This morning I attempted to shake the disappointment of last weekend’s not so fantastic 10k out of my mind by running the
2nd Annual UD Nutrition Club 5k. This race was a complete impulse decision made Thursday night at around 11:50pm. If I registered before midnight it was $5 cheaper and I said if I didn’t then I wouldn’t do it. Well I did and wasn’t looking back.
Saturday afternoon I biked around campus and decided to bike the route I’d be doing. It started up on North Campus and ran down to Creek Rd which runs along
White Clay Creek. I’m glad I biked the course because it helped me know what to expect today which was a big mental boost when I was running today.
Woke up around 7-7:30 to get ready for a 10am start. Made myself a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and ate that. Started feeling that stomach unrest that comes with pre-race nerves I’m so used to. Also may have had something to do with the two delish burgers I had from
Five Guys Burgers. (Not exactly pre-race carbo loading but oh well). Finally got out the door around ten to nine. Got to north campus a little after 9 and picked up my bib, pinned my tank top (I made an exec decision that even though it was chilly, I was probably gonna sweat like a pig (correct) so I wanted something light. Did about 20 minutes of warming up, ran the first little bit of the course down Creek Rd. and was glad we finished before the massive hill at the beginning. Then I headed back to the start and had about 5 minutes to prep myself and get to the line.
At the line I noticed that the field wasn’t very large, I guessed about 60 max. I recognized a guy who I had seen at other Delaware races- he had tattoos on his neck, his arm, near his ear, everywhere so it was easy to recognize him and I knew he was fast as heck. I also recognized a black guy with blonde hair and a blue racing singlet from Friday night when I watched a 5k on Main St. I lined up at the front with a handful of fast-looking types, the race director gave us a quick summary of the course and then the horn went and we were off.
I had three goals today. Sub 20:00 officially, place in the top 10 overall, and place top 3 in my age group. I figured these were all fairly realistic if I ran smart. The beginning took us up and around the Tower’s parking lot, a slight initial uphill and then downhill quickly and steeply for most of the first mile. We were following the race director who was driving a truck and when we got down to Creek Rd, he explained, the Newark police would handle the minimal traffic from there out.
The lead group consisted of 6 of us: a tall, lanky guy and the tattooed guy pushed ahead early and opened up a few seconds lead. I was a few strides behind a young-looking guy and a skinny Asian guy, right next to a blonde haired black guy who I recognized from watching a 5k in town Friday night. I figured that I could hopefully hang with them and use it to run a good time and maybe outkick some of them.
I knew the first mile would be significantly faster than the rest of the race because of the extreme early downhills and I figured that would be ok, that I’d keep my effort constant and give some of that time back on the rolling hills the rest of the way. As we crossed the bridge and made the left to Creek Rd (and the steepest downhill on the course), the two leaders had starting putting some real distance on everyone, and the Asian and young guys had pulled a few meters ahead of us. I was still with blondie. Creek Rd. was nice because White Clay Creek runs along the entirety of it (and we actually passed quite a few people out fishing) and there’s ample shade from trees.
We crossed over the finish line, I looked down and thought to myself, “See you soon!” and kept on. We crossed an old bridge after the course flattened out and then a turn where we came to the first uphill, right around the 1 mile mark. Hit the watch and saw 5:43! YIKES! I honestly wasn’t THAT surprised though- the day I ran my unofficial PR of 19:56, the first mile was 5:58 and that wasn’t nearly as downhill as this. I knew I was slowing some but I tried to keep focused on my effort level and the people ahead of me through the second longer and more gradual uphill. At this point I was really thankful that I had knowledge of what was coming already, it helped me mentally prep myself for it.
Shortly after mile 1, I heard a clomp-clomp of footsteps and could tell someone was right behind me and gaining. I was trying to keep pace with the footsteps but the next uphill was a bit much and on a long stretch I was passed by an older guy (who I guessed correctly to be in his mid-50s). It was seriously impressive to watch him pull away, unfortunately I couldn’t stay on his tail and go with him. Instead I threw up some bacon cheeseburger in my mouth (yuck!) and was dealing with a familiar tightening in my stomach like the one I’d felt the last time I ran a fast 5k. The six guys ahead of me were getting a bit further but I could still see most of them.
There was a steep, short downhill that took us to the turnaround mark. However the speed I built on the downhill was wasted because I had to go right back up the now steep uphill. At the turn I saw the female leader was close behind and that was really it. I realized then that, barring a catastrophe, I was assured a top 10 placing. I was happy about this and it gave me a boost.
Hit mile 2 at 12:49, a 7:06 mile. While this seemed bad, I was expecting something close to this and knew the last 1.1 miles would be more gradually downhill than up and I’d make up some of it. I was starting to tire some and was worried that I would epically fail at my goal time like the previous week’s 10k. I just kept moving the legs and trying to think through the course to the end, knowing I had JUST run what I had to double back on and knew EXACTLY what was coming and where. I also kept telling myself that 1 mile is really not a whole lot at all, and to just hurt a little bit and be done with it.
Shortly after mile 2, the lead female caught me and slowly passed me. This time I was able to go with her for a bit and get closer to blondie (everyone else was out of realistic reach at this point). Alas, I couldn’t follow her all the way and let her go. I glanced at my watch and thought that 20:00 was probably just out of reach but didn’t let that thought slow me down.
Nearing the end, there was a quick left, then right that I thought was closer to the end than it actually was. I started accelerating and realized I still had more to go than I thought and temporarily eased up because I wanted whatever I had left for the very end. A few hundred meters later I spied the 3 mile mark and steeled myself for the uphill sprint finish. I opened up and went for it as hard as I possibly could. The people at the finish were clapping and cheering encouragements. I crossed the line in 20:18, an 8th place overall finish and about 20 second behind the overall female winner and the blonde guy.
I lingered a bit, walked around and shook out my legs, sucked down some water, watched the other finishers and cheered them on. Then we all went back up to the commons area for awards. A quick call to a sleepy Lauren to tell her the good news and then inside to have some peanut butter, bagels, bananas, and OJ. I thought I might have an outside shot at an age group top 3, depending on how old some of the guys in front of me were. Much to my surprise, they got to the 20-29 year old age group and called the Asian guy as the AG winner, and then they called ME as 2nd place!!! Yessiree…2nd place, 20-29, 8th place overall, a shiny silver medal and some self satisfaction.
All in all, a good race. I warmed up much better and smarter this time than in the past. I should have eaten much better the night before but I’ll take this as a learning experience, a bounce back race, a confidence booster, and an official 5k PR by more than 2:15! And I’m pretty sure that it’s just a matter of time before I cross the line sub 20:00 in an actual race. I’m guessing sometime before the summer, there’s a bunch going on down here over the next few weeks, I’ve started training harder again and added some weight training to my schedule to gain some strength and power, especially for these short, more-sprint-type races. Happy running!
The short of it:
5k results:20:18 (6:33 pace)
Mile 1- 5:43.07
Mile 2- 12:49.51 (7:06.44)
Mile 3- 19:38.84 (6:49.33)
Finish- 20:17.87 (39.03 final tenth)
8th place overall, 2nd place AG (19-29)