Running of the Elk Thrive 5K

This morning I participated in my second 5K of the year: the Running of the Elk Thrive 5K. I came into the race with three goals:

1. Set a New 5K PR (currently 24:42)
2. Finish in the top 3 of my age category (Mens 35-39)
3. Beat 24 minutes

The bottom two goals were clearly stretch goals, but there was a possibility that one or both could be achieved in particular the second. I will be honest, part of the reason I choose to run this 5K was because they split the age categories in half this year (mine was now 35-39 instead of 30-39) and based on last year's results, I finish third for my category. Additionally, a 10K was added this year which would possibly pull some of the faster runners from the 5K. Granted neither of those things assured that I would finish in the top three, but my odds were better than they are in most runs I do.

An impromptu singing of the national anthem preceded the start of the half marathon and 10K which was a nice feature. The start of the race was delayed roughly a minute as a result which I didn't mind, but I imagine if I was running either that I may have been more itching to get going. The 5K started as scheduled 15 minutes after the 10K/half.

I struggled at the start to settle in on the pace that I wished to run the first mile. I wanted to attempt to go for 7:40, but it took a good minute and a half to slow myself down into that range. Once I got myself settled in, I was surprised at how many people I was continuing to pass. Since I had started too fast, I expected that the faster runners would catch up and pass me but there weren't many that did (I guess they were all lined up near the front like they should). I continued to pass runners throughout the first mile, and it was becoming apparent that I wasn't going to find a runner to pace myself against. I finished the first mile slower than I desired at 7:47 but I'm not sure that I could have pushed myself much harder.

For the first part of the second mile, I continued to pass multiple runners. Midway through the mile, I got past most of the slower runners and there was a lot of open space in front of me. I concentrated on trying to keep my pace steady with the first mile, and as the second mile drew to a close, I could tell that I was starting to run down a couple of the runners up in the distance. I finished the second mile in 7:50 and was happy to only lose three seconds off of my first mile time.

I kept plugging away at trying to catch those runners in the third mile and roughly midway through I passed the first one. As I approached the second, I heard footsteps behind me, and as that runner passed me, I noticed that he could be in my age group (I failed to check if he was running the 5K or the 10K). I tried to stick with him as he went by but I quickly realized that wasn't going to happened. I followed him by the second runner but then he quickly lost me. The only other person visible in the distance was a wheelchair athlete, and so I tried to track him down. We went by the third mile marker as I got close, and I briefly looked down to see that I finished mile three in 7:56.

Knowing that I was within reach of setting a new PR, I took off in a sprint towards the finish line (even chanting "Faster. Faster!" as I went). As I approached the finish, I could see that I was going to be close but not under 24 minutes. I flew through the final tenth of a mile at a 5:11 pace.

They handled out finisher medals for all of the races. I'm not a big fan of finisher medals for races under 10 miles, but I must admit that the design was pretty cool: die cut characters "5K" with an elk running in front of them. I'm unlikely to display it when I get around to putting up my medal hanger, but maybe I will until I get enough medals from longer distances.

There were quite a lot of booths in the post-race party area which was nice to see. I wandered around for a bit while I waiting for results to be posted. I was excited to see if somehow I did infact break 24 minutes and was more so excited to see if I had finished in the top three of my age group.

Unfortunately, I just missed out on both. The results showed me as 4th in my age group finishing 13 seconds behind third (perhaps the guy who passed me near the end?). My chip time was 24:06.2 which on the positive side of things was a smoking 36 seconds faster than my previous 5K best.

I was definitely more disappointed about not finishing in my age category top three than not breaking 24 minutes since I figured I was more likely to break 24 minutes in the Sacramento Zoo Zoom next month.

After getting home and walking my corgis, I went online to get my race time for making my race badge (above), and I noticed that my position was updated from fourth to third. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I can see in the results that the runner who had been listed as second for my category had his chip time changed by over a half hour (his chip time currently far exceeds his gun time which makes no sense). I'm not sure if that's a mistake or not, but I've contacted the race management group to see if I indeed did finish third and whether or not it's too late to pick up the award. Feels a bit silly at my age to be so interested in the award, but regardless, I think having it would be a good reward for sticking with running through the injuries.

Second Verse, [Not the] Same as the First

I ran the exact same route tonight as I did on Saturday. My splits were more consistent this go round: 8:53, 8:53, 9:00, and 8:41 (versus 8:30, 8:41, 9:01, 9:13). My overall average rate was a second per mile faster. Most impressively to me was that the fourth mile was the fastest of the lot. I'm not sure that I've had a performance where one of the later miles was faster than an earlier one. It's always a good sign when you're able to perform like that.

This performance encourages me that I'll be able to do well at the Running of the Elk Thrive 5K this coming weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to set a new PR and approach my stretch goal of finishing in under 24 minutes.

Additionally this makes me think that I won't have to spend too long trying to even out my performance before once again increasing distance. Maybe I'll even surpass 5 miles before the end of April.

Four Miles

Yesterday I completed my first run over four miles. Once I passed the four mile mark, I decided to go for 4.12 miles so that the run would be a mile beyond a 5K.

My splits for the run definitely showed that I am slowing down as the run progresses: each mile was roughly 15 seconds slower than the previous mile: I finished the first mile in 8:30 and the last in 9:13. I think this is something that could definitely use improvement, and I plan to see if I can smooth out the variance in my times over the next few weeks.

Next weekend, however, I will not be working on that as I will be running the Running of the Elk Thrive 5K. It's been a few weeks since the Sac Beer Week 5K, and I'd like to see if I can lower my PR.

Following the 5K, I'll probably run Wednesday and Saturday rather than my usual Tuesday/Saturday since the 5K is on Sunday. After that I will attempt to increase my running to three times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. For my first week of that, my plan is to do 2 mile or 20 minutes for the weekday runs and 4 miles or 40 minutes for the weekend run. I'll probably do that for a couple weeks and then slowly increase the length of the runs.

Back to Training

With my first race of the year (and my return to running) completed, I returned to my regularly scheduled training. I stuck with my current plan of adding 2 minutes each run, and as such, I did 32 minutes on Tuesday and 34 minutes today completing 3⅓ and 3.55 miles respectively.

My pace was slower for this week's runs than it was in the previous couple. I think Tuesday's may have been slowed by fatigue from the 5K on Saturday. Today's run started fast, but I slowed quite a bit in the second and third miles. Today's high temperature was a record, and that along with my foolish choice of a black shirt probably played a big factor in my performance.

Tomorrow is the Shamrock'n Half Marathon which I have ran the past couple years. I really enjoy the race, and it's a disappointment to miss it this year. Hopefully everything works out, and I'll be able to run it again next year.

Sac Beer Week 5K

Leading up to the day of the race, I realized that I had overlooked the fact that the Sac Beer Week 5K was a small race, and as such, it would be taking place on the sidewalks and we would have to follow traffic laws (meaning we could have to stop at traffic lights). Not a huge deal, but definitely a potential blocker to being able to set a PR.

One of the nice features of the race that initially attracted me to the run was that it started at noon (versus the usual 8/9 AM start time). Today was the warmest day so far this year with a high around 75°, and as such, at race time it was nearly 70° which was far warmer than any of the runs I've taken so far this year. While by no means hot, I hoped the temperature wouldn't affect my performance.

The race started on time, and we took off from the brewery (New Helvetia Brewing Company. I got off to a quick start and slowly throttled back to about a 7:45 per mile pace. Midway into the first mile, we hadn't hit any traffic lights, and I began to think my fears about having to stop were unfounded. However shortly thereafter, I can upon the first light, and my direction turned to red before I reached the intersection. As I started to "put on the brakes", I noticed that the car with the right-of-way hadn't started to move, so I decided to quickly cut across the street in front of it (giving the driver a quick "thank you" wave as I crossed by). Two more runners came along with me. I didn't hit any more red lights on the rest of the run, and I think there were only three more intersections where that was a possibility.

I finished the first mile in 7:51 well ahead of the 8:15 pace needed for a PR. I had some concerns after the first mile about my ability to keep up such a quick pace, but at 26 seconds ahead, I'd only need to average 8:28 for the final two miles to set a PR.

My second mile was a drop off from the first, but I was still able to finish it ahead of PR pace at 8:05. I could feel myself starting to wear down, but I knew I needed to finish strong.

In the final mile, there were a number of runners that started to fall off pace, and I kept myself motivated by targeting various runners as my next victim for passing. The strategy worked, and I only lost a few seconds off of my second mile time finishing the third mile in 8:08.

The sprint to the finish line from there was a short one (by my GPS watch the course was 3.07 miles just slightly shy of the 3.11), and I was back at the bar 24:42 after the time I started beating my previous 5K PR by 53 seconds (roughly 17 seconds per mile).

The race took quite a bit out of me, and I spent a number of minutes afterwards walking around and drinking water to recover. Once I felt pretty good I headed into the bar for the post race celebration. Entry in the race came with a free pint, and I decided to try their Homeland Stout. I thought it was pretty good for a Stout, and by checking into it on Untappd, I earned both the Sac Beer Week and Beer Party badges. Score!

About an hour after the start of the run, they posted times and handed out awards to the top finishers. Not surprisingly, I didn't place, but I was pleased to see that I finished 8th (out of 26) in the Men's 30-39 division and 25th out of the 188 participants.

After awards, I decided it was time for lunch, and I was happy to see that one of the food trucks I've been wanting to try (Cichy Co.) was at the bar. I decided to try the Uncle Bob Sandwich (a fried mortadella sandwich) and the grilled artichoke (with choice of aioli - I went with the spicy). Both were delicious, and I would have them again (and I look forward to trying other sandwiches from Cichy Co.). I paired my lunch with New Helvetia's Buffalo Craft Lager. It was tasty, but I preferred the stout.

I definitely enjoyed the Sac Beer Week 5K, and I would certainly run it again. The race was put on by the Sloopy Moose Running Club which meets at New Helvetia every Thursday for a run. Not sure how often Thursday would work for me, but it'll definitely be something that I keep in mind.

5K Distance Covered

In my last training run before the Sac Beer Week 5K, I covered 3.15 miles in 28 minutes. I can now go into the race this weekend knowing that I indeed can cover the distance (I was pretty confident that I could cover the distance prior to this run, but it's nice to have actually covered it).

In tonight's run, I covered 5K in 27:35: two minutes over my PR. I would expect at best to take a minute off per mile in an organized race. I don't expect that on Saturday, but if I can beat my pace by 40 seconds per mile I'll set a new PR.