First time Sub 20... Highland Health Run 5k (Read 442 times)

I did it... 18:48 I think the course was a bit short garmin distance was 3 miles and 50 feet... so my garmin is always off in races... for a 10 miler it was .05 short and that course should have been right on... and no way I ran perfect tangents... anyways the consensus from runners there is that it was about 75-100 short... Garmin splits: 6:19 6:12 6:18 ... 0:03 ??? Prerace Got up at 6:40 AM... weight check 145.2 -3 lbs from last 5k. Coffee (2 cups)... breakfast...(3/4 size of normal) out the door... 7:40 Checked in waited around until 8:35 (race starts at 9:00) went outside walked around... 8:40... ran easy for 7 minutes... did a few high steps... 2 pickups... ran up a sharp iincline a couple times (30 yards or so).. walked around... jogged to my car to take of my long sleeve shirt and went with just sleeveless... temp 50 degrees... sun popped out... race start I lined up in the first row to the left of the guy I know would win it... they say go... I get bumped by some little 10 year old but I made it to the first little curve in good shape... 6-8 people are in front of me but I have a clear path to run and nobody in front of me shows signs of crashing in the first 1/2 mile... we turn out of the parking lot onto the street (about 200 meters..) I check my garmin and it said to my suprise 5:40 pace! Wo sobo... check it down... I settle in and notice 5 people in front of me in two groups: the leader and follower and then a pack of 3... boy girl boy... all high school kids. The next 1/4 mile was slightly up hill... and I was really feeling good... settled in nicely tracking that group of three. They opened another 20 yards on me but I could tell the last guy was already laboring. We made a right turn into a development and I closed the gap coming through that turn as I didn't slow and they did for a second... or I had a small burst... (checked garmin)... ok I had a burst garmin dropped for 20 seconds down to a 5:17 mile pace... I am right on the 5th place guy as soon as I got on him he slowed and I went right by him... order changed in front of me to girl then boy... I was running strong and didn't press to catch the next guy... passed him smoothly... now as I approached the girl she sped up. her breathing was really hard, fast, and out of rhythm with mine. Her foot cadence was slower. I wasn't going to like running near her... I put in a small extra effort to gap her just enough to not hear her breathing. (another short bout of sub 6 minute pace) As I approach another right turn I hear footsteps. Right turn then down hill 40 yards followed by an uphill for about .2 miles... gentle grade. Still hear footsteps. Realize it isn't the girl. make the 1/2 turn. Try to relax down the hill. Left turn... the guy behind me moves up on me. I try to resist the urg to go faster. He moves next to me and I do go a bit faster. He moves a shoulder in front of me. I look over at him. He is about 16 and he is breathing HARD and more rapidly than me. He slows for just an instant and I surge past him but almost immediately he picks up his pace. He passes me again. I decide to follow him for a bit. He gets confused as to what side of the road to be on... then figures it out. He goes a bit faster and I go a bit slower... He gaps me by 30 yards...40... we make the left turn heading back to the parking lot and it is slightly downhill... I find a good stride again... I pull him back in to 20... I think he heard me... he picked it up... and I just couldn't catch him. We turn in the parking lot and I am driving pretty hard... we come to the ramp to the track... Don't fall ... don't fall.. ok I didn't fall... 3/4 of the track to go... kick... kick... kick.. but I don't seem to be going any faster... and the kid is distancing me. Coming to the middle of the turn I look over my shoulder and sombody is entering the track just at the start of the turn... kick kick kick... 1/2 the track left. come on don't let 20 minutes slip away... I hit the turn and I am trying to read the clock... when I made out 18 I was shocked... Crossed the finish line... 4rth... 1st age group. happy with my run... Thanks KID... caught up with him later... and thanked him. I really think he was the reason I didn't drop off in the 2nd mile. 2 minute PR sweet!

Nice job breaking 20:00 John and good job hunting down your finish-buddy and congratulating/thanking him. Sounds a lot like my 16 year old finish-buddy Nick. Seeing Nick at the Tewksbury High water stop was one of the highlights of the BayState Marathon for me, those friendly faces on course are priceless especially towards the end. Now that I think about it, everybody should have a 16 year old finish-buddy. They should be issued at the start of the race, or maybe just hang out at the 2.5 mark so they have fresh legs to run you in. One of my favorite parts of running is you can honestly be happy about your competition improving because for the most part you are really racing against the clock. I see a lot of the same faces at races around here, sounds like it would be good for both of you to renew your battle. Watching Nick improve over the course of the 5K series was great, even if it means he kicks my ass soundly next Spring. I can't wait for April. Congrats again John, good luck breaking 19:00.

Great job! Enjoyed your write up too. Captured the essence of running racing the 5k

That's a huge improvement dude!! Congrats on the big PR. FWIW, I'd lose the Garmin and just run as fast as you can.