Allen Eagle 5k Race Report- With New & Improved PR!

This 5k is a tradition for me, which is why I took a major stepback week in marathon training to do it. This was the 4th annual run, and I started doing it the 2nd year. I wasn't running before then, and I wasn't racing when I did it in 2010.

In 2010, I was 11th of 29 in my age group and 300th of 514 overall, with a time of 35:19.

Lame, but only picture of this post. My sister-in-law, husband, and me on race day. This was before I knew how uncool it was to wear cotton. And your race shirt. And yoga pants. All on race day.

In 2011, I was 5th of 44 in my age group and 149th of 554 overall, with a time of 27:56.

In 2012... Keep reading... it's not like I'm going to give away the good stuff in the 6th sentence. Seriously.

I went into this race wanting to try and PR. I have done almost no speedwork, so I certainly wasn't expecting the PR, but I wanted to try. The weather was perfect this morning, mid to upper 40's with only slight wind. I think of this course as pretty flat, but there are a few slight inclines (but also declines).. neither of which I felt played a role in my pace. The biggest hinderance to a PR are the many turns and *MANY* kids.

I started the race toward the front, but I probably should have been a little closer. This race benefits the school district so lots of kids run. It seems the way kids who are not runners by sport run a race is to sprint like hell, then come to almost a complete stop right in front of somebody, and walk like they have no place to go. As soon as the race started I thought I was going to be screwed by my position. I can look back at parts of the race and see where I lost seconds. This was one spot. Thankfully, it thinned pretty quickly and I was able to get my pace in the low 8's. There was still way too much dodging and weaving for position, but I could hold my pace as I tried to find empty road. First mile 8:22 pace, exactly where I wanted to be. Not too fast, and a good solid start to a PR.

In the second mile I saw the lead men coming back toward the start/finish. They were close. I turned before I saw a lead woman. This mile felt good and was my fastest at 8:17.

I was getting tired in the third mile. I was breathing hard and my chest hurt. I actually had to pull over to the grass on the south side of the high school because I thought I was going to puke. After a few seconds of dry heaving, I decided it wasn't going to happen and I needed to get back to running. Again, lost some time here. When I returned to running, I just couldn't get the speed back. Pace dropped to 8:56 in this mile.

Partially because of the winding path and partially because of dodging other runners/walkers, I ran 3.21. My last 0.21 came in at 8:24. I really gave it all I had at the end. I managed an 11 second PR, finishing in 27:18. I placed 7th of 59 in my age group and 163rd of 872 overall. I'm happy with that!

I used some new running gear today that I'm super excited about. I don't think I can say what it is yet, and hence no pics from the race, because my first product review and GIVEAWAY is coming up within a couple weeks! Did I mention I'm excited?