Black Cat Classic 5k - My first (Read 478 times)

So I did things backward. I ran a marathon for my first ever race, then a 15k, then another marathon. After running for about 3 years, I finally found a 5k to take on. I moved to New Castle, IN in May 08, and soon spotted a marked course for a 5k on the routes I was running. After doing research, I found the local YMCA has the Black Cat Classic 5k. I set my sight on it. I ran the course at the end of June in 21:16 - and I was excited. I went on a missions trip to Haiti on Labor Day weekend and returned September 6 - six weeks prior to the 5k. I decided I'd take a week to get back to America and get settled in before embarking on some heavy training with intervals and whatnot. Finally, 5 weeks before, I jumped into a hardcore routine (Runner's World 5 weeks to a 5k advanced program.) I was training around 6:41 pace/mile, as I really wanted a 20:45. The training went well, and I skimped on some of the long runs due to sickness and laziness. Race day was nerve wracking. My girlfriend came in for the weekend with my parents, and she too ran her first 5k. We were up until 3am, and woke at about 8:30am to go yard sale-ing and auctioning. Knowing that the 5k wasn't until 5pm made me nervous because I didn't want to eat something to mess with me. Cereal for breakfast, turkey and cheese for lunch. By about 3:00 pm, we were so tired, so she took a nap while I studied for my lesson at church on Sunday, as well as ran a really easy mile around 3:50 pm. I came back, prepped supper, and then we headed to the Y. When there, the atmosphere was great. Lindsey (g/f) started at the front with me since she was a visitor, and then ran her own pace. Unfortunately for her, she went out a bit too fast, but it helped her. We started, and I was right with the front. It wasn't long until the Jr. High Cross Country coach took off and set himself apart from the pack. Before long, some of the Jr. High Cross country team began passing me at flying colors. I nestled in next to another guy who I talked to for about the first mile about our pace, and racing, as well as humbling ourselves that 14 year olds were passing us. Carried up the first hill and hit mile one at 6:28 - much faster than planned. Nonetheless, I figured I was feeling amazing, and it's a short race, so I should give it all I have. I began to cruise and carried through mile two. The guy who I was joking with at the beginning fell behind, but caught up and passed by mile two as he began to push. (He made his 20 minute mark at 19:59) Mile 2 featured two big hills including the first one where most people fell apart which was .12 miles long (according to my pet Garmin) and climbed about 80 feet. I had done a couple of hill workouts on this, so I knew I could press it hard and get through. Finally, hit mile 2 at 6:36. With the last mile in sight, I knew it wasn't far and knew the course well, so I began to push, but my body was feeling it at this point. I was well ahead of the people behind me, and had two guys in sight in front of me who I was trying to chase. With about half a mile to go, I had pushed down the final hill and began to speed up. With .7 miles to go, Garmin was showing a 6:50 pace, but I knew I had to push. Mile 3 split ended up being 6:31 as I began to turn it on. The final tenth of a mile basically sucked. It's like hitting mile 25 in a marathon. You realize, wow, I have really worked hard and there's only x amount to go - and in comparison, it's nothing - but your body thinks your a jerk at this point. Anyways, I pushed hard, and looked at my lap pace and saw it dip to 5:35. I was excited and pushed harder. The last .1(2) was 41 seconds. I ended up finishing 9th overall and first in my age category (20-24) with a time of 20:18. That's 58 seconds faster than my time in June, so I was well pleased with it. As soon as I crossed, I grabbed water and a banana, talked to my parents for a minute or two and back tracked to meet Lindsey. I met her much closer than I anticipated and she was looking strong. I was SOOOOOO proud of her, as she trained hard for it and was hoping to go under 38 minutes (which I knew was WAY too high for her.) She was all smiles when she saw me with about .4 miles to go. She said when she got to mile one, they said her split was 8:30 - about a minute and a half faster than some of her fastest miles. (She could run much harder, but just doesn't enjoy running.) Anyways, my beautiful 21 year old girlfriend crossed the finish line in 30:48, much faster than her planned 11 minute miles. And to top it off - she finished first in her age group, too! (I noticed its either junior high kids or 30 somethings who run fast - not 20 somethings.) So, we each got first in our age group and each set PR's. It was amazing, and a curse at the same time, because I realize that I was only 19 seconds from getting sub-20. Guess that gives me more 5k's to run. The coolest part about everything is that I totally pulled the HTFU and Run Till You Puke, because my stomach has just been turning since I got done. Most people would see this as bad, but I'm pretty excited because I feel more drained today than I have in my 15k and marathons. Sub-20, here I come. Well, that is after the Kris Kringle Four Miler in December and the marathon and the.....

That would be absolutely amazing. Its amazing how hard my interval workouts would get, to the point of not being able to do all of the sets without stopping, and then I went out and finished with a better pace than I ever trained with.

The more you guys say that....the worse off I am going to be. That means I am going to want to find every 5k between here and New Mexico to train for.... Like I said, there's a 4 miler here in December I'd like to run - so I guess its back to interval workouts, and this should push me into better shape before my marathon training beginning at Christmas. Darn you encouraging people who only spur my addiction further.

Just a couple of photos - one at the start. Two of me finishing - and of course, gotta check the pace with Garmie. I think it's funny - I finished 9th, and I think 10th was a good minute behind me. The workers actually said, "Now we get a break!" Three with my age group champion girlfriend and our hand crafted trophies!