Race Report: Run for the Trees 5K 2009

Last Saturday, I did the "Run for the Trees 5K" with mom, two of her friends, Jason and 3 co-workers:  Amy, Vanessa, and Victor. This was a great race that I got to share with some awesome people. I finished in 33:12,  a new PR, and was very close to running a sub-33 5K! Compared to last year's performance, my 3rd 5K ever, I ran it 9:45 faster! w00t!

CDWS Crew:
Victor, Me, Jason, Amy



Mom and her friends



Vanessa and her tree

Pre-Race Run:
Since I've technically been training for a 1/2 marathon on May 16 (though I've seen nixed this idea), I needed to get in some extra miles. I met some ladies from my Galloway group before the race at our usual spot, and ran 2 miles at an easy 12:25 pace to the race start. I intended to run a few laps around the track when we got there to keep my body warm until the start, but mom called asking for directions and took up the last 20 minutes until the race start. Nonetheless, the 2 mile warm up made a huge difference on my race performance and I need to find a way to warm up for at least 1-2 miles before every race.

Race:
This is a gorgeous course and the weather was great. I started out a little fast, but it didn't cost me too much (except my usual consistent negative splits) since I was already warmed up. I ran using 5:1 intervals and really tried to push myself. I was concerned I had started out too fast, so I slowed a little during the 2nd mile and that probably cost me that extra 13 seconds :) Oh well, there is always the next race ;) The Garmin logged the course a little long, so my actual pace was 10:24! I'm estatic that I broke a 10:30 pace!

Below are my (mostly) negative splits (pace):

• mile 1 - 10:34
• mile 2 - 10:50
• mile 3 - 10:13
• finish - 8:09 (.18 in 1:29)

Post-Race:
After the race, I walked 1.7 miles back to the start (it was a point-to-point race) instead of taking the shuttle. We were actually waiting for quite a while for Vanessa at the end and were getting worried because it had almost been an hour. She isn't that slow, so we worried something happened when we learned she was actually on her way back already :) After getting our trees (all finishers got a free young tree), we went to breakfast at Bikes, Beans, and Bordeaux. It was a great way to end an awesome morning.

Official stats:

• clock time - 34:05    
• chip - 33:12
• pace - 10:41
• overall - 671 / 1234
• age group -  55 / 107    
• gender - 315 / 747

• Jason - 25:13 - 8:06.9
• Victor - 26:29 - 8:31.3
• Amy - 34:59 - 11:15.5
• Mom - 39:23 - 12:40.3
• Vanessa - 40:08 - 12:54.8