I ran the 5K in Ogden this morning that is held in conjunction with the marathon. My wife and son and I came down and stayed with my parents last night so we'd have a shorter drive in the morning. I ran the Smithfield 5K last week and last year I ran the same 2 races back to back. I thought I might be in better shape this year because of my marathon training for Boston this past winter and spring but I ended up 5 seconds slower on last weeks race than I was last year. I had only done any 5k speed running the week before last weeks race so I was hoping this second week with some 5k type training would help me beat last years time of 18:38 on this race.
The temp was in the upper 40s with almost no wind to start the race. Perfect conditions. The race starts out down a little more than 1/4 mile stretch of road then onto a bike path. I took off fast to try and get ahead of as many people [there were about 900 in the race] as possible before we hit the bike trail where it's tough to be in a crowd. I had about 10 runners ahead of me when we hit the path after running about 5:35 pace. By the time I hit the first mile mark I had passed all but a group of 4 kids from the Bonneville High Cross country team who were about 60 or 70 yards ahead. Mile one was 5:51. During the next mile the Bonneville kids spread out and I caught and passed the first 2 about 1/2 way through the mile. That put me in 3rd with 2nd place about 50 yards up. By the end of mile 2 I was about 10 yards back and finished the mile in 6:01. You leave the bike path at this point and get on Grant street. The whole last mile is straight and flat very slight uphill [not enough to notice]. I seem to always run faster once leaving the bike bath with it's short quick ups and downs and turns. I was gradually gaining on 2nd and with 1/2 mile to go I passed him and put on a little distance hoping to break him. He caught back up with 1/4 to go and I fought but couldn't hold him off. My legs were just dead. I finished mile 3 in 5:45 and the last .12 [according to my Garmin] in 41 seconds [5:52 pace]. Slower pace than my last mile. That has never happened before. I usually finish that last .1 of a 5k at or under 5 min pace but my legs went to jello. My legs were so wobbly and I felt like I was going to pass out I was breathing so hard I had to sit down and catch my breath after crossing thte finish. I've done this race 3 times with a Garmin and it has always read 3.12. Not sure if it's just the winding path [I focused on taking good tangents] or if they just always add a few yards to the end of Marathon courses to certify that they aren't short. After the finish they had my Gun time at 18:19 [which I think is accurate] and my chip time at 19:11. My Garmin said 18:21 but I hadn't stopped it right on the finish. They said my chip activated the sensor a minute early so I'm not sure of my actual chip time. It's got to be a second or 2 faster because they started us 10 feet back from the line and I was 3 rows back from the front. They haven't posted times yet. I was amazed to run this 20 seconds faster than last year after being slower last week. For 3rd place overall I got a nice plaque and a $200 Suunto training watch. I'll have to call this my new PR. My fastest is 18:16 from 4 years ago but it was a downhill course that was probably 40 seconds faster than this course. After Boston and this race, I have now run faster times these past 2 years, at 50+ yrs. of age, at all distances that I've raced. I haven't done a 10k since 50 but plan to take care of that on this year. The day after the race they have results posted and have me at 18:08 for gun time and chip time. My wife filmed my finish and when I crossed the finish the clock said 18:19 and you could see when I stopped my watch 3.5 seconds after the finish. My Garmin read 18:21 so I guess I'll stick with 18:18.
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