Kirkland 5K Race Report

Kirkland 5K Race Report

This morning I ran the 5K part of the Kirkland Half Marathon. It was a cool but sunny morning, about 40 when I left the house but closer to 46 by race time. The 5K has a hill in middle from about .5 to 1.25 miles, then downhill through 1.75, up a little hill then down to 2.0. The rest is mostly flat save a small hill 2-2.5. I felt pretty good this morning besides the usual pre-race stomach issues. The start was pretty crowded, with a lot of lopers mixed in with people who were trying to run. After a couple minutes we got to a wide walkway and things thinned out. The big hill wasn’t too bad. I kept thinking, “I’m not dying. I’m not dying. This is good.” That hill has killed me in the past. I ended the first mile at 10:18. I thought, “for that hill that’s pretty good.”

The downhill went well. By the time I hit that next little uphill, I started really feeling it. Stomach ache, knot in shoulder, heart rate too high, but my legs felt fine which is the most important thing. Once fatigue sets in, there’s not much you can do. When I finished the 2nd mile in 9:36 I started thinking, “I’ve got a shot at sub-30 if I push the last mile.” Fortunately the first bit of the last mile was steep downhill so I really cranked it. You can feet your soles burning on fast downhills from the friction between your feet and socks. I got through the last mile in 9:19, a blistering pace for me and the last .11 mile in 37 seconds. Now my GPS recorded the race as 3.07 miles so if the course was .04 miles short, that would take me another 20 secs at that pace, but I’m complaining.

Previous Course record: 30:18 (5/13/2007)
Current Personal record: 28:42 (9/30/2007)
New Course record: 29:51 :)

So I killed my previous course record by 27 seconds, but I’m still over a minute off my best 5K ever. However, this is the fastest I’ve ever run Jan-May, so it’s looking like a great running year! My ankles are feeling great (knock knock) and I’m steadily improving.

Next week: Beat the Bridge! (I’ve only beat it once in 3 tries but I’m ahead of my pace last time I beat it)

In three weeks (gulp): Issaquah Triathlon! I hope my wetsuit gets here soon so I can try it out.