Human Race 8K Race Report

First of all, we had BEAUTIFUL weather for this race. A little windy, but the temps were about as good as I could wish for in March in Minnesota - right around 60* without too much sun. I went with my new capri-length tights and a thin long sleeve running shirt. It would have been better with short sleeves, but the long sleeves weren't too bad. I had to park a good distance away, and the 'event headquarters' were a good half mile from the start, so I got a decent warm-up before the race just walking to the headquarters and jogging to the start.

This is the only race that I have been too that had 2 different starting mats. Summit Ave is divided where we started, and the fastest men were to start on one side and the fastest women on the other. Everyone else could fill in on either side. Not that it made a difference for me, but I thought this was kinda cool since the women actually got a clear start without the men in the way. I started behind the women.

I stuck to my plan for the first mile...just under 10:00 mile. I felt really good, so I let my body set the pace for the next mile and it turned out to be right around 9:30. This seemed like a good pace, so I changed my goal to maintaining the 9:30ish pace until the end of mile 4. During the 'out' portion of the race we were running into the wind - I was glad because I knew I would be struggling during the second half if it was reversed. I was expecting some pretty bad hills on the course, since Summit Ave is home to the infamous hill during the Twin Cities Marathon, but it really wasn't too bad. Miles 3 and 4 I somehow managed to run almost exactly on my new goal pace of 9:30. The last mile started at the top of nice long gradual hill and I let myself take advantage of it. When I looked down at the Garmin I had to do a double-take because it said my lap pace was 8:19!! Whoa - I still have a ways to go to finish this mile! I continued to push the pace, though without the help of the hill I slowed down of course. I managed to keep the final mile under a 9:00 pace though!

I was surprised, but this was the first race that my Garmin matched the marked course miles pretty much exactly! My final chip time even matched to the second...and for that final time...47:03!!! Almost 7 minutes faster than my previous PR!! Average pace of 9:28 is the same as my current 5K PR pace! Only one minute faster to beat that 2009 goal of a 46:00 8K - my other 8K is tentatively planned for early June.

Stats
Race: Human Race
Date: March 22, 2009
Distance: 8K
Official Time: 47:03
Average Pace: 9:28
Overall Place: 714/984
Place in Age Group: 37/76