It has been a long time since I raced. Since July 4th, specifically. I wanted a sleeping IT Band for my upcoming half next month (2 weeks!). And that meant weeks of not running as much, weeks of taping, giving up a planned race/mini racecation.
This week, however, it was time to test myself with my first 5k of the year. Yup, you read that right. I have done shorter races, but no 5ks. I had high hopes for the race too — did I achieve them? Read on.
Today I’m linking up with Holly from HohoRuns and Tricia at MissSippiPiddlin and their weekly wrap linkup. So how was my running last week?
- Monday: Dog walk (2), 4 mile easy run, Iron Strength Glutes, Yoga for Pain Restore & Rebuild
- Tuesday: Dog walk (2), 4 mile tempo run
- Wednesday: Dog walk (2), Yoga for Pain Relief Restore & Rebuild & Hips, Prevention Better Belly Yoga
- Thursday: Dog walk (2), Yoga for Pain Relief Hips, 3 miles easy with 4 x 30 second strides
- Friday: Dogwalk (2), Yoga for Pain Relief Restore & Rebuild, Iron Strength Abbreviated
- Saturday: Dogwalk, Maddie’s Mark 5k (33:33), easy 4 mile run later that afternoon
- Sunday: Dogwalk (2), Yoga for Pain Relief Align & Alleviate & Knees
Mileage: 18.5 (-1.5)
Taking it easy & a little race
For the most part, this week was about resting. Sort of. I wanted to keep my mileage up, because I felt 3 weeks out was too soon to taper for a half, but I didn’t want to push too much. And that’s why I didn’t do the full Iron Strength workout because man that’s a workout!
Plus Wednesday would have been my day to do the full Iron Strength, as it’s a non-running day — except Wednesday was Yom Kippur and I was fasting. Which is why I only did lots of yoga on Wednesday. And surprisingly my arms were a bit sore on Thursday!
My IT felt a bit irritated Monday, but I’ve noticed that a couple of days after a hard or long run that happens sometimes. It’s not a muscle, so I’m not quite sure why it seems to get DOMS, but the truth is for the most part it feels just fine and so far, knock on wood, I’m feeling strong.
I ran my first 5k of the year on Saturday. I don’t race too often and I haven’t been able to do some of the races I wanted to do because of circumstances. Not a PR, but a great day to race, a decent time, and best of all I had lots of running friends at the race.
This particular race is my 5k record. Although I’m not sure if the time that particular year was accurate. It’s not a flat course and part of it is a trail. I went into it just hoping for something under 33 minutes. 32:59 would have been okey dokey by me. It was not to be.
Nope, the official time was 33:33 – my Vivoactive shows me a bit faster & the course a bit longer but I’m still unsure how accurate it is. I suspect it is not as accurate as my old Garmin 110. More testing needs to be done, though!
That’s a decent time for me and put me smack dab in the middle of the pack: literally, I was 100 out of 199 runners (although being a small charity race, there are quite a few walkers, too). But it was slower than last year’s time, too. Just a tad.
And I finished up with another 4 miles that afternoon; the first time I’ve split up a long run am & pm.
On the bright side, looking at the tables from Run Faster, Run Less, that would extrapolate to a 2:22 half. Which I know ain’t happening. That would be a huge PR for me and for whatever reason, I usually do slow down after the first 10k.
No, my hope is 2:40. There, I’ve said it. It’s a conservative number for me, definitely doable, and yet so far it has eluded me. It’s a 12:12 mm. It’s all going to come down to how I’m feeling race day, how hilly the course really is, and the weather.
Do you spend any time thinking about what your pace should be during a race?
Chocolaterunsjudy 
Congrats on the race AND the double run Judy! I used to care and use the race predictors but I haven’t in a long time.
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It’s not so much that I care about the race predictors, but my husband always wants an estimate.
I read about these people that can tell to the second when they’re going to finish by their training.
I don’t get it. I really never know!
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Me either – neither the predictors or training time ever seem to match up!
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So true!
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Great job on the 5k! And yes, I’ve been thinking A LOT about what my finish time is going to be for Chicago. I’ve scaled back my goals a bit. I’m going to run more conservatively. I don’t want to finish feeling sick.
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No, feeling sick at the end — what would be the point?
But you’ll have to see how you feel come race day. 🙂
My training partner did a half last week. First it was going to be a training run & she was only going to do the 11 miles we had on the schedule.
Then she was going to run it all, but not go all out.
Of course she ended up racing it. And she has another next weekend too!
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No, I don’t worry about my pace. I think that’s a great 5K time!!
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That’s pretty lucky 33:33 and a good time. I finished my 10k in 1:00:10
I don’t trust those predictions. My 5k times would have me finishing a half way faster than I am capable.
Sometimes I think about finish times but not for this one – it’s my first race with waves and crowds – never done a big one so I’ll try to enjoy it and not hurt anything,
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It might slow you down at the beginning — but maybe that will be a good thing? Maybe you’ll do negative splits?
My first few were huge races, so yes, I’ve done corrals. People never seed themselves correctly, which is annoying — too fast or too slow.
Not hurting anything is almost always first & foremost on my mind!
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Don’t you look so cute I love that skirt pattern!!! Great race and time Judy! I have a 5k coming up and honestly I dread it. I’d much rather do a half. I know that sounds crazy but I push myself so hard for those 3.1 miles til It’s not fun during the race. I’m always glad to be done but my 5k pace is NOT my pace! I’ve got to get over this and just run my pace! Thanks for linking up with us I appreciate you so much Judy!
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Any race is hard — that’s why it’s a race!
I like shorter races because even though I’m running much faster, they’re over quickly. Relatively. And sometimes I move up from BOTP to MOTP depending on the field.
But no, I don’t think you’re crazy. I totally get it. It’s why I don’t race anywhere near as often as some of my friends. Racing is hard!
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Congrats on your 5k. And that pace predictor for a the half does take into account you will run a slower pace. So, never say never! I have not split runs like that. Did you like running in both the AM and PM? I’m glad your IT band is behaving! I have no clue about pacing for this marathon. The numbers just roll around and around in my head. Because, I’ve been running in such brutal conditions and I don’t expect that in Chicago. Who knows! I appreciate you linking with us.
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Splitting the run worked for me that day. I like to get it all done in one long run usually, but I figure at this point it’s mostly about maintaining my base.
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Great job on your 5K race! I’ve found race predictors to be helpful and pretty accurate in predicting a finish time. You might surprise yourself on your half once your adrenaline kicks in.
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Nah, I have a pretty good idea of my capabilities. I find them accurate up to 10k, but after that . . . not so much.
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