blog.andyobrien.com

It had been awhile since I did a 5K race.  My last one was the 2006 Herndon Turkey Trot, where I PR-ed with a time of 22:34.  Back then, I was ~25 lbs. heavier and not nearly the runner I am today.  Now, my training is at a whole new level.  So, going into last night’s Crystal City Twilighter 5K, I knew I would PR big time!

PRE-RACE

The start time for the race was 8:00pm. So, I decided to leave the house no later than 6:30pm, which would get me to the race site by 7:00pm or so. That would give me plenty of time to warm up, hit the porta-potties, and possibly catch up with my DailyMile.com friend, Steve Speirs @britishbulldog and his lovely wife, Allyson. Well, things don’t always go as planned.

After a little bit of traffic problems, I arrived in the packed area around 7:15pm, and made the terrible decision to use one of the smaller parking garages that the race recommended, which I had thought was in the best location for getting out of the area. The race listed 2300+ runners, and so, I figured I’d use this particular garage because it was slightly away from all the commotion. Well, it took me 10 minutes to get in and out of that garage, as all of us realized there were no spots left. And, it appeared that there was only one floor of that garage. Strange. So, I was in panic-mode after this failure. I knew where the other garages were, but was worried about the time. Another 10 minutes later, after waiting through lights and traffic again, I finally got parked in the main garage which had plenty of spaces (and floors).

Knowing the size of the field, I envisioned long lines at porta-potties, as I pinned up my bib while sitting in my minivan. I looked over on my passenger-side floor and saw a red plastic cup, the throwaway kind. Hmm. I was concealed in my minivan. Hmm. Moments later I emerged from my vehicle carrying a nearly full cup of a warm liquid, which I quickly disposed in a nearby trash can. Sorry, garage janitor.

Once I emerged from the garage, I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice light rain come down. It was 90 all day, so it was refreshing to have a small front come through for the race. I turned on my Garmin Forerunner 305 and headed towards the start/finish area to do a warmup. Of course, looking over at the porta-potty collection, I noticed there were no lines. Go figure. Anyhow, my Garmin wasn’t finding a satellite as I was walking around in the rain. Lots of people were taking cover wherever they could, but I stayed out in the rain, since I needed to get some sort of warmup in. I finally saw @britishbulldog during a little jog, but didn’t want to ruin his warmup routine, so I kept going. Later, after my warmup, I lined up near the front and got to talk to my running buddy. This was Steve’s 3rd 5K of the day!!! He and his wife had teamed up for a run~swim~run event down in their Virginia Beach area, earlier that morning. Steve did both of the 5K runs, and Allyson swam. They took first place in the mixed division! So, needless to say, Steve didn’t have that raring to go look, especially after a 4 hour drive to boot! But, the race was under way before we knew it…

RACE

As predicted, I would go out way too fast in this one. My Garmin beeped slightly before the Mile 1 mat with a time of 5:44. Holy Moly! I knew I was flying, since @britishbulldog wasn’t too far in front of me. Despite the effort during this first mile, I passed on taking any water at the stop around that point. My mouth was dry, but I knew we’d be passing that area again on the back portion of the out-and-back course.

Nearing the Mile 1.5 turnaround, I saw @britishbulldog coming back the other way and he shouted something along the lines of “fast pace” or something. I didn’t yell back, so I could save some energy. I then grabbed a cup of water when back in the water stop area. I just needed something to wet my whistle. I got only a single gulp down and chucked the mostly full cup to the side of the road.

At Mile 2, my Garmin beeped and showed a 6:13 pace for that lap. I knew I wouldn’t have another 5:44, but still fast! I was on pace for my goal of a sub-20.

Coming into the next tiny out-and-back area, I figured @britishbulldog was long gone, but to my surprise I saw him coming back the other way on this section too. He again yelled something supportive, maybe something like “you’re right behind me” or such. That would be a compliment, by the way. He’s a fast one. At that point though, I knew he was struggling. Later, in the final 1/2 mile or more, I saw @britishbulldog walking gingerly along the side of the road, as he again yelled words of encouragement, maybe something like “take it home strong” or such. His sore foot finally gave him enough pain to decide to shut it down. There was no point for him to risk further injury.

After that final supportive cheer, my Garmin beeped again at the Mile 3 marker, showing that my last split was 6:20. I sped up again to finish off the final sliver of the 5K. The course appeared long, according to my Garmin. My last split was .18 miles, instead of .11. For .18 miles I ran 0:57 (5:26 pace). I was happy to see the finish line, knowing that I crushed my previous 5K best by 3:22. I beat my goal of sub-20, coming in at 19:12. Not too shabby.

My first mile really banked a lot of time for me. Yeah, I’d prefer a faster finish. My regressive splits weren’t desired, but certainly weren’t unexpected. I haven’t been training for a 5K, as I’m slowly moving things along in my MCM training. Hopefully, I can work some more races into my training. They’re fun!

After the race, I got to chat with Steve and Allyson, and got to meet Allyson’s mother and brother, both fresh from Scotland. All good people. We stood in the rain drinking our free Budweisers (on tap for the finishers). While it wasn’t Flying Dog beer, it was free nonetheless. It was raining pretty good at that point, but it was refreshing I thought. All in all, a great night race. A pleasant course in a cool area. I’ll be back next year for sure!

I see that I’m listed as 110 out of 2040. And, I only see 3 35-39 year old males ahead of me in the list. Damn, I may have missed an Age Group placing by 1 place! I should have ran faster!

andy running race report