I just got back from the Penguin Run 5K. My wife completed the race as well, though she walked. She was thrilled to finish, and she's already talking about signing up for more 5ks and training to run them. What a great thing!
Today's race was at 11am, so I was able to sleep in. We rolled in around 10:30am and got ourselves registered. After dropping our stuff back off at the car, we waited around for the race to begin. It was around 30F, but it seemed warmer -- it definitely helped that there was no wind at all.
We all sort of milled around, since the start line was not clearly defined. We were all still standing around when the start gun was fired. It was a pretty disorganized start, but we all managed to get moving. There were around 700 runners and walkers in the race.
The route was great -- flat and fast, as they say. Compared to the last two races I've run, the pack sorted itself out fairly quickly. Before long, I was running with other people who were going about my pace. There was also plenty of room, so people weren't cutting each other off too much. Also, even though it had snowed last night, the route was agreeably free of snow and ice. I'd brought along my ice cleats, but I didn't end up needing them at all.
I had two goals: 1) beat my 5k time from September (31:23), and 2) come in under 30 minutes. I set my Garmin to use 1km as my lap and kept an eye on my pace to make sure I was doing better than 6:00 min/km. I found myself pushing a bit, but I still felt pretty good throughout. I could have used a sip of water somewhere around the beginning of mile three, but otherwise things were great.
I was a little surprised when I turned the corner into the parking lot where the finish line was located. The time on the sign was somewhere around 28:30. I don't know what my exact finish time was, but I'm calling it 28:40 (I'm certain it was 28:3something, but I figure I'll be a little conservative). I was very well pleased. Unfortunately, it wasn't a chipped race, so I don't know what my "true" time was. I figure I can be pretty happy with 28:40.
After I finished and turned in my tag (the tear-off part of my bib), I walked back down the course to meet up with my wife. I walked with her for the last half-km or so. She was feeling great, and she told me she'd even tried running a part of it. She felt great. She thought about sprinting the last part but instead settled for walking it briskly. Her brisk walk left me in the dust, so I caught up with her just after she'd turned in her tag.
The after-party had gobs of good food, and we hung around for a while. We grabbed some flyers for other races, and then headed home. All-in-all, a great experience. We're looking forward to the next race -- the Bunny Hop.
Again, good luck on Tuesday, Frank.
Have a great week, Long Haulers. Run strong!
Don
Tonight may be a night where I will need to use it to get my 5k in. I need to make sure something VERY INTERESTING is on TV because I anticipate the run seeming endless!