5K Race Report: Komen Race for The Cure

Time: 19:40
Age group place: 1st
Overall place: 31st out of nearly 1,191 timed runners (5K results here)

This is was one of those courses that just does not agree with me one bit. The first half would be downhill, which wrecks havoc on my shins. The second half would be mostly uphill, which wrecks havoc on my lungs.

This is third week in a row that I have raced and I'm feeling it. So, no more racing until my half marathon in Oklahoma City on April 26. My goal Saturday was to run a sub 20-minute 5k. And that's really the goal in all my 5Ks now and this is the third consecutive 5K that I been able to run a sub 20-minute 5k.

The weird thing about this race was the hills. I knew I'd have a good first mile time without trying tooo hard because it was downhill, and I knew I'd need to save something for the last two miles, when the hills made you think you were running in San Francisco, not the southwest end of downtown Fort Worth.

As it turns out, I ran a perfect pace for what I had in the tank this morning. EVEN SPLITS.

9:50 for the first half and 9:49 for the second half. (I got to the race on time, unlike last week's Victory over Violence 5K; and my Garmin 301 worked properly, so I got that instant feedback I like to have about how fast I'm running and how far)

So, here are the splits

Mile 1 ----- 5:55
Downhill. Fun to run that fast, but I know what's coming next and try to hold back.
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Mile 2 ------6:37
All uphill, baby. I did manage to pass a lot of people on this stretch.
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Mile 3 ------6:23
Was just trying to hang on. A few little rollers for hills, but I was too spent from Mile 2
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Last .14 ----:45
Please let this be over and done with!!!
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*Last week, I also ran a sub 6-minute mile in a 5K, though I swear that mile was short.

*This sub-6 minute Mile on Mile 1 was legitimate, but downhill. As you can see, I alsmot gave all the cushion right back with that Mile 2 time. I was dying going up those hills. Just dying.

*The overall pace was 6:20 minutes/mile and the overall time was 15 seconds slower than my PR, which was done on Thanksgiving Day 2008 on a course that was much flatter.

*At the same time, though, the time is 15 seconds faster than the 5K I ran last week and that course was flatter than the Texas plains.

*My 5K goal this year is a sub 19 and if I can find the right course, and have everything fall just right, I might, just might get there this year.