RunningAHEAD - Topic: My first 5K

chloe36

posted: 10/22/2006 at 8:59 PM

Okay...so on Saturday I did my first 5K. I usually run at least 30 miles a week but always on a treadmill. I'm not fast...I usually run 9:15min-10:00min miles. I totally okay with that..I don't have to be speedy. I average about 7 miles at a time when I run. I practiced the outside route twice and thought I could do the 5K. Well...it was small about 60 or so people. There was a huge pack in front of me that totally blew me away after the first 10 seconds...then me all by myself...then a large pack behind me that I didn't see after a while. So even though I wasn't last I still looked and felt it!!! Anyway I got 24th place. My time was 26:54. What do you think? Is this an okay starting point? When I was standing and waiting for the race to start, I mentally zoomed in on this women (looked about 30) pushing a jogging stroller and an older couple (maybe mid-60's). My goal was to stay with them. Needless to say I saw them for about 1 minute then I was just coughing up their dust. Turns out they got 5th, 7th and 8th places. To add insult to injury my husband heard stroller lady complaining to her husband that she wasn't going to run any more races with the broken stroller!!!!Now he teases me and pushes my son in his stroller ahead of me and says "guess who I am". Anyway...you guess are the experts so what do you think? I didn't like the nervous feeling I had the morning of the race...does that get better too? thanks!!!!

Goals: Maintain 120 beat 5k time: 25:52 beat 10k time: 55:48 Complete one half-marathon-Jan. 10th

Wingz

Professional Noob

posted: 10/22/2006 at 9:22 PM

Hey, Chloe! First off, congrats on your first 5K! That in itself is an accomplishment! Second, yes, 26:54 is a fine starting point. I'm hoping to get there in about two more years, LOL! You'll get faster with more race experience just because you'll be more familiar with what it's like and probably have a better handle on pacing yourself for the race. Next time you want to concentrate on how other people are running, start out at a pace you know you can hold for the three miles, and then focus on the person right in front of you and try to pass them. Then the next. Then the next. As you discovered, you can't always tell by looking at someone how fast they're going to be! This way there will always be a "rabit" in front of you for you to "chase." Works for this back-o-the-packer, anyway. And if you pick a larger race there shouldn't be that big gap in the middle you described. Some of your nervous feeling yesterday morning was probably just related to it being your first race. That part will get better. The rest may stay - but it can help you do well in the race if you don't let it get out of hand. Pick out another race in about a month and try again. Really. Do another one. If the course is hillier or if you're not feeling well your time may be slower, but otherwise I bet you'll do even better. Good luck! Janell

Roads were made for journeys...

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rectumdamnnearkilledem

posted: 10/22/2006 at 10:13 PM

Heh, I'd kill to finish in under 27 minutes--girl, you rock...ESPECIALLY for your first race! You can only get faster from here on out. WTG!!! Big grin

k

Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

~ Sarah Kay

htkf

posted: 10/22/2006 at 10:18 PM
modified: 10/22/2006 at 10:18 PM

for anyone to be able to complete a 5k in itself is great, people think its easy but its not there will be gapping in races, that happens all the time, i remember in my first 5k of high school cross country i was hanging with some of my friends for the first mile, and i had no idea how to pace myself, i ended up running a 5:55 for my first mile which at the time was way too fast, but anyways, the gap thing you were talking about ended up forming, there was no one infront of me and no one behind me, but it happens, having no one to push you is hard, i ended finishing that race in 19:14 if you care lol the other thing you were talking about, the nervousness before the race, ive been racing for almost a year now, and im always nervous before a race even still, but i will admit its been getting better, and soon its just like ok, i know what i have to do, it should go away even faster for you since its not as much of a competitive thing as a fun event just keep doing races and youll see what im talking about -Holland

"Our workouts are longer than our shorts" SHS XC 2008

Scout7

posted: 10/23/2006 at 9:00 AM

Sounds like you had a great race overall! As a starting out point, sounds like you've been doing ok with training to me. One thing I've learned is that you never know who else shows up on race day, and that's one of (several) factors you cannot control. The key is to run YOUR race, not someone else's. But that comes with experience. Took me a while to get over the fact that I have a sloooooooow start, but I use the first mile to warm up (which kinda sucks if it's only a two or three mile race!). This also goes to nervousness, too. It gets better, you learn to recognize what makes you more nervous and how to handle it better, but I've been doing races for years, and I STILL get pretty nervous.

My first 5K (Read 474 times)