Week #11 - Day 2 (a 5K)
This evening I ran in the inaugural Merrill Lynch Bull Run in Brecksville, OH. There were about 150 runners (at least that is what they announced it as) and it was very nice weather. Upper 70s, overcast, and not very humid. It was my first 5K run, so I was very concerned with selecting a pace since my marathon training has gotten me so used to going at a reduced pace for a longer distance. Well, I started near the front and kept up pretty well.
We started going on a gradual uphill slope, up Route 21, for about 3/4 of a mile. We then turned down a street and I hit the 1 mile mark at 7:53, which was very encouraging. The next half mile was a pretty steep downhill run. I was feeling really good at the halfway point, but then we turned around and headed back up the steep hill we had just descended. It was a struggle at times, but I put my head down and leaned into it and hit the 2 mile mark at 15:55 (give or take a couple seconds). Once I ascended the hill, the last 3/4 was back downhill the way we had came, down Route 21. I really found my groove and kicked it into high gear, especially at the end. I hit the finish line right at 24:00 minutes even. So that last 3.1 miles was about 7:20 split for me.
Overall, the 24:00 equals out to a 7:43 mile pace which was much better than I had expected. I'm now very interested in trying a 5K on a more level course to see how I would do since I have always read that you lose more going uphill than you gain from going downhill. I'm not sure how I did in relation to my peers as I did not stick around for the awards, but I estimate I finished in the top 25% overall. So I'm very happy. I will post the link to the results when they put them up.
UPDATE: The results are in. I ended up winning my age group (25 to 29) and placing 33rd overall out of 123 runners.
We started going on a gradual uphill slope, up Route 21, for about 3/4 of a mile. We then turned down a street and I hit the 1 mile mark at 7:53, which was very encouraging. The next half mile was a pretty steep downhill run. I was feeling really good at the halfway point, but then we turned around and headed back up the steep hill we had just descended. It was a struggle at times, but I put my head down and leaned into it and hit the 2 mile mark at 15:55 (give or take a couple seconds). Once I ascended the hill, the last 3/4 was back downhill the way we had came, down Route 21. I really found my groove and kicked it into high gear, especially at the end. I hit the finish line right at 24:00 minutes even. So that last 3.1 miles was about 7:20 split for me.
Overall, the 24:00 equals out to a 7:43 mile pace which was much better than I had expected. I'm now very interested in trying a 5K on a more level course to see how I would do since I have always read that you lose more going uphill than you gain from going downhill. I'm not sure how I did in relation to my peers as I did not stick around for the awards, but I estimate I finished in the top 25% overall. So I'm very happy. I will post the link to the results when they put them up.
UPDATE: The results are in. I ended up winning my age group (25 to 29) and placing 33rd overall out of 123 runners.
posted by Brad at
9:12 PM
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