On Saturday, April 6^th, 2013, I ran the Eileen C. Dugan 15^th Annual Memorial 5K in Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, NY.

Short Version:  It was a very small race with no chip timing, no mile markers, and the course was not  marked at all (good thing I’m a mid-to-back of the of the pack runner and had plenty of people to follow!) but you couldn’t beat the views of Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge (ran right underneath it!) and the Manhattan Bridge.

I finished in 28:31… which is a 4 minute PR and first sub-30!!!

Goals:

C) Have a fun run with great views

B) PR (current PR was 32:30)

A) sub-30

Long Version:

History: Most of you know this stuff from other RRs and dailies threads so I will be brief here...  been running regularly since August, 2012. First 5K was October 13^th, 2012 and I finished with a chip time of 37:07. Since then I have run 2 other 5Ks (November: 33:33, March: 32:30), a 10K in December (1:07:47), and a 4 mile race in February (ran it as a progressive training run, and did not “race” it, 47:39). Been dealing with ITBS issues since right after my 10K in December, causing me to take basically the entire month of January off, and it still occasionally bothers me so I’ve been building mileage very slowly (still not back to where I was in December).

Race Plan: I am doing something I have never done before this weekend: running 2 races! I had this 5K today, and have a 4 mile race tomorrow. I have wanted to get sub-30 in a 5K so badly though, and I thought this may be a good chance to go for it. I know the area that the race is being held in  is flat flat flat, and it is a very small race of 300 people (all the races I have done so far have had thousands) so there would be less congestion than I was used to, so I figured if the rest of the stars aligned it would be a good race to really try for the sub-30 if I was feeling it. So my plan was this: I would really push during the first mile. If I was running a sub-30 pace and felt like I could hold onto it then I was gonna go for it, knowing that it may cause me to have to run tomorrow’s race at an easy pace. If not, then I was going to back WAY off the pace, just have a fun and easy run and enjoy the views, and save my legs for tomorrow.

Pre-Race: Start time of the race was 9:00am. Alarm went off at 5:30. I had no intention of getting up, but I wanted to put the heating pad on the my calves and hips, as those are tight muscle groups for me and often give me issues while running. So I laid in bed with the heating pad until 6:30 giving myself 15 minutes on each calf and hip. Got up, had coffee and breakfast of a bagel with peanut butter and sliced banana on top (traditional breakfast), then drank about 16 oz of water and 8 oz of Gatorade.  Spent a long time with the foam roller, and then got ready to go. Forecast for start time was 38 degrees “feels like” 30…so I chose tights, a tech tank top, and a very warm long sleeved tech half zip. Turned out my selection was perfect, as I did not feel too cold or too warm. I chose to drive over taking the subway, as there would be no bag check at the race and I hate running with a lot of extra “stuff” on me and wanted to be able to leave my wallet, apartment keys, ect in the car as well as wear sweats and a sweatshirt over my race clothes to go, as it was REALLY COLD when leaving. I was running the race with my friend who lives in my neighborhood, so I picked her up at 7:50 and off we went.

We drove to the start/registration table at Pier 6, by the time we parked and such it was around 8:10. We picked up our bibs and race shirts, warmed up a bit by jogging and power walking around the pier, stretched, used the bathroom (real bathrooms there, nice bonus!!), and then went to the car to put our extra layers and race T-shirts in. Then we lined up for the start.

Me, before heading to the starting line:

Jacky and I at the start, no we did not plan to be twins with out blue half-zips!!!:

The Race: This was a very small race and not run by a major race organization so it was very different for me. There were only 300 people. There was no chip timing. The starting line was a piece of green masking tape. I am used to very big races (such as NYRR) with thousands of people, so this was a change. They did not release the course map ahead of time, so we had no idea where we were going, so that added a little anxiety, but I kind of figured we would probably run along the river to the Brooklyn Bridge and back, which is pretty much exactly what we did, though there were a few small differences between the “out” part and “back” part.

Map off my Garmin:

There were no mile markers. There were very few volunteers on the course even telling people where to go. I was very thankful not to be a front-of-the-packer for this race so I had plenty of people to follow!!! And I was very thankful I have a Garmin because not even knowing how far I had gone or how far I had left would have driven me batty. The views were amazing, we were running along the East River with awesome views of lower Manhattan, and running towards and then right under the Brooklyn Bridge.  It was a sunny and clear day, albeit cold for “spring.”

I was running with my friend Jacky, and instead of running our own races, we were going to try to run together. She used to be a very serious and fast runner in HS and college (her “absolute” 5K PR is 19:XX) and she has recently begun running regularly again after running on-and-off since college. Right now, we are paced pretty similar, but she is a bit faster than I am. We ran a 5K in March together and she finished 2 minutes ahead of me. So today I really wanted to try to stick by her if I could, and knew I would be in good shape for sub-30 if I could stay with her. She ran 30:XX at our race in March on a more difficult course, and was hoping for sub-30 today as well.

Mile 1: A guy said “GO!” over a bullhorn and off we went. I knew I was starting off fast. I was trying to stick with Jacky, and was also trying to stay with the pack, as the course was not marked at all and I had not seen a course map. It felt fast. Probably too fast. However, I was prepared for a major blow-up and was ok with that, since my race plan was to go out fast and check in at the first mile and make a decision if I was going go for sub-30 or drop to an easy pace. I glanced down at the Garmin a few times and kept seeing paces in the high-8s or low 9s. WHATTT?! It was really hard, but I was able to keep up with this pace for the whole first mile.

First Mile: 8:58 (holy crap!!!! First sub-10 minute mile….and first sub-9 minute mile…!)

Mile 2: Jacky and I both faded a bit at different parts of the second mile. Sometimes I ended up getting ahead of her, and sometimes she pulled ahead of me, but never by much for either of us. I was really feeling the effects of going out so fast. I felt a little cramp in my shoulder, my breathing was heavy, my lungs burned. So THIS is really what “all-out” feels like…oh God was I going to die?! UGH! But I was NOT giving up! I knew with that fast first mile I could fade a little and get my sub-30, but not below 10 minute miles so I kept pushing. There was a portion of this mile that was on a gravel path, and that was ROUGH…thankfully that didn’t last long. We ran under the Brooklyn Bridge, looped around Pier 1 of Brooklyn Bridge Park which is a lovely grassy area on the river right in between the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge, then back under the bridge and were on our way back towards Pier 6!

Second Mile: 9:46 (yeah no negative or even splits during this race! Meh...)

Mile 3:  I felt amazing, but was looking forward to it being over, as my lungs were burning and my legs were tired. Jacky and I were able to stay together for this mile, and though we really couldn’t speak much as we were both sucking wind, every few minutes we tried to yell some encouragement to each other “Doing awesome!”, “HALF MILE LEFT!” ect. That was really helpful.

Third Mile: 9:36

Last .1 (ooor .03? womp womp): The course may have been short ...according to my Garmin it only measured 3.03. However, I know I lost signal at both times we ran under the Brooklyn Bridge so maybe it wasn’t actually short?? Jacky was using Nike+ and she had set it to 5K, and it announced to her that she had finished just before she crossed the finish line, so maybe it was ok. It makes me mad though because my Garmin did not record it as a 5K, therefore it still has my previous PR as my fastest 5K…boo. Anyway…. Jacky had enough in her for a finish line sprint. I absolutely did not, so I let her go. I tried to pick it up but I don’t think I picked it up much. She crossed in 28:18, and I followed at 28:31. Garmin said 28:33 but I stopped it after I crossed the finish. Race wasn’t chip timed, so there was a volunteer ripping off a perforated thing at the bottom of everyone’s bibs in order and someone else with a clip board writing down the times as we crossed and reading them to us. Then they taped the results to the board in order. Interesting.

Last .03: 0:13.5, 8:05 pace

Here is the results board, the bottom of the 300 participants' bibs put on a big board in order of finishing. Jacky and my numbers were both somewhere in the middle---towards the bottom of the 4th column:

Official Time: 33:31

Jacky and I after the finish, yes I am squinting in every single picture haha, it was so sunny out!:

Two of me, after the finish, more squinting:

Overall I am THRILLED with my race and my time. Thrilled, thrilled, thrilled, over the moon!! I wanted sub-30 so badly, but I never dreamed I could push myself hard enough for sub-29! I PRed by FOUR MINUTES from a month ago. The courses were completely different, the course a month ago was VERY hilly (RR from that race: http://www.runningahead.com/groups/BF_and_Beyond/forum/63a7191808804c7fbc7ab35c2026ad95/0) and this course was VERY flat, but still….that is a huge chunk of time to cut off. I know I pushed myself harder than I ever have before. I have never run “with” someone else, and I think running with Jacky was a HUGE help. No idea what my legs will have in them for my 4 mile race tomorrow but….oh well. Too happy to care! Yes, I am aware this may not have been the best executed race in the world. The second mile was 48 seconds slower than the first....ouch. But I have my sub-30, I have a huge new PR....next time I can shoot for even splits

Thanks for reading!

**UPDATE***

Photographer pics were posted today. They got a few of me!

About to cross the starting line: My friend Jacky and I are in the bottom right corner of the screen in our unintentionally matching blue half zips:

And here we are running through the park:

And me crossing the finish. I look so scary! But legit shocked and excited at my time so I am sharing anyway...can't fake that emotion!

Great job and congrats on the PR!  You have improved a lot in such a short time!

Thank you guys! Just realized....forgot the pic of the "swag", here's the race T shirt:

Huge PR!  Great job, Kristin!

Wow Kristin, congrats!!!! I'll be in Manhattan tomorrow, what time is your other race?

Cool! I am running the NYRR Colon Cancer Challenge 4M (there's also a 15K later). It is at 9:00. What are you doing in Manhattan?

 

Cool! I am running the NYRR Colon Cancer Challenge 4M (there's also a 15K later). It is at 9:00. What are you doing in Manhattan?

Day tripping, we're running Hudson River park in the AM, I don't think we'd make it over in time. My friend hasn't been to Central Park or 5th avenue so I have to take her. I only live about an hour from the city, and we have an apartment in Jersey City.

Woot!  You smashed that 30 minute mark!  Congratulations.

yes they are!

 

Let me know of a good one and I'm in! Just no NYRR ones, they are expensive