Gravity Hill 5K!! Last 5K of the Racing With Passion series
Coming into this race I was hoping to be able to follow my race plan, unlike last time, when I lost 10s or so in the last mile. After a quick scan of the runners in the front of the pack I spotted one, whom Naty had warned me of, who looked like he would not make it easy for me... And indeed he didn't... lol
For once I started fast in the first meters just because I did not want the other guy to leave me in the dust at the start of the race... After 0.2mi I was already a good 20 feet behind him and I was barely hanging on, running much faster than expected based on my race plan... I wondered if I should let him go to avoid blowing up in the end, but I decided to stay as close as possible for as long as I could. I knew that right before the 1mi mark there was a short downhill with 20ft loss or so; I used that to bridge the gap a little. Then I was within 10ft or so of him, but the effort of the first mile was making it too hard for me to place myself by his side so I stayed behind until the turnaround.
At the turnaround, he took the turn very much on the inside so he left a lot of speed there; I took it a little more from the outside, thus conserving more speed, which allowed me to bridge the final gap and placed myself by his side. At that point I had already dismissed my race plan and just "took it easy", just trying to recover before the final mile...
Starting the last mile, there was a sharp left turn... I was on the inside so I used that to gain a lead of 5ft or so. He hanged on behind me for 2min or so, and then I just pounded my way to the finish, embracing the downhill... Soon enough he was out of sight.
It obviously wouldn't have been possible to finish without gagging... which first appeared after 2.65mi... Somehow however, I didn't feel emotional despair as last time, distress yes, but no despair. I think I have to thank the very cool temperatures for that (was freezing my butt before the start). I managed the gagging, finishing strong to get 1st place overall and getting a new PR!!! 18:31.87 for 3.104, 18:33.02 for an exact 5K (5:58 pace); official result of 18:32.6.
In addition of getting the first place overall award, I got a trophy for having the lowest combined time of the 3 races, as well as the RWP award "for embracing running and being fearless when it comes to competition". Almost got a bit emotional when I was presented the award ^^
On a sidenote it was very windy during the first 0.8mi and during 0.1/0.2 after turnaround, and I had no stitch whatsoever :D
Now NUMBERS! I love numbers ^^
Goal splits (0.5mi): 3:20, 3:10, 3:07, 2:50, 2:55, 2:40, all out
Actual splits: 3:11, 3:12, 3:06, 3:04, 2:47, 2:41, 0:31 (4:57)
Mile splits: 6:23, 6:10, 5:28, 0:31 (4:57)
Elevation: +312ft / -434ft (Seems much more accurate than last time +350ft but same -120ft difference)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/220244552
http://runnercard.com/runner/data/1825/3822/Result/2012_Racing_with_Passion_5K.htm
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