19th Annual Cigna/Elliot Corporate Road Race - Run5k

My goal was to beat last years time and go under 21 if I felt good (I did 22:56 last year). But my calf was hurting earlier in the week so I wasnt sure what to expect. If I felt any soreness on this run, I would shut it down. I am 1 week away from AG Nationals and dont want to jeopardize it with an injury. Luckily it felt good. This year, I was able to start much closer to the start line so I didnt have to weave around as many runners and walkers. I followed a fast runner from work for the first mile and felp good. I didnt look at my watch until around the .5 mi mark. It said I was running a 6:08 pace and my HR was 177. I decided I need to slow it down a bit. I think the excitement overtook me too much and I would pay for it later. I dropped to around 6:30.

Around mile 2 I was starting to feel it. It was hard to stay focused and not slow. I had to slow down a bit though. dropped to around 6:40 pace (according to watch). I knew the hill was coming up also and wanted to save some for a last charge up the hill. Making the turn you could start to feel the energy of the crowd. It helped get me up the hill. I pushed it as hard as I could up the hill. Crossed the finish line and looked at my watch. It showed 20.40 and a pace of 6:33 (based on 3.18 miles). Official results had me at 20:47 and a 6:42 pace. Very happy that I went under 21. If only I could do this at Nationals for the 10K.

Not start out as fast.

Walked around. Drank a powerade and a yogurt smoothie.


Calf tightness and not wanting to over extend myself before Nationals. Need to run lots more.


Overall this is a great race. not many chance to run a race with 5300 people.