Point Bock 5 Miler Recap

What a freaking race you guys. 

The race was at noon on Saturday, and around 10:00am, all of my runner buddies, my husband and I piled into my faithful Judy Blue and drove about an hour to get to the race.

The drive was uneventful - lots of chattering and multiple simultaneous conversations gave an indication to how excited everyone was for the race.  We snagged a great parking spot, picked up our t-shirts and bibs, killed a little time, and headed to the start line. 

2,000 people were lined up to run the flat, out-and-back 5 mile course.  The weather was awesome - low 20s, a very gentle breeze, and sunny, blue skies.  Perfect. 

My previous 5 mile PR was set in November:  40:19, an 8:04 pace.  I knew I could get sub-40, but I wanted to just run as fast as I could and see what I ended up with.   My concrete goal was sub-38.

I lined up between the 7:00 and 8:00 minute mile pace groups, and the gun went off.  The first mile had a few turns, and lots of passing back and forth as people settled into their groove.

I didn't look at my Garmin until about a half mile in, and it said my average pace was somewhere in the 7:10s or 20s.  Seemed a little fast, and I worried about burning out later.  Instead of slowing down to a more conservative pace, I just stopped looking at the damn thing.

Mile 2 was great - I knew I was getting close to the turnaround, and I was so excited to see the fast guys pass us on their way to the finish, and to see all of my friends once I hit the turnaround. 

The speedy dudes passed, and I mananged a little yell and some clapping as they sped by. 

At the turnaround, I was still feeling pretty good, but the pace was definitely a harder effort than when I started.  I was at that point in the race where I was hyper-aware of tiny little inclines and the slightest headwind.  I get there every race, and it's right around that time that the tiny whiny lazy person in my head tries to persuade me to walk.  Or lie down. 

But soon, I got the burst of energy that I needed - in the form of red-faced, panting, familiar faces. Rachel first, then a blur of Alicia, Kathy, Matt, Sarah, my husband Nick, and Nikki.  We managed some out-of-breath greetings to each other and a couple of awkward high-fives, and soon I spied the mile 4 marker. 

I picked it up just a bit for the 5th mile, made the final turn towards the finish line, and finished strong in 37:07.

My splits, courtesy of my trusty 305:

 

Mile 1: 7:25

Mile 2: 7:19

Mile 3: 7:32

Mile 4: 7:28

Mile 5: 7:19 

 

And the overall stats:

 

 

Point Bock 5 Miler

F25-29

*** 37:07 ***

Overall: 233/1848

Div: 14/182

Sex: 42/940

 

 The two highlights of the race for me:

 

One, my negative split: 18:35 first half, 18:32 second half... just barely negative, but negative nonetheless!

 

Two, copious post-race beers with these running superstars:



Rachel, Sarah, me, Kathy, Lish
5 girls, 5 PRs, approximately a million beers. 

 

An added bonus:  Although I'm really excited the 16 hour track relay on June 21st, I've been pretty apathetic about training for it.  This race gave me all the running feel-goods I need to stop being so freaking lazy.