Dream Mile 5K
I've been running consistently for almost two months now, and I've been getting anxious to try some races. Last week I signed up for the Vibha Dreammile 5K, which was this morning on campus. The course was a tight loop, so tight in fact that it never even touched what would be considered to be the borders of campus, and part of the course was repeated twice.
It has been a very long time since I've ran a 5K, so I was pretty nervous and didn't sleep well last night. I did the Keep Austin Weird 5K this year, but wearing all the trinkets I could find around the house and stopping for melodica solos with the bands meant I wasn't running that one for time. Perhaps the last one I did was Hot to Trot a few years ago where I finished at 28 minutes. I've been doing practically all of my running on the treadmill since I started running again, and based on my 20 minute interval workout I estimated my achievable 5K time to be somewhere around the 26 minute time frame, though I also knew I would probably run faster in a non-treadmill/racing situation.
I forgot how different a 5K is. Oh yeah, I need to do a warm-up run before the race! I need to start at a running pace, not a slow jog! How must faster can I run to last 3 miles instead of 6? Water stops are for waving at the volunteers, not stopping for water!
I ran a slow half mile before the race, and started the race too fast. I expected I'd do that. It took no time at all for my breathing rate to go to one breath every three steps, which was worrisome because on the treadmill I've been breathing one breath every eight steps mostly, increasing only to one every four when I'm running fast. So that got me wondering if I was going to have to stop and walk for awhile. I didn't, but I slowed to what felt like a slow jog a few times. I also experienced side cramps and damn near threw up at the end of the race. After the race, my muscles felt tighter than they have in a long, long time.
I finished in 24:25, which is great, but it was the award ceremony that surprised me. I didn't win anything, but if I were one month and a day older I would have won second place for my age group and received a medal! I realize this has more to do with the small field rather than my running ability, and that this kind of thing may not happen that often, but it's enough to make me consider getting an award at a race a goal--especially since I think I can still improve my time a bit.
Forerunner confusion: Hmm--it has my time about a minute longer than the clock time. Maybe they didn't start the clock until after everyone crossed the start line? Still, a minute seems a bit long for everyone to get across. Or maybe I remembered my clock time wrong. Was it 25:24, not 24:25? Also, the Forerunner has the course at 3.4 miles, which would make it at least two minutes longer than a 5K. So I guess I have to accept that my result time may be a minute fast or a minute slow. In any case, it was still my fastest 5K in Austin!
It has been a very long time since I've ran a 5K, so I was pretty nervous and didn't sleep well last night. I did the Keep Austin Weird 5K this year, but wearing all the trinkets I could find around the house and stopping for melodica solos with the bands meant I wasn't running that one for time. Perhaps the last one I did was Hot to Trot a few years ago where I finished at 28 minutes. I've been doing practically all of my running on the treadmill since I started running again, and based on my 20 minute interval workout I estimated my achievable 5K time to be somewhere around the 26 minute time frame, though I also knew I would probably run faster in a non-treadmill/racing situation.
I forgot how different a 5K is. Oh yeah, I need to do a warm-up run before the race! I need to start at a running pace, not a slow jog! How must faster can I run to last 3 miles instead of 6? Water stops are for waving at the volunteers, not stopping for water!
I ran a slow half mile before the race, and started the race too fast. I expected I'd do that. It took no time at all for my breathing rate to go to one breath every three steps, which was worrisome because on the treadmill I've been breathing one breath every eight steps mostly, increasing only to one every four when I'm running fast. So that got me wondering if I was going to have to stop and walk for awhile. I didn't, but I slowed to what felt like a slow jog a few times. I also experienced side cramps and damn near threw up at the end of the race. After the race, my muscles felt tighter than they have in a long, long time.
I finished in 24:25, which is great, but it was the award ceremony that surprised me. I didn't win anything, but if I were one month and a day older I would have won second place for my age group and received a medal! I realize this has more to do with the small field rather than my running ability, and that this kind of thing may not happen that often, but it's enough to make me consider getting an award at a race a goal--especially since I think I can still improve my time a bit.
Forerunner confusion: Hmm--it has my time about a minute longer than the clock time. Maybe they didn't start the clock until after everyone crossed the start line? Still, a minute seems a bit long for everyone to get across. Or maybe I remembered my clock time wrong. Was it 25:24, not 24:25? Also, the Forerunner has the course at 3.4 miles, which would make it at least two minutes longer than a 5K. So I guess I have to accept that my result time may be a minute fast or a minute slow. In any case, it was still my fastest 5K in Austin!
Labels: running
posted by PlaysByEar at 11:00 AM
5 Comments:
awesome Jeff..this year lets train for the 3m.,
Damn, not too shabby!
But one breath every eight steps? You need to pick up the pace there.
One breath per eight steps is my long distance running pace. I do need to pick that pace up for shorter distances, and the 5K showed me I'm not used to it at al. On a 20 min treadmill run, I've been doing more than half the time at that pace--too slow.
Good job hoss!
Sweet Job!
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