid the temptation to push too hard in the first 1/2 mile. Initially I was settled in 4th with about 2sec spacing to both 3rd and 5th. I slowly let 3rd push his lead to about 5 sec as we hit the slight inclince of the 1st half mile. I felt a lot of adrenaline, but could also tell my HR was too high, and so I slowed slightly to relax myself. My HR didn't drop any, but I felt much better. Right around the 1st mile mark, I was passed by another runner I hadn't seen before the race who was moving pretty well. I almost wondered if he delayed off the start to make it more fun to pass people. Then, I turned the 180 degree turnaround at about 1.1 in and sized up the rest of the people following me. My stomach was a little uneasy and I decided that I'd try to hold 5th to the top of the upcoming climb, but would settle to still be top 10 going into the downhill where I knew I'd regain some lost time. To my suprise, I was 5th at the top of the hill and even though the 6th runner had gained on me I hadn't lost ground to 4th (who had also been passed by this mystery late-comer). I got a second wind and my stomach felt much better knowing that I had basically all downhill for the last mile to the finish. I leaned forward and let my legs catch up as I flew down the steepest part of the hill and then carried the gained momentum into the turn to the main section of campus where I passed a few confused students here and there (since the race was so small and we were decently spread out, people not involved were not sure what was going on). The next time I had a chance to look behind me I saw I had added to my advantage and I knew that I would hold onto 5th. Unfortunately, I also knew I wouldn't catch 4th with only a little left and most of it being downhill and fast. I accepted my fate and cruised into the finish, about 10 seconds off 4th.
What I liked most about the race was that I was able to walk to my car, drink some water and put my HR monitor on and take off on an easy 4.5 mile run to complete my training for the day. My HR was a little high at the outset, but I just went out slow to ease it to a comfortable level and then was able to maintain a steady pace the rest of the way. All in all, it was a good day for training and I got some much needed competing in as well.
This week upcoming is a testing week with a bike TT tommorrow, a swim TT thursday morning, and a run TT friday afternoon. I'll update as I complete them.
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