This morning I ran the Spring Into Summer 5K right in my neighborhood.. I like this race because it has a very nice party atmosphere, not to mention that I run parts of the course at least 1-2 times a week.
I had a few goals... first, a PR (my previous was 23:15), and maybe match the pace of my last 3mi race (7:11... can't consider that a PR since the distance was non-standard).
After yesterday was stormy, this morning it was nice and sunny, even a bit too warm. I went fast from the start, and I tried not to pace myself according to the Garmin, but to go by perceived effort - very hard, exactly. First mile was 7:04, second was 7:05. As I was getting tired and felt like slowing down, on the last segment we had a tailwind so I could keep up the pace. The finish is nice at this race, because you enter the school stadium and do a lap on the track before crossing the finish line.
Sprinting on the track, I finished in 22:04, which is an amazing time for me, more than a minute faster than my previous PR set 2 months ago, while the pace of 7:06 is the fastest I've ever run in a race. I'm surprised because after going under 24 minutes, my PR's were very small, usually by a few seconds, and I had the feeling that I'm kinda plateauing and won't be able to decrease my times significantly.
I think my future objectives will be first to go below 22, then below 7 min/mile. A few (very minor) negatives... One, if I knew I'd be so close to 22 minutes, I could've made 4 seconds somewhere on the course. Second, I kept switching places with a guy who finally outkicked me at the final turn... He won my age group by a few seconds, so I missed on the hardware (they only gave it to first place this year) and another age group win.
Final standings:
33 / 476 OA, 2 / 35 AG
Not bad for me, the website even says Top 3 get awards, but they only gave them to winners.
I had a few goals... first, a PR (my previous was 23:15), and maybe match the pace of my last 3mi race (7:11... can't consider that a PR since the distance was non-standard).
Sprinting on the track, I finished in 22:04, which is an amazing time for me, more than a minute faster than my previous PR set 2 months ago, while the pace of 7:06 is the fastest I've ever run in a race. I'm surprised because after going under 24 minutes, my PR's were very small, usually by a few seconds, and I had the feeling that I'm kinda plateauing and won't be able to decrease my times significantly.
I think my future objectives will be first to go below 22, then below 7 min/mile. A few (very minor) negatives... One, if I knew I'd be so close to 22 minutes, I could've made 4 seconds somewhere on the course. Second, I kept switching places with a guy who finally outkicked me at the final turn... He won my age group by a few seconds, so I missed on the hardware (they only gave it to first place this year) and another age group win.
Final standings:
33 / 476 OA, 2 / 35 AG
Not bad for me, the website even says Top 3 get awards, but they only gave them to winners.