Summary

27:30 and change. According to Garmin, 8:46 pace, fastest in a 5k since March.  At least this time, the positive split was more a function of the course and not a fade.

Long Version

I pretty much pick races based on convenience, mainly close to home & plenty of parking.  This race was a fundraiser for a new, all inclusive playground & amphitheater that is going to be built across the street from where the race started and ended.

I’ve done several races that are an out-and-back on Honeygo Blvd as well as use it for long runs. Here’s a link to the "usual" Honeygo course. It’s hilly, but it’s enough up and down that it’s not too terrible. My fastest 5k this year was on this course, so my goal was to match that time. Um, yea.  Not so easy on the new Honeygo course. Yes, that would be mostly downhill for the first half and mostly uphill the second. The end part is especially brutal because the road looks almost flat, but isn’t.  I’m pretty sure that after the first time I ran a long run heading north on Honeygo, it was a few years before I tried it again. The way I did that run, it is just under 3 miles of mostly uphill. Fun.

I knew I was going to run a positive split. My strategy was to bank as much time as possible on the downhill section (without too much pounding) and then make a steady effort on the climb back.

Mile 1 8:18

Fastest mile I’ve run in over a year. And it felt easy. Thank you downhill.  This mile had the usual 5k start annoyances. There was one little kid running way to fast (and who flamed out fairly quick) getting way up in everyone’s personal space. Then there was the girl’s lacrosse club that decided a somewhat crowded 5k would be a good place to do some checking of teammates. The parent running with the girl who took the brunt of the check said nothing to any of them. I was behind them for this crap Fortunately I got past them a little later with no other issues.

Mile 2 8:41

Still feeling strong.  I glanced at my watch at the turnaround and it was 13:03. Of course, right after that turnaround was where the fun started.

Mile 3 9:22, final kick 8:22

Probably not too bad for almost entirely uphill at the end of a 5k. This part was just hard. There is the real hill and then the fake flat part—what seemed so easy in mile 1 was now a struggle. While I slowed down during this mile, I don’t recall getting passed. So unlike the last several 5ks where I was getting passed in the last mile like I was standing still, this time, everyone was struggling.

Even the last stretch was slightly uphill, so hard to get any semblance of a kick.

Overall

Still not thrilled with the time, since it is still slower than everything last year, but it seems like it was an improvement.  I really need to find a flatter 5k.

That first mile sounds like ... fun.  Hate that.

 

This is one thing I like about Strava: the grade adjusted pace makes me feel less crappy about slowing in hilly miles.  Just find a flat 5K already, and it's all taken care of! 

Not many flat races in the Baltimore area. There is one in September that I want to do that is flatter than most.

The flattest one I know of coming up is the Ravens 5k and they want $48 ($45 entry plus processing fee).  And it would involve driving across downtown Baltimore during rush hour (3 miles, but  could take 45 minutes or more) or paying $8 to use the tunnel. Not worth it.

A few years ago someone had posted a link on RW with elevation adjusted times, you plugged in time and elevation gained and got a nice chart. I think it had me running a high 23 minute 5k based on a 26 minute one with lots of hills. LMAO.

Honestly, I feel like a route with rolling hills yields a faster net time than a flat one, at least for me.  I'm running a flat 5K on Labor Day, so we'll see whether that's really true!

For the most part, that has been my experience as well. Although the last truly flat 5k I did was on a day with gale force winds, so any benefit from the flat course was lost trying to run into 50mph winds or crosswinds.

Great job.  Improvement since March is good!

The problem with being able to run a really good 5K is that 5K's suck.  Whether the final stretch is uphill, flat, or downhill, it's going to be equally painful...it's just a matter of what your pace is.  Good job though!

 I really need to find a flatter 5k.

Words to live by.

 

But you could run it in 27 minutes...

 

Nice job, HCK.  Honey, Go! Blvd, haha.

Ah, but from where I work to the Ravens stadium is a route that would require running as fast as possible through some areas that are best to run through once per year with 10,000 others plus police at every intersection. Looks like it is actually only about 2 miles, which makes the 45 minute drive time even more annoying. In theory, I could train on the tough part of the Baltimore half marathon if I ran from work. lol

The flattest one I know of coming up is the Ravens 5k and they want $48 ($45 entry plus processing fee). 

Since finishers medals have become standard issue, the price of 5k's in my neck of the woods has skyrocketed. Finding anything less than $30 these days is a tough chore.

3. Include niceties only if the runner is interested in paying for them.

That's a great idea, although I am not sure how practical that is for planning purposes.