Today I did the Shamrock Shuffle 5K in Lebanon and it was an absolutely beautiful day for a run. I did a nice easy 3 mile warm-up and thought I had it timed just right so that I wouldn't be standing around for too long after. Well, the race was unexpectedly huge and they delayed the start about 10 minutes. My goal was to run about 5:45 pace.
At the gun I settled into a nice early rhythym somewhere in the top 15. By the mile mark I had moved into the the top 10, and came through in 5:43. The second mile goes through a neighborhood then cuts onto Pumping Station Road where the course ultimately turns around before heading back to the Lebanon Green. There is one small hill during the second mile and I went through in 5:53 (11:36 total). I knew my pace had slowed a little, but I was still close to my goal and I was hoping that I would be able to make up the time in the last 1/2 mile which is gradually downhill. The first half of the third mile though has a couple hills, the last one being a bit more significant. By this point I was holding steadily in 7th place. When I got to the top of the final hill I was running alone and dealing with a pretty significant headwind. I did what I could, but it wasn't enough. I ended up running the last mile in about 6:00, and finished in 18:19.
All told, I am happy with how this worked out. I haven't really done anything to prepare for a 5K in terms of short, fast speedwork. I am pretty confident that I can tune this up into a 17:30 by the end of summer. A nice easy 3.5 mile cooldown after gave me 9.6 on the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment