Notes
Heyoooooooo
Great event and pleasantly surprised with the result! More to follow.
I had been considering this a little bit but ultimately thought a 5k would be pretty embarrassing at the moment, plus it was a little bit of a hike to get over there from work. However, JrtPat&Rob talked me into it (around 3pm) and I figured it beat another solo 14mi, not to mention it wasn't entirely dissimilar from the workout I had targeted (6E-5x(1km @ I, 2min jog)-4x(400m @ R, 400m jog)-2E). I'm glad they did because I had a great time, met some great guys, caught up with a bunch of local running friends, and got another confidence boost!
This race was basically everything you want from a road race: easy registration, nice and well-marked course, good competition, fun after-party, quick results, and much more. Kudos to the race organizers and volunteers.
And hey how about that time! I sure wasn't expecting that. Between that crappy 10k and this past week of training, figured I was in very specialized marathon shape but I guess I've just gotten sneaky fit in the past few weeks. I honestly didn't think I'd be under 17, but I knew I've been surprising myself too, so I thought maybe it could happen again. Windy day but great temp. Just ran bbby, glanced at the watch here and there but out of curiosity, not because I was adjusting off of it. Kind of felt like a sprint the whole way! I'd say an objectively flat course overall aside from a small uphill in mile 1 and then back down it from late 3 to finish. Unfortunately 3rd mile had a pretty good headwind... thought I was running into the wind in the first half but clearly not! That wasn't the only reason I slowed I'm sure... I was feeling the first two miles too but I think I managed to hold on well. Just kept waiting for that downhill! Wasn't all gravy then either, had a little headwind there too, but can't complain about a downhill finish. Competitive race for a Wednesday! I had guys in my sights the whole time but they were just a bit too out of reach. Thought I was gaining around the end of mile 2 but then the wind had something different to say.
Man what a difference 8 days makes... feeling like a whole new runner. Aside from my fresh-off-XC PR, my fastest legitimate road 5k is probably only 16:30, so it's pretty great to be so close to that unexpectedly.
Kind of a choppy WO but oh well. Only had time for 4.5mi to start and then did some MP miles after (a fair amount after), but got some good work in overall.