Lansdowne Memorial Day 5K Race Archives - Run The Long Road Coaching

6/3/11

5.4 miles easy
My legs were a little tired this morning so I used my Garmin to get to the 2.7 mile turnaround and then turned it off. I need to go slow on easy days!

1. Check out these pictures from my 5K on Monday.

29739244-Lansdowne_5K_Race_062 — Finish line. Looks like I ate something bitter or just did a shot. See #121? She's the woman I sprinted past at the end.

29739243-Lansdowne_5K_Race_448 — Getting my medal. I was trying to act nonchalant (like this happens all the time) but I was really, really happy!

2. Matt and I have date day/night – part II this weekend. Again, it’s going to be a Hawk-friendly weekend. Dogs parks, staying in a dog-friendly hotel (in Philly), and eating at dog-friendly restaurants. This is completely normal, right?

3. Head over to Kara and Alyssa’s blogs and wish them luck on their 50K tomorrow (that’s 31 miles)! Good luck ladies!

Today marks Day 1 of training for marathon #9 – the Leigh Valley Marathon. To be honest, I’m kinda lost without a training plan so I’m happy to jump right back into it.

I planned to do my speed work today just to get it over and done with. So I looked at my plan: 3×1600 at 7:11 pace (with a 1 min rest interval between mile repeats). Ugh. I hate mile repeats. And why bother with a 1 min rest interval? That’s such a tease!

That’s when I decided on doing a 5K. Why not? It’ll be the same as doing my prescribed speed work, minus the rest interval. And…misery loves company.

So there I was signing up on race day at the Lansdowne Memorial Day 5K Race, going against every non-spontaneous bone in my body. I haven’t raced a 5K since 2007 and I think I ran an even 24:00 back then.

Conditions: Hot and sunny

Course: Hilly

My legs felt sluggish from the get go. So I just tried to maintain a 7:30 pace, even though it was no where near the 7:11 pace I was supposed to run. Some very kind neighbors had their sprinklers on so occasionally I’d get a brief break from the heat. My goal for this race was to place in the top 3 for my age group.

Around mile 2.5 a volunteer told the girl ahead of me that she was the 4th overall female. I couldn’t believe it…I was the 5th overall female?!?! Get out! But I was running so slow?! I guess the heat was getting to everyone.

But I wasn’t in the clear yet. I had a woman hot on my tail. After mile 2.5 she pulled a little ahead of me. There was no way in hell I was going to let her take 5th overall female away from me. I let her go ahead but stayed just enough behind her so she couldn’t hear my panting. I wanted her to think I was further behind her. When I could see the finish line I made my move and sprinted right past her. It’s a good thing I did – she was 37 and in my age group!!

Official results:
23:22 (7:32 avg pace)
5/172 – overall female
3/44 – 30 to 39 age group

Random Friday Thoughts

5th Overall Female & 3rd in Age Group!