Watermelon Classic - Run5k


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Jackson, Mississippi
United States
Mississippi Track Club
80F / 27C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 27m 25s
Overall Rank = 325/819
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 12/39
Pre-race routine:

Probably slept a little later than I should have. But, hustled to get the kitties taken care of, make some coffee, put together my race stuff, and get dressed. Hubby and puppy loaded up in the car to come cheer me on.
Event warmup:

Went out for a 15-20 minute warm up run by following other people because we were staged in a parking lot right off of a busy road. Apparently, it was okay to run on the busy road because that's where the race started. Instead of doing striders this time, I did cadence drills to get my legs going and my HR up.
Run
  • 27m 25s
  • 5 kms
  • 05m 29s  min/km
Comments:

This is by far the biggest 5k I've run in MS with about 1,000 people. I wasn't sure where to seed myself for the start. I didn't want to be too far back, but I didn't want to be too close to the fast people either. In retrospect, I probably would do better being closer to the front and just letting the fast people zoom by me. As it was, I had a bit of a squirrely start, dodging in and out of people. Once I got going, I reminded myself to relax but keep running hard. My HR had already gone outside of my "high" zone, and I was breathing like a freight train. But, I didn't have any problems just keeping my legs turning over and steadily picking up steam. I skipped the water stops since it was only a 5k and I felt well hydrated. The last mile was hard. Again, reminded myself that I can do anything for 1 mile. I was fairly pleased with the effort overall. In the end, I did not (nor did I expect) to reach my "stretch" goal of 25:30, and I was somewhat disappointed that I couldn't push it under 27 minutes. Maybe if it had been cooler and less humid.
What would you do differently?:

Start closer to the front. Really work on pushing harder.
Post race
Warm down:

Nada really. Too hot. Too crowded.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Heat. Slow start (may have been 10 seconds faster if I had a cleaner start). Just more work needs to be done.

Event comments:

As always, MTC does a great job.




Last updated: 2009-06-21 12:00 AM
Running
00:27:25 | 05 kms | 05m 29s  min/km
Age Group: 12/39
Overall: 325/819
Performance: Good
This race as chip timed (supposedly), but I think the final results show the clock time rather than chip time. So, "official" results have me at 27:39, which seems about right when accounting for the difference from the gun and actually crossing the start line. I'm going with the "unofficial" watch time, though. (And...I thought I was 5 seconds faster than my last 5k...really only 1 second faster. Yeesh.) Mile 1 - 8:55 Mile 2 - 8:51 Mile 3 - 8:42 0.1 - 0:55 If the race as longer, I would have been faster. ;-)
Course: Straight to slightly downhill start on Lakeland and Frontage Rds. Turn onto Eastover and uphill to first mile. From there, slightly rolling through Research Park and on Ridgewood. Turn back onto Lakeland for final mile. Last quarter rolls down, turn into MS Sports Hall of Fame parking lot and slight uphill to the finish line.
Keeping cool Average Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4