My husband and I wanted to run a race on New Years.  Typically when we are out of town, and there are plenty of races.  Surprisingly there weren’t a lot of New Years Races around Southern New Jersey, so we were forced to travel.  There were a few options within an hour (all with different start times), and we decided to go for a 10:30 am race start.  Honestly, I would have preferred an earlier start, but that wasn’t a choice but there were not any.

When we arrived to the Haverford area in PA, I quickly realized the race wasn’t going to be flat.  I had hoped for a solid race effort on a flat course but that wasn’t an option either.  Now that I’m racing less, I want those races to count (which is silly).  I had a workout so I already knew it wasn’t a PRing race.

The goal of the workout was 2x5k at 20:00 min with 3 mins rest in between.  I’ve done the workout before and I will say it’s one of the tougher ones. Since joining Mckirdy trained, I’ve been racing less, and several of my races have been workouts.  It’s been an adjustment, but I do get the best of both worlds.

I warmed up on the course with my husband.  We quickly went to the restroom and made it to the start line.  The race was already later than I liked and then it was delayed by 10 minutes.  I stayed positive even though I wasn’t a happy camper.

Finally, the race went off, and I found myself as third woman overall.  I stayed there the entire time.  At first, I thought I might be able to catch the first or second woman but then by .5 I knew that was not happening.  The first mile was flat with a long gradual downhill.  Of the three miles, the first was set up to be the fastest.  I passed a couple of kids and crossed the first mile in 6:16.  I felt stale and didn’t feel great.  Running a 6:16 mile wasn’t where I mentally wanted to be.

The second mile climbed up a hill and looped past the start.  I started to feel much looser and built some confidence.  I crossed the second mile in 6:03 and felt much better about the situation.  It was a harder mile and I ran faster.

The third mile went by like such a blur.  I was running alone and had a pack of males about 10 feet in front of me.  I just focused on them.  I wanted to catch up to them.  I knew the last 400 meters finished directly uphill and I kept cringing thinking about it.

You could see the clock at the top of the hill over a quarter of a mile away.  It felt like it wasn’t coming any closer.  I just climbed the hill and staring at the clock directly ahead.

I passed one male at the bottom of the hill, but he came back and outkicked me in the final few strides.  I crossed the finish in 18:30 exactly.

I jogged to my car and went back for my personal 5k.  To be honest, I felt better running the second 5k than I did the first.  I ran alone and away from the race course.  My splits were 6:25, 6:39, 6:29.  I finished up in 20:15 and felt pretty pleased with myself.

Thoughts:

I know I’m currently in 5k PRing shape but haven’t had the opportunity to race on a flat course and good day.  I’m extremely pleased with the workout as a whole.   

Questions for you:

What is a perfect race start time for you?

I like races that start between 7:30-8:30.

How was your New Years Day?