Race Report: U Can Finish 5 Miler

My official chip time was 57:24 for an average pace of 11:28.8! =) I am very happy with this outcome. This is a PR since it's the first 5 mile race I've ever run, but it is also the fastest I've ever run this distance (read on for details).

Now that the numbers are out of the way,

let's flashback to yesterday morning ...

The1/2 marathon training schedule called for 11 miles. Obviously, that was not happening; but I was still planning to meet the Galloway group to run an easy 5-7 miles. I somehow missed the alarm and woke up at 6 a.m.--the time the group started the 5 mile loop I intended to run. It was too dark for me to run on my own, so I went back to sleep for another hour. By 7:30 a.m. I was out the door to run at least 5 miles on my own. I setup up some water and nutrition on top of my car and set out at a 2:1 run/walk ratio at an easy pace. I finished in 1:11 at 14:11 average pace (for reference, my  first and only 5 mile run was just under 1:17). I am kind of glad I ran on my own because I would probably have run much faster and I would pay for it at the race. The plan for the race was to use a 3:1 ratio, average a 12 min/mile pace, and finish in under an 1h; but I'd be happy with anything less than 1:11.

Flash forward to this morning.

Jason and I were up by 6:15 a.m. and pleasantly surprised at the cool weather; although we could not fully appreciate it that early in the morning, we knew it would make for great race conditions. I got ready, ate a banana, added an extra layer of clothing, triple checked my bag and checklist, and we were on our bikes on the way to the race by 6:45. Even with the extra layer of clothing, it was a pretty chilly 3 mile bike ride to the start line.  It served as a nice warm up.

We got to the start line with plenty of time to find a place to lock our bikes, get and put on our timing chip, then wait for my parents. My dad (who also ran the 5 miler) and my mom (who ran the 2 mile) were running late, and we were getting a little nervous because we didn't want to leave all of our stuff with our bike or run with our valuables (a.k.a. iPhone). With about 5 minutes to spare, I spot my mom, hand her our bags, help her put on her champion chip, ate a few sport beans, washed them down with some water, and then we were off.

The start was nice with UCF Contemporary A Cappella group the "Crescendudes" singing as we took off and then again near the mile 1 mark. The route to mile 1 was an out and back, so I spotted my dad as I ran one way and him coming back the other. The course had about 3 of these and it was nice to spot my dad, Jason or both at each one. I stuck with my plan and ran using a 3:1 ratio adjusting as needed to accommodate the water stops. I walked through each one, ate a few more sport beans, and washed them down with some water. These are magic beans I tell you, or maybe it's just the placebo effect :)

The cooler weather really helped and I felt strong the entire time--or maybe it was the magic beans ;). I could not believe I was averaging a pace below 12 the entire time and getting speedier! I controlled my breathing and did not get a single side stitch the entire race. The only pain I experienced was a tiny twinge on my knee and ankle after mile 3, but adjusting my stride seemed to help. I do not know if it was the weather, the walk breaks, or the magical sport beans, but I had a ton of kick left at the end for a pretty nice 1/4 mile sprint to the finish and was thrilled that even my clock time was under 1 hour! Below are my splits (as always, Garmin recorded the course a little long, and in my excitement I forgot to stop it right after I finished):



I quickly spotted dad at the finish, grabbed some water, a banana, and a smoothie (oh what a treat!), then went searching for Jason. My legs felt a little wobbly, and my calves a little sore, but I felt way better than I did after I finished the 10K last week. I even considered running the 2 mile with mom, but it probably would have been a bad idea. We also spotted our co-worker Victor that finished in under 45 minutes then went to do the 2 mile for fun and to get in some more miles (he is also training to run OUC in Dec).

We headed back to see mom off at the start of the 2 miler. By the time I changed clothes (it was still too cool to be walking around in wet clothes), the first finishers were already arriving. Dad and I headed to the finish line to get pictures of mom, and Jason stayed at the corner to get some video. Below is her running towards the finish line. Isn't she adorable!? I am so proud of her!



After mom got her post-race goodies and checked her official chip time, we grabbed a bunch of oranges for the road and headed to 5 n Diner for some brunch. Jason and I biked the 4 miles to the restaurant and met my parents there. We all pigged out of yummy breakfast goodness and talked about running and upcoming races. We parted ways, and Jason and I biked 3 more miles home for a total of 10. What a great day!

Official Stats:


chip time: 57:24 (11:28.8 pace)
clock time: 58:32
overall place: 854/1009
gender place: 374/489
age group place: 52/71

Chip times from the rest of my group, in order of arrival, with pace times in parenthesis:

Victor: 43:48 (8:45.4)
Dad: 46:32 (9:18.3)
Jason: 50:11 (10:02.1)
Me: 57:24 (11:28.8)
Mom (2 mile): 27:14 (13:36.7)