Race #199
5k #61
2022 Race #7
2022 5k #3
Whole Fitness 5k #1

This race served as a bit of a tempo interval in the long run, making up for some tempo miles that I had to “skip” earlier that week. Originally, I had planned to use a 5k at my alma mater for this purpose since we pass it regularly on our long run route. However, when Mom mentioned this really small race put on by a woman from our church who runs a fitness company, it seemed a lot more appealing. Thus, on Friday we registered after Mom texted her since online registration had closed. Yes, it was a really small race.

We started our long run earlier than normal so we could cover the distance between my house and church before the race started. It turns out that I did not calculate the distance between the two locations accurately. I underestimated by about a mile. Thus, we picked up the pace as we got close even though it would not have mattered much if we started after the “official” start.

When we entered the parking lot and headed towards what looked like the start line we thought that in fact we had missed the start because we saw a small group of walkers moving towards the trail that circles the church. When we actually arrived at the start line, we saw people with bibs still standing there. Turns out that the 7:45 start time I saw was for walkers so we still had time.

We got our bibs and waited for the start. Mom asked if I planned to run with her. I told her yes of course but I did want to run it a little faster, like a tempo run. Spoiler alert: I got a little competitive, not really a surprise.

The race consisted of 3 and a half loos around the church using the walking trail and the parking lot. Even though the verbal directions of the parking lot section sounded confusing without seeing it, I had no questions once out on the course.

Like usual, I had to coax Mom to come closer to the start line. I knew that in this really small group, we were some of the fastest and at least had race experience so I did not want to get tripped up or waste energy trying to get around people.

Once the race started, Mom and I found ourselves expectedly towards the front. Only three guys were in front of us, soon to be just one. I ran just ahead of Mom and…well…never settled into a pace where she caught up with me. Oops.

Just prior to the race starting, I had gone to the bottom end of my running playlist with my newer to the playlist songs so I had plenty of motivation and a good beat as I ran. Settling in to the rhythm helped significantly, especially on that first part with most of the uphill portions.

After just a little while, only one guy remained in front of me, a guy who also happens to be in my small group (through church). I could tell that I held a slightly faster pace than he did and would probably catch up to him and pass eventually. That’s when I decided to go for it and make my goal beating him. Sorry Mom.

[I don’t have accurate splits for this race since I did not save each segment separately. Thus, I started the race with 5.5 miles already logged.)

The course took up through the parking lot, to the trail on the short side of the church property rectangle before rejoining the parking lot for a little bit of weaving. I felt really good during this parking lot portion, especially since it was downhill. Some time through this portion I managed to pass that guy and take the lead. Even though I was not running really fast at all, it still felt really good to lead the whole race from that point.

After weaving through the parking lot before running behind the church, we had one steep downhill before stepping onto the gravel path again and climbing back up. Throughout that uphill, I could hear his footsteps on the gravel behind me and knew that he was trying to pass me back. I had no problem with that because I knew that I could pass him back on the downhill where I passed him originally.

My pace slowed a little in this section as I focused on effort. Even though I expected the pass, it never came. It actually sounded like he was falling further behind. I confirmed this when we got into the parking lot and to one of the switchbacks I could see him further behind than I expected. Then I smiled when I saw Mom not far behind him.

Over the next loop, the second of 3.5 loops, everything felt just about the same with the only new things coming in the form of a few passes of those walkers who had started before us and the growing distance between myself and the second place guy. In fact, when we approached the switchback in the parking lot, I saw that Mom had passed him. We exchanged some grins before we kept going.

As I started the last lap, I could tell that the effort was starting to tax me but I could still keep up the same pace. In fact, it felt a bit exhilarating to lead the race no matter how few people actually were running.

I made the final turn feeling good and energized, confident that I made the right decision to push off the tempo run earlier in the week. This run gave me confidence that my training will pay off.