Summer Sizzler 5K Race Recap

Apologies once again for crappiness in my blog updates – was my self-imposed week off, so didn’t run too much but did remember the few times I ran. This week flew by despite the limited running, but ended up enjoying every moment. Was still on my high of last week’s 40 miles and awesome weekend running in Chitown as well as the end of the 12 week maintenance schedule being completed, so felt that the scheduled week off was well deserved. First of all, as promised, a couple pics from Monday's All Star Game Home Run Derby with Barrel:

Had wanted to get in some track work on Tuesday, but ended up calling an audible and not running at all. Wednesday, ended up running roughly 3 miles. Didn’t have a watch, just ran to Pat and Crystal’s (2 miles) and another mile afterwards and got in an easy workout all together. Thursday, didn’t want to run but with the Summer Sizzler 5K on Saturday, wanted to get in some semblance of a speed workout so decided to do a fartlek. Since I hadn’t run much this week and felt lethargic in general, decided on an easier 20 seconds on/1 minute easy for 2 miles – got in 5 miles total, was pretty tired overall because of the humid weather that evening. Hit mid to high 5 minute mile pace and legs weren’t there at all so started to worry a bit for my lack of conditioning and just hoped it was a bad day. Heavy corework and stretching afterwards, felt better. Friday, a cold front pushed all the crappy weather away, and all of a sudden we had fall weather! – 70’s and cool. In celebration of the wonderful weather, decided to do an easy 3 miles before going out to dinner with Pat, Crystal, and Stacy, and felt pretty good at the easy pace. Corework and stretching afterwards, very relaxing. Felt somewhat prepared to run pretty hard for the race the next morning, definitely glad to have gotten some good work in.

Maryville YMCA

Race Morning

Saturday morning, woke up around 7, ate a quick yogurt and a cup of fruit, and was on my way to meet up with Pat, Crystal, and Stacy (who decided to run the race bandit, impromptu). Weather was high 60’s and overcast – absolutely perfect for running, and shocking weather for St. Louis in mid July! One of the advantages of this race was the close proximity to home (~5-10 minutes away), so had the luxury of sleeping in more than usual. I haven’t run a 5K since March when I felt like I was in fantastic speed shape, so really didn’t have great expectations for this race. A couple of tempo runs I had done during this maintenance schedule hit 6:20 pace, so I figured that a good run today would most likely result in a low 19/high 18 minute time. Another factor was the level of competition – when I signed up for the race, the race director had told me only 34 people had signed up, so was thinking there wasn’t going to be a great turnout. With a faster group going out, could use them to pace myself better and work off some of the other faster runners to my benefit. We arrived at the Maryville YMCA shortly after to a sea of cars in the parking lot – turned out that the last week of registration netted a lot more runners, and definitely a good amount of race day registration as well. Did a short warmup, with strides in the grass. Ran into my buddy Mike who was running the 10K, and he pointed out a few of the really fast local runners that were competing. Not to mention, some of the members of the Triad High School Cross Country team were racing as well, so although my aspirations of a very high place disappeared like a puff of smoke, I tried to look at this situation as an opportunity to work off of others and run more tactfully than normal. My typical 5K’s usually have me going out way too fast, burning out during the 2^nd mile, then trying to hang on for dear life on the last mile – this time, strategized to try to run a more even race and listen to my body more.

At the Start

We found out the course layout at the race registration – actually ran this course in a race 3 years ago, not to mention it is on the bike trail Crystal and I run quite a bit, so felt more confident since I knew almost every step of the course. Lined up at the start with roughly 120 other runners and got ready to run. Actually felt a few nerves, talked with Crystal about going out with a high 5 minute mile, and she was going to pace herself a little bit behind me (this was her first 5K, and she was aiming for sub 20 minutes). Gun went off, and the race was on its way!

Mile By Mile Report

Mile 1 - Got stuck behind a small group of overanxious runners that lined up way too far up front, but weaved around them to start out with the lead pack. Looked around for Crystal, actually saw her ahead of me, so surged to catch up with her. We started out in the parking lot of the Y, then headed down a small hill to the trail (roughly a quarter mile from the start). Hit the downhill hard, found myself behind right behind two high schoolers and felt pretty comfortable running behind them so settled into a rhythm. Pace was quick, but stride felt good and breathing was controlled – right exactly where I wanted to be. [Mile Split - 5:42]

Mile 2 - Started to really gauge myself and how I was feeling at this point, since my weakness in this distance was usually about halfway into the race. Didn’t feel too much different – my legs were starting to get a little heavier, but still felt strong. The first half of this course was actually on a slight uphill grade which I was aware of, so I knew coming back would be easier due to the downhill. The turnaround came pretty abruptly, but was expecting it since I saw the leaders make their turn and head back. I was in 5^th place at this point, and had my two high school runner rabbits slowly start to gap me. Didn’t really feel too great literally having to turn on a dime at high speed, but tried to adjust as best as I could. The two guys definitely separated themselves a bit from me, so struggled to keep them close enough where I could pace off them. Saw Crystal, Mike, and a small group of runners on my way back – Crystal looked pretty good and was in first place for the women with a girl hot on her tail. Downhill felt great – was feeling much better than I usually do at this point. [Mile Split - 5:55]

Mile 3 - Legs were feeling a little weary now and was trying not to look at my Garmin to psych myself out. I was feeling pretty comfortable knowing all my landmarks and knew I wasn’t too far away, and started to give myself a little pep talk to get through the last mile. Helped to see all the other runners coming back, and they were all fantastic cheering us on towards the finish. Saw the signs for the Y, made an abrupt left turn right into a hill which suddenly felt a billion times steeper since I was getting pretty tired, and slowed down a tad to avoid a total burn out. Fought coming up, saw Pat cheering the runners on which was a pick-me-up, and saw the finish not too far up. [Mile Split - 5:54]

Finish - Made one last turn onto the final straightaway, and saw the big LED timer which said 17:40 something on it. I thought that can’t be right, but hadn’t paid any attention whatsoever to my Garmin other than the first mile and once on the last mile to see where I was. Competitive instincts took over, kicked hard, zoomed across the finish line in complete and utter disbelief. [Final Time - 17:57 PR]

RESULTS

Peter Kim M29
Clock Time 17:57
Overall Place 5/70
Gender Place 5/40
Division Place 2/11

Pace 5:47/Mile (Garmin had 5:51 pace, course might have been slighty short?)

First Mile

Final Thoughts

WOW, couldn’t believe what had happened, and emotions were going crazy in my head. Spent a minute trying to catch my breath, then walked back towards the course to see Crystal finish. She ended up getting passed in the 2^nd mile and finished 2^nd overall, but did achieve her goal of breaking 20 minutes and ran an awesome PR time of 19:43. Congratulations Crystal!!! Went to watch Stacy finish, caught her on the final straightaway – she kicked on the last 200 meters, totally picked off a girl that was ahead of her most of the race, and finished in a spectacular 2 minute PR! Turns out later that she would have finished 2^nd in her age group, so she was kicking herself a bit for not registering. But regardless, a fantastic showing for all of us, and we were all feeling pretty good about ourselves. Stayed for the awards ceremony, took home a little hardware with a 2^nd place showing my age group, and Crystal winning her age group. My friend Mike got 2^nd in his age group for the 10K as well – congrats to him! Did a 2 mile cooldown run at home with Crystal and Stacy, and enjoyed the rest of the weekend pretty much laying low.

Still couldn’t believe I broke 18 minutes in the 5K, and was trying to figure out how this could have happened. Probably a combination of perfect weather, great rest during the week, knowing the course inside and out, and running a very tactical race with runners to work off of. Don’t think this is going to happen again anytime soon, but am beyond ecstatic to drop another PR this year and run one of the best races I have ever ran.

Bringing home a little hardware :)

Thus officially ends my speed season, and today officially begins my Chicago Marathon training with an easy 3 miler. I feel mentally and physically refreshed, a little sad that I am going to lose some speed since endurance training is now my number 1 priority, but not going to miss the intense speed work needed for it. Looking forward to the final leg of my journey for my ultimate goal, and getting in some good miles. In this last training segment, I have learned to be patient with my running, and trust that the hard work I have put my body through will work off in the end. I had my up and down weeks, but it all paid off in the end with good endurance and spectacular speed.

Scheduled to run the Mud Mountain Cross Country 5K this weekend, but not going to race it competitively – will enjoy a nice race with Tim and Stacy (and hopefully Pat if he decides to run it) and support the roots of my running with this event run by my former high school cross country team.

Team Harriss