Twin Cities TC 5K - Race Report

Beautiful running weather! 45* with only a bit of a breeze (that is during the actual race that is). I woke up to quite chilly weather. When I got to the capital grounds, my car said it was 38* and everyone was walking around with winter coats and blankets - that is except for all the bare runner's legs in just shorts. I had a long sleeve tech shirt on with a sweatshirt to keep me cozy pre-race. Once the sun came up it started warming everything up and it was just beautiful.

The course was also really nice. As the race starts, we ran with the cathedral on the hill in front of us…I have never seen that view of the cathedral, but it was amazing. Then we continued up and down (the course was a tad hilly) turned around and headed back. On the return trip we were heading right for the state capital building - wow, two great views in one 5K. The coolest part was knowing that the return trip was the last 1.5 miles of the 10 mile/marathon course, and actually getting to run through the same chute! How inspiring is that?!?

Now about my time…
This is what I was thinking before the race:
Under 30:00 - Would be absolutely fabulous, but not really expecting it.
Under 31:00 - I should be able to do this. Assuming the knee holds up, I will pacing the first 2 miles at 10:00 and hopefully will be able to push a little faster for the last 1.1 miles.
Under 33:33 - My long standing PR from 2006...needs to go down!

Well, I paced the first mile at just under 10:00 (9:51) - it helps that I actually started myself at the right place in the crowd for the first time…not too many people passing me, and I didn't have to pass too many. I was feeling pretty good, so I increased to what felt natural to me at the moment which ended being 9:21 for mile 2! I still had some juice left, so I pushed it as much as I could through the last 1.1 mile and finished mile 3 at a 9:05 pace!! Another minute or so to finish it off, and I ended up with a chip time of 29:24!!! That is much better than I had imagined! And I beat my previous PR from 2006 by over 4 minutes!!

I guess that proves that more miles can lead to faster times. I haven't been training for the 5K distance at all this year, I have been focused on increasing my mileage and long run.

Stats
Race: Twin Cities TC 5K
Date: October 4, 2008
Distance: 5K
Official Time: 29:24
Average Pace: 9:28
Overall Place: 747/2075
Place in Age Group: 37/188