Notes
A pretty solid workout during the Defeat of Jesse James Days 15K. As you can see, the course was a little long which is hard to believe since there weren't many areas to run tangents and I ran those well. The goal was to run the first 5K at 6:40-6:45/mi, the second 5K at 6:30-6:35/mi and the last 5K at 6:17/mi.
1st 5K- 20:23.1 (6:33/mi), 2nd 5K- 20:25.94 (6:34/mi), Last 3.2 mi- 19:54.59 (6:13/mi)
Overall, this went very well. I went out fast at the beginning as it was the start of the race and it took me 3/4ths of a mile to slow down and try and run my goal pace. The second mile was a little slower as it involved a half mile climb. The final 1.1 miles of the 5K included the downhill where I went faster than I planned into a climb where I hit the end of the 5K at the top.
The second 5K started with 0.8 miles of downhill or flat where I held back a bit and was actually on 6:18/mi pace until the 0.8 mile mark where I turned a corner into an uphill climb into the wind (15 mph with up to 30 mph gusts). The next 1.2 miles were very tough as it was all uphill or flat into the wind which is why this was my slowest part of the race. This is also why this 5K was my slowest but it was still inside my goal time. The final 1.1 of this 5K involved a mix of downhill and uphill but was partially against the wind as it was from the S/SW and we turned back to the west. I still feel good that I ran this 5K in my goal range as this section was the worst section of it all.
The last 5K started with another 0.6 mile climb- very tough and somewhat into the wind. I guess I was surprised that I only ran 12 seconds off my GRP but I gained back some time on the downhill. Once I got over the top, I ran really well. I finished really well over the last 2.2 miles (yes, it was long) averaging 6:05 a mile for these 2.2 miles. This makes me feel really good about this run. I didn't feel extremely exhausted and I probably could have pushed that pace for a little longer. Also, I didn't have the wind at my back either and there were parts that were more uphill than downhill here too so this was solid. I will take this run, even with the slower miles, because I maintained a solid effort, hit the average paces per 5K (or faster) and finished very strong. I will take this into next week knowing that I didn't race and I hit the average pace for my 10 mile PR.
I'm getting a little more fit each day and that feels nice.