After running the Beat the Ball 5k race 11 hours before the start of this race, I had no idea how my second 5k would go. I have done this combination of races twice before (2012 and 2013) but I wasn’t getting over an injury in either case. I told myself if anything hurt I would stop. Spoiler alert: Nothing hurt or felt off so I continued with the races.
I only got 6 hours of sleep between both races. Some people can run well on little sleep, I’m not one of them (hashtag sleep princess). Dad and I woke up around 8 am and headed to Mount Trashmore.
For 5ks, I like to warm up between 2-2.5 miles and that is exactly what I did. There was nothing exciting about the warm up. I felt awful and exhausted (As I said yesterday when I feel awful, I race well…somehow I knew this wouldn’t be the case). After I warmed up, I put on my racing flats and headed to the start. I made it with only a few minutes to spare.
Photos from HIIT-Pics.
At the starting line I noticed how deep the field was. There were many extremely talented woman such as Renee, Kris, Kellie (and a few more that I recognized faces but don’t know names!).
I thought to myself, “lololololol let me go ahead and stand back here”. There were many incredible woman racing Hair of the Dog, I could fan girl them all. There were also many incredible men racing too.
The race started and we were off. The first mile was fast. All of the leaders immediately left me. Within a half mile, I saw the pack of five 5 woman way ahead. The depth of the field pulled me along and I felt amazing the first mile. I’m sure the first mile was a mixture of delusion, caffeine and adrenaline. I ran the first mile in 6:11 and it felt like old injury free times sake.
Until mile 2, when I promptly fell apart. For the second mile, we headed around the Mount Trashmore Lake. The field had separated and I was essentially running alone most of the time. There were a couple of men around me but not that close. I could see the female leaders break their pack and they were each running alone as well. As we continued around the Mount Trashmore lake, the wind became worse and worse. My legs felt exhausted. I hit mile 2 in 6:27 and I knew I was fading quickly. I knew this was going to be a positive split 5k and I was okay with that.
Mile 3 was a blur. I caught up to personal friend Kellie and we ran together for a bit. We went around the backside of Mount Trashmore and past the start of the race. I had forgotten the start and the finish of the race were at different spots. Around 2.7, I thought…um there is not enough mileage left to go back around Trashmore, I don’t have energy for a long race today. Then I realized we were heading to the finish. The third mile I hit at 6:41.
I powered through the final .1 and hit the finish line. I crossed the finish line in exactly 20:00 minutes. The race was chip timed and since I crossed the start line 1 second after the race started, I saved myself an entire second. So I finished in 19:59.
When I finished I thought I might be sick. Kris told me I didn’t look so good (and this gem photo proves it). After a minute of not running, I felt fine again.
Overall thoughts:
I was very surprised with the result both results. I was surprised I was able to run (just under) 20 minutes for both races. My legs and body were exhausted. I am extremely pleased with both 5k efforts and I hope to improve this year on those.
My previous 5k on December 14th, had left a sour taste in my mouth. I was glad to put that race 5k away and race two solid 5ks. While they are still 80-90 seconds slower than my PR, I’m looking forward to getting closer to that in 2015. Both races gave me a lot of needed confidence post injury.
Questions for you:
What is your best (or worst) race photo?
I haven’t but it’s been close a couple of times.
What is your 5k strategy?
Sounds like a very rough last mile, but your overall trajectory is awesome! My best race photo was from Boston 2014. I think it’s my gravatar photo on WordPress. My worst photo has never been seen publicly. 🙂
5k race strategy? Beats the heck out of me. Run as fast as I can for three miles, I guess. We both know I have no business trying to run with the cheetahs!
That’s my race strategy too…race hard and hope I don’t die too badly. That is a great photo of you by the way 🙂
Honestly, I’ve thought more than once that I’d rather run a marathon than a 5k. We are all a weird bunch…
Love your race recaps! I’m going to try to get more 5ks in this year. I don’t run them often and definitely would like to improve on racing that distance. Two awesome races and great times! Congrats in your top 3 finish for this race!
I think its awesome that you were able to run 2 races that close together and do that well. You are definitely getting stronger. Its funny – I think the “wanting to die” after finishing a race thing is universal, no matter how fast/slow you are. I love to see that DadLOLZ is so involved and that you guys do a lot together. 🙂
My 5K strategy… well I always start out too fast! The 2nd mile is always my slowest because I see the split on my watch and think oh crap, I went out too fast and try to haul A to the finish.
You did a really great job despite not feeling too well at the end, you came in just under 20 with the chip time which is great having just raced the night before and on so little sleep! This looks like such a fun race, all of them do there, it’s neat that you have a lot of options.
19:59 is a sweet time. I always think with any of my time goals I would feel so cheeky (in a good way) to come in a second under them. Obviously this wasn’t a goal race of yours, but it’s still nice to finish with a time so close to your first race and with so little sleep and rest in between them. So impressive!
I’ve never managed to develop a 5K strategy (possibly because I don’t run enough of them) other than ‘just run like Hell.’ They intimidate me so much more than the longer distances.
Ha, I have some absolute gems when it comes to awful race photos. I am the least photogenic runner ever.
Ha! Are there such a thing as good race photos? Nice job – two sub-20s is pretty impressive. I’m racing my first ever road 5K in one month and have no idea what to do. Just go hard and hope for the best?
That is so great.! You have to be super excited about how this year is going to go for you running wise. No injury, you’ll be smashing 19:40s in no time. Good job.!
Using “fan girl” as a verb = YES! I still haven’t figured out how to race a 5-K–other than running as fast as possible before crashing. My first mile is typically my fastest one, especially if I’m running off the bike. Gotta dial in that cadence immediately!
I am seriously so freaking proud of/happy for you! Especially because that chip time shaved a second off your 2nd time so you can say you broke 20 minutes TWICE in 12 hours! I always positive split in 5k races – if I don’t go out FAST (ok, relatively fast) I won’t have the incentive to push myself extra hard throughout the rest of the race to maintain my place in the field. I’m almost always sick at the end of a 5k too – I think they’re the toughest distance actually.
Speedy! Congrats on 2 solid 5K efforts in 2 days!!! Amazing to break 20 2 days in a row.
You’ve still got speed in those legs, for sure! As for a 5k strategy, I don’t have much of one other than go hard and hold on as long as I can!
I’ve honestly never run a 5k hard. I did one on a treadmill for time once and just tried to hold on as long as could. It must’ve been hard to run sleep deprived but I’m sure when you got home from the race the post-race ZZZs were AMAZING! 🙂
Yeah that 5k was terrible. I tried going after Kris and Renee and got told to sit down little girl pretty quick HA As you were passing me, I managed to say a quick F-bomb to let you know how bad 5ks suck lol Im so happy for you and how awesome your comeback is going! Big things ahead for you Hollie!!
I didn’t drop an F bomb at that particular moment but I def did throughout the race. We can again for Shamrock! Pancake carbs!