I did a 5k in Powder Springs on Saturday March 24th. It was much warmer this week, but not too hot for fast running. I started at the front, and took off very quickly at the start. It was a hilly out-and-back. My first mile was in 6:13, and the second took 7:02 (went down and then back up a big hill for this mile), so my last 1.1 was somewhere in the mid to high 6's.
My overall time was 21:00. This is 49 seconds faster than the PR I set last month. Average pace was 6:46/mile, where my previous best was 7:02/mile. Finished 12th place overall, and was second in my age group.
-Dennis
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Hustle for Hope 5k - March 17, 2007
I did the Hustle for Hope 5k in Rome today. Finished 13th overall and 2nd in my age group. My time was 22:08, which is my second best 5k time. This was an out-and-back along the river. The temp was 34 (with a "feels like" of 25) with wind, and you felt the "feels like" 25 and the wind. My hands were numb through the entire race, when in cold races they usually warm up after about a mile. The standing around before and after and the race itself took a lot out of me today.
I started out fast for me. At the first mile mark they called out 6:21. I usually do 6:40-7:00. I may have done faster before, but sometimes they don't have mile callers, and I didn't always have my Garmin. This is my fastest 1st mile that I know of. In this race I forget to start my Garmin until about 30-45-maybe 60 seconds after the start, so I didn't bother logging laps or looking at it during the race. I concentrated more on keeping my position, and looking out for the halfway point where I could turnaround.
I let a few people pass me after the first mile (I think 4), and finished strong. The average pace was 7:08, so my last mile was probably around 7:45-8.
As of late, since I know I start out faster than I should, I really pay attention to my 1st mile time, and of course the total 5k time. I haven't been one to pace myself. I've overheard other runners say that they'll take the 1st half conservative, and depending on how they feel at that point they'll decide whether they'll go all out or not. Sounds like a smart plan, but it's just not how I'm wired. With my age you'd think I'd learn, but running races is more of a recent thing for me.
I started out fast for me. At the first mile mark they called out 6:21. I usually do 6:40-7:00. I may have done faster before, but sometimes they don't have mile callers, and I didn't always have my Garmin. This is my fastest 1st mile that I know of. In this race I forget to start my Garmin until about 30-45-maybe 60 seconds after the start, so I didn't bother logging laps or looking at it during the race. I concentrated more on keeping my position, and looking out for the halfway point where I could turnaround.
I let a few people pass me after the first mile (I think 4), and finished strong. The average pace was 7:08, so my last mile was probably around 7:45-8.
As of late, since I know I start out faster than I should, I really pay attention to my 1st mile time, and of course the total 5k time. I haven't been one to pace myself. I've overheard other runners say that they'll take the 1st half conservative, and depending on how they feel at that point they'll decide whether they'll go all out or not. Sounds like a smart plan, but it's just not how I'm wired. With my age you'd think I'd learn, but running races is more of a recent thing for me.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Chattahoochee Road Runners 10k - New PR
On Saturday March 3rd I participated in the Chattahoochee Road Race 10k. This was a bit far from my house. A little farther than I prefer to go, but the pain of not going would have outweighed the pleasure of going (Thanks Tony Robbins). Plus everyone was going to be there - the Foothills club, most of the ATC competitive team, and maybe some surprises (ZAP Fitness was a no-show, but Joseph Chirlee was there and won).
I got out of bed at 5:05am, got ready, and decided I wanted to hear some specific music for the long ride down, so I burned a CD. Good call there. Left the house at 5:44am, and got there at 6:35am. At that time there was plenty of parking and no line to get my race number.
I hung around in the car for a bit and saw some people I knew around 7:30. I did some warmup running, and tried to get as close to starting line as I could. This year had about 1250 finishers. The start time was 8am. Even though I was close to the starting line, when the gun went off it still took me 11 seconds to reach it.
I ran an even race. My overall pace was 7:28/mile. Mile 1 was 7:22, Mile 2 was 14:48. I don't remember what mile 3 was, but the 5k was in the 23's. Mile 4 was a little under 30:00. I kept up the pace, particularly since the last 2 miles are downhill. Actually they are extremely downhill. Downhill running isn't my forte, and in races I usually lose a few spots on the downhills, where I may gain a spot or two on an uphill. However, in this race I knew there was about a 200 ft elevation drop in the last two miles. Even though this part of the course was new to me (this is the only part I hadn't run and driven), it was on. My Garmin was showing 5-something pace for the big downhill after about 4.5 miles. I forget what mile 5 split was. Usually I remember all splits, but I was in a zone for this race, and all I took note of was the fact that the splits were better than my previous bests.
I finished in 46:20. This is a PR for me. My previous PR was 48:03 on 1/1/07. This is definitely a great course for a PR, with the elevation loss between the start and finish. Although maybe not so good on my knees (so far I'm ok, but next week's running will tell).
I've broken through in the last week, with a 10k PR this week (103 seconds faster than my previous 10k PR) and a 5k PR last week (37 seconds faster than my previous 5k PR).
After the race I took the bus back to start, but didn't go to the awards. At home, I waited impatiently for the results to be posted on the website. I finished #326 of 1269. In my age group, I was 50 of 137.
Overall the race was great. Only thing is I would have liked to have the beginning at the starting line rather than just Gun time.
I got out of bed at 5:05am, got ready, and decided I wanted to hear some specific music for the long ride down, so I burned a CD. Good call there. Left the house at 5:44am, and got there at 6:35am. At that time there was plenty of parking and no line to get my race number.
I hung around in the car for a bit and saw some people I knew around 7:30. I did some warmup running, and tried to get as close to starting line as I could. This year had about 1250 finishers. The start time was 8am. Even though I was close to the starting line, when the gun went off it still took me 11 seconds to reach it.
I ran an even race. My overall pace was 7:28/mile. Mile 1 was 7:22, Mile 2 was 14:48. I don't remember what mile 3 was, but the 5k was in the 23's. Mile 4 was a little under 30:00. I kept up the pace, particularly since the last 2 miles are downhill. Actually they are extremely downhill. Downhill running isn't my forte, and in races I usually lose a few spots on the downhills, where I may gain a spot or two on an uphill. However, in this race I knew there was about a 200 ft elevation drop in the last two miles. Even though this part of the course was new to me (this is the only part I hadn't run and driven), it was on. My Garmin was showing 5-something pace for the big downhill after about 4.5 miles. I forget what mile 5 split was. Usually I remember all splits, but I was in a zone for this race, and all I took note of was the fact that the splits were better than my previous bests.
I finished in 46:20. This is a PR for me. My previous PR was 48:03 on 1/1/07. This is definitely a great course for a PR, with the elevation loss between the start and finish. Although maybe not so good on my knees (so far I'm ok, but next week's running will tell).
I've broken through in the last week, with a 10k PR this week (103 seconds faster than my previous 10k PR) and a 5k PR last week (37 seconds faster than my previous 5k PR).
After the race I took the bus back to start, but didn't go to the awards. At home, I waited impatiently for the results to be posted on the website. I finished #326 of 1269. In my age group, I was 50 of 137.
Overall the race was great. Only thing is I would have liked to have the beginning at the starting line rather than just Gun time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)