Park to Park 5 Miler Race Report

I seriously contemplated DNSing this race. It really shows the extreme lack of motivation I've suffered from since the marathon. Preston couldn't go (had to work), it was semi-chilly and I was worried that I'd have clothing/temperature issues without P there to give me a coat at the end, I was going to have to drive myself, find parking, pick-up my packet, run, ride the Metrorail back, and drive home... it just started sounding like too much.

But I did it. Thank goodness that I am such a tightwad that I can't stand to waste money, and thank goodness I almost always pre-register!

I left the house around 5:30, hoping to hit downtown around 6. I am still a little grumpy with the race director on this one - participants could park free in the Toyota Center garage, but they didn't put that on the website, so if you picked up your packet the morning of, chances were that you had already paid $10 to park in a surface lot (as I had). Annnyways...

Discovery Green park is actually pretty nice. I've been hearing about it for awhile since my place of work has a facility there, but I've never been there.

Got my packet. *Thrilled* to notice that there was a bag check. No freezing for me at the finish line!!! (Another thing that would have been well-advertised on the website.) Went back to my car, stowed my stuff, then waited around until about 20 minutes before start before checking my jacket and lining up.

The start was a little different from last year, when we were coming from Minute Maid. I was using this race as a test of my fast fitness after the marathon. I knew that I'd be slower than last year, when I ran a 44:14 for 8:50 miles, but I harbored a vague hope that I wasn't terribly slower, despite my lack of training since the marathon, so I decided to go out for anything sub 9's, and see how long I could hold it.

The first two miles came rather easily. At 3 I was starting to struggle to hold my pace just a bit, and I remember thinking that if I was in a 5K I'd be done already! I also remember glancing down at the Garmin and knowing that I'd have been pleased with my 5K time (27ish minutes) if I was done. This gives me strong hopes for some of the 5Ks I'm going to be running for the rest of the spring season.

I slowed down a bit in the 4th mile, but still kept it under 9. Then we made that big right hand turn that I remembered from last year, the one that basically means 1 mile to go. I kept trying to tell myself to push it because I was almost done, and it worked until I hit the gravel in Herman Park, but then I just didn't have anything else left to give. That was combined with the extra caution that the surface change caused in me - I'm not sure why, but the gravel felt really slick to me, and I was vaguely afraid of falling.

Finished in 45:03 for 9:00 miles. 51 seconds slower than last year. 15th of 39 in my age group.

Looked at last year's splits, and I basically started slow and sped up through the race (despite a vague memory of slowing on the gravel). This year I did just the opposite: started fast, and slowed down. I'm sure that I ran a better race last year, but ultimately I think I could run a faster race if I could just find my pace and peg it like I did at the Trolley Run last year. That is what I was trying to do this time around, but I just didn't quite have it in the legs to pull off.

Over all, I'm really quite pleased with this result 5 weeks off the marathon. More importantly, I feel like I've got a little of my mojo back. I don't think that I can break my 5K PR or anything on March 7th (my next race), but I don't feel like I'm going to run a 30+ minute 5K either. And after I run that 5K, I'll have 4 weeks to the Bellaire Trolley Run to train for speed so I can really bring it to that race.