5K Results!

So, the official results are up for the Get Your Rear in Gear 5K, and I came somewhere between my first and second goals, with an official time of 38:45!  That's a PR by about 3 minutes - and I'm really happy about it.

The race started off slow - most of the walkers didn't seem to realize not to stand up front, so I did a lot of dodging at first.  I made a conscious effort not to go out too fast, but ended up with an 11:30 pace for the first half of the first mile.  I slowed it down a bit after that and ended up with splits of:

Mile 1 - 12:15
Mile 2 - 12:30
Mile 3 - 12:38
Last 0.14 (with all that dodging, the course was a bit long for me) - 1:24 ( a 10:19 pace!)

I wanted to post negative splits, but my heart rate would NOT slow down after the middle of the race, and knowing that I needed to run 3 more miles afterwards, I didn't want to make myself too tired or get the headache I usually get when I stay above 176 or so.

All of the challenges I faced were crowd-related: the walkers in front of me at the beginning, the giant crowd of walkers at the water station going the other way when I was running back, and all of the teams of people who seemed to have turned around at the water station instead of doing the whole course (how else would there be hundreds of walkers in front of me at mile 2.4?).  Really, a crowd of walkers next to you when you're almost finished is the least motivating thing ever - all I wanted to do was just walk, just for a second.  But I didn't - I ran the whole thing!  All in all, with all of those factors, I think I did a great job to keep it under 13:00, not get too tired, and rock the end.

After the 5K I walked and ran 3 more miles for a total of 7 (I walked a mile to get to the race).  I am really happy with my progress on my long runs and know that if I stick it out with this training, I'll have no trouble with Broad Street or the half!