5k Race Report

I raced my second 5k of the year tonight, the Dash & Dine series at the Boulder Reservoir. My last race was April 10. I finished that day in 21:08 under extremely windy conditions.

Today the weather was typical for this time of year on the Front Range -- afternoon thunderstorms were likely. Sure enough, at 5:00 as I was preparing to leave work, the rain started. Soon it became a downpour. I heard that parts of Denver were supposed to get up to two inches of rain per minute for the worst of it. I was not happy about the conditions, since I was hoping to improve my time.

Luckily there happened to be a nice heated locker room at the park near the race start, where I could stay warm while I did my pre-run stretching. The rain had tapered off to a light drizzle by the time I started my warmup. Still, I wore long pants, two shirts, and a rain jacket, since it was fairly cool.

I'd decided to run two laps around Coot Lake for my warmup, which would be 2.5 miles. That's a bit further than I usually go for a 5k, but I wanted to try it and see if it worked for me this time. I ran the first lap slowly. The rain seemed to be stopping by the second lap, so I ditched my jacket. This time I picked up the pace slightly and ran a series of five strides, increasing the tempo with each one. My left TFL (a muscle in the hip) felt sore, but other than that I felt pretty good.

My plan for the race was to start off around 6:15 mile pace. That's fast, I know, but I wanted to try a strategy I read about in a Runner's World article recently, titled "Go Out Fast in Your Next 5k." Ed Eyestone, the author, recommended going out 6% faster than target pace for the first mile. Since I was targeting 20:30 for this race (which is 6:36 per mile average), my first mile should be run in 6:12! I wanted to be a bit more conservative than that; hence the 6:15 goal. After that, I'd just try to hold on to the finish.

Just before the start, I bumped into my friend Mark, who had just run the Boston Marathon two weeks ago. He's a good runner, and I thought he could be a good rabbit to chase.

At this point, the rain had stopped completely, and we were even seeing a bit of sun and blue sky. Nice! I stripped off my extra clothes and got ready to run in just shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.

I lined up right at the front, on the far right side of the starting line. The race director said, "Go!" and we were off. The ground was soft from all the rain, and there were some puddles to dodge. Since this course is all dirt, I figured that might slow us down some. A handful of runners passed me nearly immediately, since I was trying to keep it controlled at this point. We made the turn onto the first long reservoir dam and a couple more runners passed, including Mark. My first thought was, I'll never see him again. But then I realized that the gap wasn't really widening.

I beeped my watch at the one mile mark, and was pleased to see 6:18 for the split. Mark was still about 20 yards in front. We were now entering the toughest part of the course, the second dam. It tends to have vicious headwinds here. Three weeks ago it was absolutely brutal, with huge whitecaps on the lake. Today it was just difficult, and I could see only the occasional baby whitecap to indicate the strength of the wind.

I knew the 2nd mile is usually my slowest, so I determined not to lose concentration here. I noticed I was closing the gap on Mark, and soon I ran past him with a word of encouragement. My next target was a guy in a grey shirt up ahead. As we closed on the turn-around point I decided I would try to catch him before the 2-mile marker. As I turned at the cone, I saw Mark and the top female running together, just a few steps behind me. Mr. grey shirt had seemed to accelerate like a shot, however.

We were now running with a tailwind, and I focused on opening up my stride and keeping my turnover high. Grey Shirt was rapidly leaving me behind, but I noticed he was catching several others on the way, so I hoped my pace hadn't slowed. I was working very hard now, just praying I could maintain my pace. I hit the 2-mile marker in 6:37.

I knew I was running faster than last time, but could I hold it? My next targets seemed too far away to catch, so I'd have to do it alone. My breathing rate increased to a 1-2 pattern, breathing in for one step and out for two steps. I usually only get to this point in the finishing sprints, and I still had almost a mile to go. I was hurting.

I could hear footsteps behind me all along the final dam. I thought it must be Mark reeling me in, but it turned out to be the first place female runner. She passed me just before the 3-mile mark. My split was 6:29. All I had to do was finish, but I had no kick whatsoever. I plodded up the last small hill and took a left for the final straightaway. The clock said 19:56, 19:57...

I crossed in 20:11 (Results). This was my second-fastest 5k ever, and my fastest on this course. I was nearly a minute faster than three weeks ago, and I did beat my stated 20:30 goal. Considering the wind and the soft surface conditions, I was happy with it. Still, the 20-minute barrier was so close, but so unattainable today! But I will get there, I'm confident of that.

Mark finished about 30 seconds behind me. I'm guessing his legs aren't recovered from Boston yet. I'm still impressed he could run so well after only two weeks. Last year, my legs were still thrashed three weeks after my marathon, when I ran a miserable race at the Bolder Boulder.

After this race, I think things are looking up. I still have nearly four weeks to race day, and I expect to only get faster from here on out. Next week I start Phase IV in the training plan.