Kevin Cain Make My Day 5K (Read 428 times)

I am almost there... almost to my goal of sub 20 for a 5K. Eight weeks ago I set a PR of 21:02. I felt that effort was somewhat flat as I hadn't fully recovered from the marathon I race a few weeks before. So, I set a short term goal of 20:50 for a race 4 weeks later. I ended up running that one in 20:38. Not wanting to get ahead of myself, I set another short term goal of 20:20 for the Kevin Cain 5K, which I ran yesterday. I had never run this course before, but the start line was merely 2 miles from my front door. Given my knowledge of the area (which I moved to eight months ago) and the recollection of a friend who had done this race in the past, I thought it would be a flat course. I was wrong. On Saturday, I decided to run the course. The race starts out on a slight up hill but pretty quickly heads down a long meandering hill that ends just before the first mile mark. A sharp 1/3 mile hill kicks in at this point. Once you get to the top, you turn 90 degrees and head down a short, very sharp drop. At the bottom of this hill, you turn 90% again and head up a very, very sharp, but relatively short, incline. Once the second hill is done, you have about 1.5 miles of flat road to the finish. The hills of the course forced me to reevaluate my plan to start up slow and finish strong. I decided that in order to run well I would have to hit the first mile pretty quick in order to take advantage of the downhill. I would then take a moderate to conservative pace up the big hill, down the sharp drop and up the second hill. At that point, I would pick up the pace for the second, thankfully flat, half. On the day of the race, I ran the two mile to the start as a warm up. I got there 25 minutes before the gun, which gave me time to get my bib and hit the bathroom. I was a little chilly, about 45, but I decided to wear a short sleeve shirt and shorts. I got a little cold before the race, but ultimately I was glad I wasn't overdressed. About 250 people toed the line. I lined up in the middle of the road, three people back from the start. As usually in these things, a bunch of kids took off like they were running a 100 meter dash. I tried to remain cool and slipped into a good strong pace. It turned out I positioned my self well as I didn't have to weave and no one, that I could recall, passed me in the first 1/4 mile. The kids who took off quick started falling back just as quick, but most of them were good enough to do so towards the side of the road. Around the 1/2 mile mark, I got passed by the second OA woman. This was to be the first and only time I was passed all race. I got in behind her and followed her down the rest of the hill. I hit the first mile in 6:05. I continued up the first hill at a slower, but strong, pace. I passed a lot of folks on the way up, including the woman who had passed me earlier. Next, we turned into a sharp down hill, where I focused on not over-striding. We then turned to go up the short, sharp hill. I took this pretty strong, but again did not try to kill it. Once we were at the top, I kept my slower pace for about 30 seconds and then started my charge. The road flattened out and I picked off three more people before the second mile mark. Mile two: 7:04. Alright. I was a little surprised at how much my pace had slowed over the hills. But to be honest, I felt I had run my race up to that point and now I needed to keep charging. Unfortunately, there were only two runners that I could see in front of me, but they were a long way off. I figured I'd give it a try. Focusing on them, I pushed hard. I started to get some stomach distress with about 1/2 to go, but really felt pretty good, all things considered. Mile three: 6:24. I kicked it in as best I could and finished just behind the two that I'd been chasing for the last mile. My finishing time was 20:08, good for 2nd in my AG and 10th OA. I'm very pleased with the race. Obviously, I would have liked to go sub 20, but this just wasn't the course for it. I feel fairly certain that my next attempt, which I'll ensure is on a flat course, will get me a PR in the 19's. The only problem is, I'm gearing up for Grandma's in June and do not plan on running another 5k until after that. Oh well, Grandma's is my goal race so I'll have to put the sub 20k goal on hold until summer. Thanks for reading this.

Great - thanks for posting. Seems like a lot of fast times over the weekend. Spring must be here!

Nice job Damien - you'll get it next time! I am on the brink myself with a 20:16 this Sunday with large steep hill during the last mile. I have a flatter course coming up in 3 weeks that I am hoping for. If not there, then there is a completely pancake flat course in July that I have PRed at several times before and I will give it a go there. Best of luck and keep us posted.

Thanks for the support and encouragement guys. Good job Jeff. Those hills can really be a killer to your goal. That pancake flat race in July is just what I'm looking for next.