Race Report: Windermere Run Among the Lakes 5K 2009

Let's get the results out of the way:

• net time: 34:28 (watch)
• chip time: 35:32 (aka clock time -- seriously, why bother with a chip time if you aren't going to give me the net time?)
• gender: 183 / 396
• overall: 388 / 663

My dad and Jason also ran this race, and Jason got a huge PR. He beat my dad for the first time and finished in 26:21 (an 8:29 pace). His previous PR was 32:22 on January 24th.That's 6 minutes in 2.5 months!  Dad ran a sub-10 pace and finished in 29:37. Mom was home recovering from surgery and could not make an appearance.

I forgot how tired legs get running on hard-packed sand. This is a beautiful course, but not one you do for speed. Nevertheless, this was a great race for me because it was a rematch of the 1st 5K I ever ran almost 1 year ago on April 12, 2008. I had lofty goals for running a sub-34 or even something close to 33, but that's because I foolishly underestimated the toll the course would have on my poor legs. I either blocked it out from last year's race, or (more likely) I didn't notice as much because I was a new runner and I mostly walked it. Anyway, on with the report.

The weather was perfect: we had a nice breeze the whole time and didn't feel too humid. I started close to the back to ensure I did not go out too fast. I had done the math and knew what pace I needed to average and even how fast I had to run the run intervals (I used 5:1), but I forgot to use the lap feature to actually see my average pace while I was running the intervals.

When we finally started, it took us forever to get moving. The start had us go through the finishing chute, so we couldn't really start running until we got out of that. My first run interval was really slow at 11:30 because of being herded via the chute and dodging walkers (yes I know I am one). I made up for it in the 2nd interval and clocked the first mile at 11:13.

My pace was slower than anticipated, but I still thought I could make up the time. I pushed harder in the next 2 intervals and clocked the 2nd mile at 10:57. I was getting closer to my target pace, but my legs were getting really tired and it was starting to get warmer. I walked an extra 10 seconds after the water stop since I had not been able to regulate my breathing while drinking water. It was getting harder to push my pace, but I pressed on. Mile 3 was a tad slower at 11:01 and it took me 1:17 to cover the last .15 and cross the finish.

I am still extremely pleased with my performance because ...

1. I still ran a sub-35 5K, by my watch but I'm going with this time because it is absurd not to give us net times if we have chips and it did take me over a minute to cross the start since I lined up in the back to ensure I did not start out too fast.
2. I shaved off 10:10 from last year's time, also recorded by my watch because it was not even chipped time then, so at least this is an equivalent comparison.
3. I only walked for about 5 minutes total. At last year's race, I only ran 14 minutes since I was doing week 2, day 2 of coach to 5k and had only been running for less than 3 weeks.

Maybe I'll run it again next year and by then I'll be able to run the whole thing in under 30 miniutes ;)