My friend Erin asked me to do a 5K with her and so I did. My body was kind of saying "are you crazy? I'm tired!" so I just decided it would be a run and not a race.
It was so hot. Only in the 70s but 100% humidity. It was a small race in a park, which was very nice. The course was really tough - a few big climbs and the sun was brutal. But I felt really strong for the entire thing. I was pretty happy with my time given the condition of my body, the temps and the challenging course.
I think my time was somewhere around 32:20. So a 10:26-ish pace.
Showing posts with label 5K. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 5K. Show all posts
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Asha for Education 5K
Official Time: 29:25, a 9:30 min per mile.
It was a humid morning. The sun was hot. Casey and I warmed up, which I am very glad happened. But my legs still started in a bad state. The first mile felt very smooth and I was trying to settle into a breathing pattern. The first mile went by in 8:45, which I was happy with...but it was awfully difficult. I was trying to ignore my stiff legs which were hurting pretty bad. My shins were yelling at me. Everything was tight for some reason. The course wound its way through the park, and each elevation change was painful, especially the downhills. I knew I was slowing down and urged Casey to go on, because it was getting pretty ugly for me. There was a pretty significant downhill before we turned to go up hill and head back to Mason-Montgomery Road. I winced in pain with each foot strike. Damn legs!
After passing the two mile marker, I slowly realized I only had a mile left! As painful of a race as it was, it was flying by pretty quickly. We were climbing a long hill that really wasn't that steep, but for me that day, it was pretty bad. I saw a woman on the hill walk. Then she started running very slowly again and I passed her. I decided I wasn't going to let her pass me back. This became the goal for the remainder of the race. I figured since it was sucking so bad, at least I could maybe "race" someone and have some fun that way. I heard her breathing behind me – it was just as erratic and awful sounding as my gasps. I'd hear her close the gap and would speed up a little. I hoped she didn't have too much left in her because if she decided to start really running, I didn't think I could go much faster than I was going.
In the last .25 miles, she started her kick. We rounded a corner and I saw her shadow. Crap! I started the slow communication process with my legs to go faster, and they finally started moving a bit. I was pretending that Casey and I were running the usual Wednesday morning route and were doing the final push. It hurts, but I can always do it. She and I were side by side for a moment, but I managed to somehow stay right in front of her. It felt like a LONG push. I thought I was going to puke. I crossed the line 2 seconds before her, according to the race results. I don't know how much she cared about it, but I was very glad to have beaten her. Even though I didn't run as fast as I had wanted to, that was a very fun way to end it. And now that I think about it, I've never done that before – "raced" someone across the line.
Overall, I'm disappointed with my time. But it was hot, and hillier than I thought it would be. We'll see what the next race course has in store for us...and I would really like to come close to my PR of 26:36. I think I might start doing Yasso 800s at track again. Even though those are used for marathon training, I think the long pushing is really beneficial for me and my breathing. It always seems to be more about my breathing than my legs.
It was a humid morning. The sun was hot. Casey and I warmed up, which I am very glad happened. But my legs still started in a bad state. The first mile felt very smooth and I was trying to settle into a breathing pattern. The first mile went by in 8:45, which I was happy with...but it was awfully difficult. I was trying to ignore my stiff legs which were hurting pretty bad. My shins were yelling at me. Everything was tight for some reason. The course wound its way through the park, and each elevation change was painful, especially the downhills. I knew I was slowing down and urged Casey to go on, because it was getting pretty ugly for me. There was a pretty significant downhill before we turned to go up hill and head back to Mason-Montgomery Road. I winced in pain with each foot strike. Damn legs!
After passing the two mile marker, I slowly realized I only had a mile left! As painful of a race as it was, it was flying by pretty quickly. We were climbing a long hill that really wasn't that steep, but for me that day, it was pretty bad. I saw a woman on the hill walk. Then she started running very slowly again and I passed her. I decided I wasn't going to let her pass me back. This became the goal for the remainder of the race. I figured since it was sucking so bad, at least I could maybe "race" someone and have some fun that way. I heard her breathing behind me – it was just as erratic and awful sounding as my gasps. I'd hear her close the gap and would speed up a little. I hoped she didn't have too much left in her because if she decided to start really running, I didn't think I could go much faster than I was going.
In the last .25 miles, she started her kick. We rounded a corner and I saw her shadow. Crap! I started the slow communication process with my legs to go faster, and they finally started moving a bit. I was pretending that Casey and I were running the usual Wednesday morning route and were doing the final push. It hurts, but I can always do it. She and I were side by side for a moment, but I managed to somehow stay right in front of her. It felt like a LONG push. I thought I was going to puke. I crossed the line 2 seconds before her, according to the race results. I don't know how much she cared about it, but I was very glad to have beaten her. Even though I didn't run as fast as I had wanted to, that was a very fun way to end it. And now that I think about it, I've never done that before – "raced" someone across the line.
Overall, I'm disappointed with my time. But it was hot, and hillier than I thought it would be. We'll see what the next race course has in store for us...and I would really like to come close to my PR of 26:36. I think I might start doing Yasso 800s at track again. Even though those are used for marathon training, I think the long pushing is really beneficial for me and my breathing. It always seems to be more about my breathing than my legs.
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