Brunswick Hot Pursuit 5K May 16 2009

Yesterday I ran one of the few certified 5K’s I have raced. It is the Brunswick “Hot Pursuit 5K.” I did it last year for the first time, and finished in 2008 in 20:51. I was hoping to be much faster this year, hopefully by a full minute, breaking the 20-minute mark.

It is advertised as “fast,” and I agree. Here is the elevation graph:

Elevation

To be different, I set my Garmin GPS watch to lap every kilometer. In past races I used miles. I think I may do that again in upcoming 5K’s. The course and Garmin were spot-on, as the race ended at the same time the Garmin said I had run five kilometers.

There were a lot of runners in the race. A little over 300 was the number the race official gave at the pre-start speech, but the results show 242. Still quite a lot for me. I got in the third or fourth row at the start, and had no problems getting off fast. Someone hit the back of my shoe (or I hit the front of some one else’s foot) in the first kilometer, but that was it.

The first K went by in 3:52. That was a mistake. If I ran every kilometer that fast, I would finish in 19:20, a lot faster than my goal. However, during the race I thought the time wasn’t bad. It is going to take getting use to the kilometer lap setting, but I think it is worth it. I have been running one-kilometer intervals between 4:05 and 4:10 (with 90-second jogging recoveries), so I am getting use to the metric system.

One kilometer is 0.62137 miles (according to a Google search.) Looking at the elevation map above shows the first .62137 miles of the race is mostly uphill. That makes the first kilometer time go from “a mistake” to “that was stupid!”

The second kilometer was mostly down hill, and went by in 3:53. Again, during the race I felt good about that time. However, looking at the numbers – the first 2K went by in 7:45. That is a 6:14 mile pace. I believe I am in shape to run a 19:50 to 19:59 5K. However, only if I run each mile between 6:20 and 6:25. Those 5 to 10 seconds, especially in the beginning will cost 20 to 30 seconds at the end of the race. Today proves it. Crap.

You probably know where this is going. The third kilometer (1.24 to 1.86 miles) was quite rolling. Man, I love those graphs and my Garmin! I slowed. It took me 4:09. The 3:52 and 3:53 previous kilometers put 15 seconds “in the bank” (as they say), but I withdrew nine seconds in the third kilometer. Just like the economy, I am starting to crash!

And I was not bailed out. Actually I sort of bailed. Take a look at this graph.

HeartRate

The fourth kilometer, mile 1.86 to 2.49, shows a heart rate dip after the two-mile mark. I remember that moment. It coincides with a hill; notice the elevation line directly below the heart rate dip. My pace was slowing. I was feeling I could not hold pace for the next 2K, and a miserable hill appears. The fourth kilometer was the slowest, 4:19.

I feel good that I regrouped and ran a faster last kilometer: 4:04. The total time was 20:21. I get a kick out of the fact it is the exact same time as the Unity 5K I did in April.

Here are the results.

My plan over the summer is to run a bunch of 1K’s in 3:55 to 3:59, trying to get that pace nailed down.

Next race is a five miler in June.