Looking at the weather forecast there was a high of 92 for the day and it was looking to be mostly sunny, fitting for the Sweat your Thorns off 5K Virtual Race this would also fulfill. I had never run this race before so I was not familiar with what the course would be like and just took it on the fly. I have done some speedwork with my marathon training but it contained walking breaks so I really didn't know what to expect when attempting to do 3 fast miles.
It is a very small race as there were only 273 people registered for the race and it meant there was very little fighting through people and you were able to settle into a pace quickly. I pushed the pace somewhat but tried to settle into a comfortable fast pace. I was getting tired and my watch beeped for the mile point, I looked at my watch to see i just ran an 8:36 first mile....CRAP!!!
That was too fast as I should have been at 9 so I stopped to walk for 0.07 miles at that point to let myself recover a bit. I started to run again but I felt my pace was too fast and had to stop again around 1.7 miles for another quick recovery and walked for about 0.10 miles.
I tried to start running slower this time and we rounded the final bend around mile 2 for a long straightaway back to the finish. I didn't want to hold myself back and just tried to run by feel and was really starting to pass people. I just kept focusing on who was ahead of me and passing them. I stopped counting at one point because I got past 10 and couldn't think that fast while focusing on staying consistent.
I finished with a time of 28:14, just 9 seconds off my PR time from 3 months ago and I am happy with that since it was warmer for this race and just being consistent. I am disappointed I had to stop and walk and hopefully I can learn to pace myself a little better in the future.
My time was good for 5th in my age group (20-29) and it just makes me want to work on my speed more to mix in with Marathon training. Hopefully I get another opportunity to do another 5K this year and it should be a cooler race so maybe I can get that PR yet.
Div Overall
Place Place No. Name Age Time
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5 135 450 ALICIA KONS 29 28:14
What have you done to help rejuvenate your legs during marathon training?
I would have chose the shorts too! Cute! Learning to pace for a race can be a little hard, but is so helpful! I am finally getting it down for 10ks, I think.. Great job on your 5k and 5th in your age group!
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