I wanted to do this race because it's flat, fast, & on a paved trail, and it's the last of the season that would give me a good comparison to my flat 5k in May. I reluctantly gave up on it because C had a college info day she wanted to go to, but at the last minute she changed her plans & I leapt at the chance.
My goal was to break a 9:00 pace, which meant a 27:54 time. However my strategy was to run by HR: under 138 (in zone 3) for mile 1; lower zone 4 (140-143) for mile 2; at or a little above LT threshold (144) for mile 3; and all out (145+) for the last .1 mile. That is exactly what I did, and I beat my goal by 36 seconds. (and my previous PR by 54 seconds).
I guess this stuff about lots of training in zones 1-2 really works!
The only regret I have is that the 1st place in my AG beat me by only 5 seconds. I had introduced myself to her while waiting at the start (because I am always trying to recruit grey-hairs for our x-c team.) She is actually older than me at 69, and I didn't think either of us had a chance of winning the AG because it is 60-69, not 65-69. She was ahead of me by just a little bit the whole way and the gap was closing, but I was paying more attention to my HR and not trying to catch her. When I get to zone 5, I've learned, I start feeling like I want to throw up and I just try to maintain, not push harder. I should see what happens when I try to push a little harder in that last quarter mile. Might I have found that 5 seconds?

Get more competitive, without losing HR focus. Try to dig deeper. Don't worry about throwing up; my stomach's empty anyway.

Recoverite drink & Hammer recovery bar, banana, couple of granola crumbs, small yogurt. Rolled & stretched thoroughly.


More training.
Need to develop that competitive edge to be able to really dig deep.


This is a well-attended, well-supported, big community race with musicians all along the way. Includes family events like walk-a-thon, zumba, pancake breakfast (which I didn't eat.) Lots of team entries. I really enjoy this race.