Run for the Stars 5K Recap

Had an ok running weekend - weather suddenly decided to turn 30 degrees warmer and get oppressingly HUMID, so didn't get in the mileage I would have liked. Was kind of prepping for the St. Louis Science Center 5K, but quite honestly my running has been garbage and was hoping I could cash in on previous fitness and race experience to get me through another race. Friday, ran easy after work. Did 3 miles slow, just needed to get the legs moving again. Hung out at home and got to bed relatively early.

Race Morning

Woke up bright and early on Saturday morning. Went outside to gauge the conditions for the day, and did a quick jog to get loosened up. Was already stuffy, and was going to be very sunny that day. Ate a quick breakfast of yogurt and a banana, grabbed my stuff, and took off for downtown. Got there and parked, then went to registration to get my bib and t-shirt. Jogged for about 10 minutes on the course, and waited for my friends Ben and Dave to get there. Felt decent and ready to go.

At the Start/Mile by Mile Report

Met up with those guys, got their packets and walked back towards the start. Did some light stretching, strides, and dynamic stretching, and got lined up. Saw a group of guys that had Ghisallo racing singlets on (Ghisallo Racing is a local team), so I talked to them to gauge how fast they would be going out the first mile. Tried to get myself focused and in that race mentality. Lined up at the front, and waited for the gun.

Mile 1 - Gun went off, and away we went! First mile goes down a hill then turns up a pretty decent hill. Important not to go out too fast, and the Ghisallo group, some high school guy, and myself had quickly formed a small pack. When we got to that hill, sort of relaxed my stride and tried to concentrate on good form. Those guys started to take off, and I was getting gapped pretty good. Weaved through Forest Park, rolling hills so was working a bit. Was breathing way pretty hard at this point and already feeling tired which was not a good sign. [Mile 1 - 5:44]

Mile 2 - Got passed by a couple runners. Went down a huge hill, then back up towards the Muny which is an outdoor theater in Forest Park. Tried to work off one of the guys that had passed me - he was a younger runner, and going faster than me but I thought I would be ok. He started to really gap me, and I gauged off the volunteers cheering that there were people not too far behind me. I was tired and didn't want to waste energy looking back, but eventually did when we made a sharp right hand turn up a hill and saw a group of 4-5 guys. Legs were starting to hurt, started to really question why was I racing?!?! [Mile 2 - 5:58]

Mile 3 - Pretty much conceded I wasn't going to catch the guy in front of me, and the Ghisallo guys were out of my sight. This is where the mental battle began for me, and since I had spent the majority of this race running basically by myself and getting tore up by these hills, I was not in a good mental state. Really started to slow down, and I could hear a runner creeping up on me. I knew there were 2 big hills coming up, and I'm not proud to say that I basically gave up and just dropped pace but didn't let the guy pass me. Hit the first hill kind of hard, noticed I was gaining ground on one of the guys but then saw him turn off which meant he was a 10K runner. Was in 4th at this point, and suddenly heard the hard breathing and footsteps of the guy behind me. [Mile 3 - 6:23]

Finish - The guy was gaining ground, and I was really tired. Could hear people cheering, and finally snapped out of my ridiculous funk and picked it up. Last half mile is straight uphill, so punishing but definitely gapped the guy and finished hard. [5K Time - 18:51]

Peter Kim M30
Chip Time: 18:51
Clock Time: 18:53
Overall Place: 4/442
Gender Place: 4/?
Division Place: 1/?
Pace: 6:05/Mile

Walked and grabbed some Vitamin Water, water, and bananas, and talked to the Ghisallo guys who had finished 1-2 (high school guy was third). Jogged back towards the course and met up with Dave and Ben who were finishing up. Ben was running his first 5K and Dave had ran the majority of the race with him so I took over the reigns and he took off like a bat from hell for quite a spectacular finish. Ben kicked really hard the last 100 meters and passed 5 people, so that was pretty awesome to watch. Congrats on both for a good race! Went back to our cars, had a few beers then chilled at the post-race area and got my award.

Final Thoughts

Not my best race by any means, and pretty disappointed in myself for losing focus and basically giving up on the last mile. Albeit, I don't think I could have improved my place any, but still should have ran 15-20 seconds faster. Time was ok and slower than what I thought it was, but the hills slowed me down - definitely need to build up some strength. Regardless, it was a good training run/speedwork, was thrilled to finish top 5 overall, and always nice to win my age group :) Lots to work on right now, and this was a wake up call that I need to really start working hard or I am not going to improve any.

Ended up with around 5 miles total on Saturday, did my "long run" of 5 miles on Sunday. It was just waaaay too hot, and I was completely drained after 5 minutes of being outside. Legs were tired from the race and was still adjusting to the sudden, severe temperature change, so reasoned with myself that I would pick up some cheap miles throughout the week. The plan is to get a boatload of miles early, rest up for the Denver trip, easy running over the weekend, then Monday's race will be a hard tempo and nothing more!

Ben and I postrace. Won my age group!

Post Race Celebration