Seasons 52 Park Ave 5K Report

Race summary (with official results):

Seasons 52 Park Ave 5K
Sat, Jan 20, 2007
Time: 7:30 am
Weather at start: about 55 deg F. / 60% humidity
Weather at finish: about 56 deg F. / 55% humidity
Finish time: 30 min 20 sec / 9:46 min/mile pace
Div place: 69/209

Mile splits:

Mile 1: 9:55
Mile 2: 9:51
Mile 3: 9:48
Last 0.1: :45

Total: 30:20 min

Details:
The weather was cool and only a little humid - perfect for a run. With the temps I wore a long sleeve shirt (the one I got at the marathon) and shorts. My husband ran this race with me.

We got down to the race area in plenty of time to get a good parking spot, stretch a bit and use the porta-potty. We lined up a little ways back from the front since we expected a 30+ min finish.

Now here is the silly mind games I play ahead of these events:

"Chris, you feel great and the weather is ideal. This is a good day for a PR for the 5K. You can break 30 min."

"Well, I am still recovering from the marathon. It has only been 2 weeks and my run times have been slower than my pre-marathon running times. I should just relax and enjoy the race."

"But you can just run faster and will yourself to keep the pace - that same strong will that got you through the marathon. Remember, the crowd will carry you."

"I don't know, I should do pretty well but not get my hopes up..."

Well, the irrational side of me decided to try for a PR. So, as the race horn went off, I started right up and kept up with the crowd.

And boy was there a crowd. 3300 runners - a record for this race. These roads are NOT big and folks were running on the sidewalks on both sides. It never really thinned out either. I finished in a crowd of folks (a little smaller than at the start, but it was still a crowd).

So as I pushed myself to run faster we hit mile 1 at around 10 min (9:55 for my watch). I was feeling a bit winded. My heart rate was already 167 bpm. My husband ran with me, even though his long legs could carry him much faster. After about a mile and a half I finally needed to take a quick break. My heart rate was up to 174 and I was about half way through the race. After a minute break we continued on. I tried to focus on running relaxed and shortened my stride to conserve some energy, but at 2.2 miles I took another walking break - heart rate at 175. Just one more mile to push through.

Just about at 2.9 miles, my Garmin started to make noises at me....yes, I had breached the 180 bpm mark. I took another short walking break, but as I looked at my watch I realized that the finish was just about .2 miles away and the time on my Garmin was 28:44. Maybe I could beat 30 min after all. So I took off at a fast clip with the finish line in sight. My Garmin was going crazy...I knew I was over 180 bpm. It was hard to maintain but I kept the pace up through the finish line. 30 min 20 sec - my second best time and a near PR! I was pleased.

After downloading my Garmin I also discovered I had found a new max heart rate. My heart rate hit 189 right toward the end of the race. That was probably as good a test of my max rate as any.

Overall, for me it was a great race. A near PR and a new max heart rate. Now lets see what hurts later today :-)