Saturday, November 7, 2009

Cookie Run 5K Race Report

This morning I ran the Cookie Run 5K in support of the local Girl Guides. My goal for this race was to beat my old personal best (PB) of 30:08 from June. I really wanted break 30 minutes! I knew I could do it, as I've broken 30:00 in training and now I can hit it during everyday runs without really taxing myself. It was just a matter of by how much I would break it.

When I woke up it was cloudy, risk of flurries, -5C with the wind and I was really unsure as to what to wear, as the forecast called for it to warm up and for the sun to come up. I ended up wearing my my Sugoi Mid-Zero tights, a very light long-sleeve tech tee under my Sugoi Locust Jacket, along with a tech beanie and gloves. It ended up being the right decision.

Before the race I met up with two friends who were attempting a personal best in the 10K. They planned a 5:40/K pace (they run 10/:45 intervals). So as long as I was near them, I knew I would break 30 minutes. I warmed up a bit on the walk to the start and jogged a little before lining up.

The race started at 10 a.m., it was about 0C at that point with a slight wind. I turned on my Nike+ right as the horn sounded. There was a hill right after the start, which lasted about 500m and then a slight downhill. The rest of the course was pancake flat, minus a very tiny uphill just before 2K, and a downhill on a path at 4K. There were lots of kids and people of all ages and abilities. The course was on a closed road at our local research centre, so there was lots of room for everyone.

I tried to run the tangents as best I could, as there were lots of turns on the course. I took water at the 1.5K mark as my mouth felt cottony from my puffer (hooray for exercise-induced asthma) but didn't need it on the way back at 3.5K. The pace felt very comfortable and I felt as if I was going too slow. I knew this was a product of my speedwork over the last month, as I'd had this feeling in most of my runs recently. I resisted the urge to peek at my iPod, but I knew the race was going well because I was keeping pace with my friends.

At the 4K mark, I could feel my legs starting to get heavy. My head was clear, so I knew I had something left in the tank. I rounded the corner and saw the finish line. I started my sprint about 200m out and crossed the finish line in a blaze of glory!

The clock at the finish line wasn't working, but volunteers wrote down bib numbers and times. My iPod told me all I needed to know: 28.16! Woohoo! I beat my old personal best by 1:52!

I grabbed some water and girl guide cookies and used the walk back to the car as my cooldown. I'll likely be sore tomorrow... but I feel good knowing I left everything out on the course. I'm on such a high! My friends also beat their previous PB in the 10K by about 2 minutes. Congrats guys!

My next race is the Resolution Run 5K on New Years' Eve. Until then, I'll continue to work on building up my base. I start running 4x a week in December.

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