MEC 5K Race Report
I knew this was going to be a tough day, but I did my best to put those thoughts to the side as I prepared for my first 5K race in six years. The idea was to test my current fitness, and I think I got what I wanted out of it despite going into the race rather tired and sore...
In short, the day was chilly and a bit wet, which of course is perfect for racing! No complaints from me on that front. My goal was to break 20 minutes. Based on some workouts I'd done over the Winter I thought I had a real shot at this goal. However, it seems that treadmills and footpads are not very accurate, and my current state of feeling tired with heavy legs perhaps isn't indicative of what I was capable of back then. However, I wanted to run a 5K to see where I was at and to base my training for a Fall marathon on that result. After all, the BQ as nice as it would be, may not be realistic at the moment given how much time I would have to take off my current PR in order to achieve this ultimate of goals.
In summary, I ran to the limits of my fitness and with that I am happy. Within the first kilometre I know it was going to be a tough day. My first split was 4:05.58, so I was falling behind the goal early. My second split was even more telling at 4:10.90. This trend was not good and I could feel it in my lungs that things were unlikely to get any faster. I was proven right when the third and fourth splits came it at 4:10.37 and 4:14.07. Ugh... By the last two kilometres I was really struggling, but at least I passed a few people that had been just ahead of me from the start. I was only passed by one runner with a little less than one kilometre left and he looked quite fresh, chatting to me as he ran by. A guy I had passed slowly earlier on hung onto my heels for quite a while, but with about a few hundred metres left and the Finish line in sight I was able to lengthen my stride just a touch and pulled away from him. My last split was 4:07.97. I guess it was never meant to be...
And I really hope I didn't get beat by a woman with an umbrella and a camera bag!
However, this is still a Personal Best at 20:49.7, so I guess that's something. It also allows me to set up my training for the marathon based on paces derived from this result. In the end I think it will be a lot safer for me to train this way rather than try and go for the ultimate prize of the BQ, which clearly I am not quite ready for.
Perhaps another test race this Summer will allow for a revisit of the above, but for now it's to the books to check what my paces for Long runs, Tempo runs, and Speed/Strength runs should be.
In much more exciting news my 10 year-old ran an amazing race! I told him, based on a few training runs, that he had a decent chance at breaking 30 minutes for the 5K. Instead, the kid goes out and pulls through a tremendous 25:06.2!!! 5:01/km pace is amazing!!! Another runner came up to us after the race and congratulated my son for a terrific race and strategy. He said that he followed Malks for the first three kilometres at a steady pace, but was unable to keep up when Malks picked up his speed with two kilometres remaining. I caught him as he was just finishing (as I was running some cool down laps in the parking lot) and was not only surprised at when he was finishing as I thought I had a lot more time to cool down, but with the way he ran across the timing mats and kept running right to me!!! The kid is awesome.
In short, the day was chilly and a bit wet, which of course is perfect for racing! No complaints from me on that front. My goal was to break 20 minutes. Based on some workouts I'd done over the Winter I thought I had a real shot at this goal. However, it seems that treadmills and footpads are not very accurate, and my current state of feeling tired with heavy legs perhaps isn't indicative of what I was capable of back then. However, I wanted to run a 5K to see where I was at and to base my training for a Fall marathon on that result. After all, the BQ as nice as it would be, may not be realistic at the moment given how much time I would have to take off my current PR in order to achieve this ultimate of goals.
In summary, I ran to the limits of my fitness and with that I am happy. Within the first kilometre I know it was going to be a tough day. My first split was 4:05.58, so I was falling behind the goal early. My second split was even more telling at 4:10.90. This trend was not good and I could feel it in my lungs that things were unlikely to get any faster. I was proven right when the third and fourth splits came it at 4:10.37 and 4:14.07. Ugh... By the last two kilometres I was really struggling, but at least I passed a few people that had been just ahead of me from the start. I was only passed by one runner with a little less than one kilometre left and he looked quite fresh, chatting to me as he ran by. A guy I had passed slowly earlier on hung onto my heels for quite a while, but with about a few hundred metres left and the Finish line in sight I was able to lengthen my stride just a touch and pulled away from him. My last split was 4:07.97. I guess it was never meant to be...
And I really hope I didn't get beat by a woman with an umbrella and a camera bag!
However, this is still a Personal Best at 20:49.7, so I guess that's something. It also allows me to set up my training for the marathon based on paces derived from this result. In the end I think it will be a lot safer for me to train this way rather than try and go for the ultimate prize of the BQ, which clearly I am not quite ready for.
Perhaps another test race this Summer will allow for a revisit of the above, but for now it's to the books to check what my paces for Long runs, Tempo runs, and Speed/Strength runs should be.
In much more exciting news my 10 year-old ran an amazing race! I told him, based on a few training runs, that he had a decent chance at breaking 30 minutes for the 5K. Instead, the kid goes out and pulls through a tremendous 25:06.2!!! 5:01/km pace is amazing!!! Another runner came up to us after the race and congratulated my son for a terrific race and strategy. He said that he followed Malks for the first three kilometres at a steady pace, but was unable to keep up when Malks picked up his speed with two kilometres remaining. I caught him as he was just finishing (as I was running some cool down laps in the parking lot) and was not only surprised at when he was finishing as I thought I had a lot more time to cool down, but with the way he ran across the timing mats and kept running right to me!!! The kid is awesome.
Labels: 5k Race, MEC Series Race #3 5K Race Report
posted by Vava at
10:44 AM
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