Run for Peace 5K

I decided late on Friday night to run at the Run for Peace 5K on Saturday morning. I knew that the weekend was going to be a very busy one with my volunteer responsibilities at the NCRC Invitational 10K and Half Marathon and that I would be jealous of the runners on Sunday, so I thought an early morning 5K would be a good idea! The $25 race day entry fee didn't hurt either.

With only two weeks to go until the Midtown Half Marathon and the temperatures gradually increasing in NC, I thought a 5K would be a good test for me and probably my last chance until the end of the summer to break 20 minutes. I had a goal pace of 6:30/mile in mind that would give me a PR and a good work out and should be achievable even though I haven't been to the track in months!

I arrived at the church at around 7:10 and was able to park within a few yards of the registration table. I paid my $25 and collected my bib. The sun was still behind the clouds and I was actually a little cold in my singlet and shorts so I went back to the car for a few minutes before starting a search for a bathroom. It was a nice change to be able to use a real bathroom (the church was open) for a change at a race and with about 25 minutes to go until the scheduled race start I went out for my warmup run. I didn't know the course very well, but I followed the course monitors as they were making their way out on to the course and found the mostly downhill section that we would run on between 1.6 miles and 2.2 miles and then the uphill section that went back to the finish line area.

I covered about 1.8 miles and did a few sets of strides before heading back to the start line. I found Bill, Erika and Dave from NCRC, we listened to some announcements and wished each other luck before I lined up a couple of rows back in the relatively small field of 185 and didn't see any other familiar faces.

The race started a few minutes after 8:00am and we headed out of the church parking lot and made a right turn on to Cape Charles Drive for a mostly down hill first mile. The crowd quickly thinned out and I found myself in the first 15 or so runners. I have had good success in short races this year when I have pushed a little harder than I typically would in the first mile and the fact that the first mile in this race was mostly downhill resulted in a 5:57 first mile. I knew I'd been pushing the pace fairly hard on the downhill sections, but a sub-6 minute mile was still a little surprising given that I felt that my breathing was under control.

At about the time that I finished my thought about feeling good we made a left turn and started to head up hill. The first "hill" was more like a bump in the road with a short fairly steep incline and then a short flat section followed by a 1/4 mile hill that ascended 50 feet. We had quickly regained the elevation that we'd lost over the first mile in a quarter of a mile and all of a sudden the pace felt really hard and I noticed that the sun was out from behind the clouds and my temperature was rising.

I regained my composure over the next 1/4 mile and passed Bill who snapped this photo:

Looks like I need to work on the tan on my legs

I passed a couple of runners during this flat section who had obviously felt the hills even more than I had. The lead runners were out of sight by this point and I guessed I was probably in the top 10 by now. We passed by the entrance to the finish line and headed down the hill that I had run during my warm up. I felt relaxed again by this point and still had a 25 second lead over my virtual partner (set at 6:30/mile). I passed the 2 mile marker with a 6:37 split.

The course made a right turn and then another quick right and we made our way back up the hill that we'd come down during the first mile. I quickly went from feeling good and strong to having to dig deep to keep my pace up. I passed another runner and took a glance at my watch... still half a mile to go and my lead over my virtual partner was down to 10 seconds. The nearest runner was off in the distance and I knew he'd be making the left turn to the church parking lot soon, but it seemed to take forever. I was really dragging at this point and watching him intently so I would know where the turn was - finally he made the turn about 30 seconds ahead of me and I prepared myself mentally for one last push once I had made the turn.

My watch beeped for the mile 3 split before I made the turn and I didn't even look down (it turned out to be 6:47). I pushed as hard as I could towards the finish line arch. I crossed with the finish line clock reading 20:15 for an improvement of 12 seconds over my PR.

I got some Gatorade, water and snacks while I got my breath back and waited for Erika and Dave to cross the finish line. I didn't hang around for the awards as I needed to get back home and get my busy Saturday started. When the results were published later in the day I ended up finishing 8th overall and first in my Age Group (even though it was 30-39 instead of the usual 35-39) with a time of 20:14

Overall, I was really pleased with my race. It turned out to be fairly warm and sunny and the hills made for a nice challenge. I don't think I could have done anything differently and those 15 seconds that I need to find to finally break 20 minutes will either have to come on a flat course or as the result of some time at the track working on my speed. As for the race, it was well organized and in a very pretty area of Raleigh and I will certainly be looking for it this time next year!