...Because if you can only run 5Ks, you might as well run all the 5Ks, amirite?
The race, Spring Forward 5K/10K, is down in Mountain View on the Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus & Shoreline Park. It's another charity race, but thankfully significantly cheaper than the last charity 5K I ran. Weirdly, although I've been to a bunch of concerts at Shoreline, lived on the Peninsula for three years, & even worked near Mountain View briefly, I've never been running there, so all I know about the course is that it will be a mix of concrete & packed dirt trail. (Anyone run down there before & have additional info?)
Ostensibly, I'm just running this race for fun and because I had a discount code for it. But, now that I've run one 5K post-injury & established a baseline, it's hard not to approach this one with the goal of beating my time (22:06). Which, honestly, shouldn't be very hard since 1) I have three additional weeks of running 20+ minutes at a time without walk breaks under my belt, 2) I can run long enough now for both a race AND a quick warm-up, & 3) it won't be 80F out (unless something truly freakish happens). So while a post-sfx PR isn't guaranteed, the odds are definitely in my favor.
Honestly, I would be perfectly happy just to run under 22:00, & at the the low end I think a sub-7:00 pace (~21:40) is the absolute fastest I could reasonably dream of at this point. (My guess is that's probably still out of reach for now, but it's good to have stretch goals.) My other big goal, to the extent that I really have any, is to go out at a more reasonable pace given my current fitness. At Get Lucky my first mile was 6:45, which is a great 5K first mile for me when I'm in good shape, but given that my 2nd & 3rd miles were 7:14 & 7:13, it's definitely not defensible right now. I'm willing to cut myself a little slack in the negative split department given how out of practice I am at this distance, but if I can hold myself to say 7:05-10ish out of the gate, I think I'll be much better off.
I have spent the last few days (apparently) utterly trashing my quads & hamstrings, so until Saturday, the name of the game is rest up. Because while I am *really* just doing it for fun, I would also prefer not to suck.
Update: Oh, hey, part of the trashing of my quads is apparently an enormous bruise across my right thigh! #karateproblems #goodtimes
I'm pretty sure you'll beat your previous time. :)
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping!
DeleteI'm voting 21:30 as an easy outcome... so that'll mean approximately 5-10 minutes waiting for me... and then? Dim Sum? Ramen? Brewery Brunch? Other?
ReplyDeleteYes! I am seriously going to email you right now.
DeleteHa! Enjoy all the 5Ks. Pretty sure you'll hit both of those goals. There's something to be said for doing a bunch of short sharp races that are all over in less than half an hour.
ReplyDeletePS I'm finally reading Charles Stross's Glasshouse on your recommendation - it's great fun and makes some excellent comments on 20th/21st-century society and gender norms!
Thanks!
DeleteI loved that Glasshouse! Glad you're enjoying it. :)
I think you've got a sub-22 in you. If you ran a 22:06 as your first race back, sub-22 is definitely do-able.
ReplyDeletelol! My running club (MV Area Run Club) runs the trail every Saturday, and I would be there for this race except it's tax season and I'm working every day right now lol. Course is exactly how you say it - asphalt and packed dirt. Course may be fairly packed, since regular runners/bikers are out there too, and the course is pretty narrow in general. But it is totally flat - so you should set a good time. I think you will get what you are hoping for, maybe even a little faster. There is also a 10K on the same trail in Sept - Stevens Creek Trailblazer race, that I did in 2009 and thought it was a good time.
ReplyDeleteanother random side note, the spot where the race begins is exactly 3.5 miles from my house, so when I run there is a 7 mile round trip, a nice run =)
ReplyDelete