Since 5K races are short, I will keep this RR short.

Who: Jack Klompus

What: ABC Into the Summer Fun Run

Why: I'm sick of marathon training and want to run the other distaces

Where: Cerritos, CA

When: 21 June, 2014

Yes, I'm sick of marathon training. I saw this race online last week and signed up on a whim. Neither DD or DW wanted to run but they came along to support me and laugh at me. I am training for a HM in nine weeks and have only done a few speed workouts in the last two weeks, 800 intervals and hard tempo runs, so I really had no idea how this would turn out.  A PR (20:21) would be nice but I was hoping for around a 20:45 or so. The race was set up around a mall parking lot and it was ok; lots of straightaways but one highly annoying bit with a series of maze-like switchbacks. Really? As a warmup I did a two miles easy with DD, stretched a lot, ran another half-mile and did three strides.

Mile 1: I started at the front and went out too fast; 5:30. I still don't know how to judge my 5k pace but I settled in at 6:35. We went through the switchbacks and the pace slowed so everyone picked it up after the maze. I ran past DW and DD and they cheered, laughed, and took pictures. First mile in 6:30.

Mile 2: I forgot how much 5Ks hurt. We went through that damn maze again because it was two loops around. This time is was harder to pick up the pace. The school band was playing and that was nice. Second mile in 6:39.

Mile 3: Now I'm breathing hard but still running easy. That was good, I think. It was starting to hurt some more. WIthout all the details I saw the finish and knew something was off. I finished in 19:03 and thought "There is no way in hell that is right. I can't run an 80 second PR in a 5K with no training." Alas, I was right. Garmin said the total distance was 2.93 and I was a wee bit upset at that. I asked some other runners and they all had anywhere from 2.89 to 2.97. Dammit.  In any case, my last split (for .93 mile) was 6:25 and I was running well so I think I could have held on for a true PR. I might have finished at a 20:15 or so if the distance was right.

I finished 11/445 and I actually WON my AG! First time ever! 1/16. I will say it was a slow field with a lot of walkers but it's still kind of cool. Oh, the guy who finished third overall was in my age group so I guess I was really second but they don't do double dipping for awards so the results said I was first. Go figure.

I hope to get a sub 20 with some training. That is my next goal.

Before:

I wore my headband so DD asked for a Ninja pose.

During:

After:

With the plastic AG award that broke in the car on the way home.

Oh, DD wanted the "photo creds."

Thanks for reading.

Awesome job, Jack!   You always impress.  LMAO@ the ninja pose... well you were sneaky fast.  It is annoying that the course was slightly short.  Now you really have to work to break this PR-- but you can do it!  Congratulations on 1st AG and 11th overall!

Nicely done, Jack!  Completely understand the annoyance of a short course, especially when you could have PRd, nut you still ran a great race.  Congrats!

 

With the plastic AG award that broke in the car on the way home.

 

This made me LOL.  

Nice racin', Klompus!  Bummer about the short course.  I got jobbed out of a 5K PR last October for the same reason.  In any case, your OA placement gives you a pretty good idea of how you ran, and you kicked all kinds of ass.  Congrats on the AG win!!

What counts is the placement award, even if it's made of plastic. Congratulations, you did great!

Jack, congrats on the AG award. This was a strong race either way. I was laughing all the way, GREAT report!!! The pics are priceless

Jack, I wouldn't be too quick to discount the distance.  If the course had lots of turns (and it sounded that way from your description) then the Garmin would have taken unavailable tangents.  I ran a 5k at the end of May that my garmin recorded at 3.02.  The course had a total of 22 turns.  Using mapmyrun on the course and sticking to the streets that we ran (not cutting thru buildings and peoples yards)  I get a distance of 3.18.

I'm with bluesky and sly, check your Garmin route to see if it jumped around during the switchbacks, this could be a legit PR.

Congrats on the AG win, that's great!