5K Time Trial!

On Saturday there was a 5K in Hopkins that was free for Minnesota Distance Running Association members. They were staggering start times, had no events after (and wanted people to leave right away), had athletes masked before and after racing, etc, etc, and I was hoping to do it. But I realized a few days prior that it wasn't going to work out.

So instead, I decided to head out and do my own sort of 5K time trial along the river. I was going to use the thought of others racing the following day to help push me - it's hard to REALLY "race" by yourself, but I was determined to give it a solid effort!

Without going into unnecessary details, I couldn't find my Garmin Friday morning, but my wife was off work, so she let me borrow her Apple Watch. I had PLANNED on running along the river in a way that I wouldn't know exactly where the mile markers would be, but with an unknown mileage-tracking-device, I figured I should know more about the route. I warmed-up for just over a mile, and then I started the "race" from mile 1 of my normal route, knowing that I'd be ending just after mile 4 on that route:

My route downloaded post-run.

My Garmin is set to take half mile splits, but my wife's Apple Watch just automatically takes 1 mile splits (without beeping or telling you that it's doing it, so I had to tap the screen now-and-then to check in to see how I was doing). I checked a few times during the race, but I didn't have as much info during the race as I usually do.

Glancing at my wife's watch, my first half mile (which was also the biggest downhill) was nice and fast: around 2:45. I knew I wouldn't hit that split again for a while, if at all. Mile 1 clocked in at 5:44.

Mile 2 (historically) is my hardest mile in a 5K - I'm hurting, I CAN go faster, but I'm worried about not having enough "left in the tank" to finish strong. I glanced at the first half mile split of mile 2 (and it was around 3:00), but I never really got a true mile 2 split. After finishing, I learned that mile 2 was (not surprisingly) slower in 5:54.

I knew roughly where on the trail I'd be finishing, and I just gutted it out to that point. I glanced and got a split at mile 2.5, and I don't rememeber it exactly (my mind really slows down during efforts like this), but I remember it being fast: decently sub-6 pace. I was hoping I'd hit mile 3 under 17:30 so that I'd have a chance at being around 18:00 for the 5K. I never looked for my mile 3 split because I was hurting and just wanted to get to the finish. Mile 3 ended up being nice and fast at 5:39.

In the end, I hoped to be sub-18, and I was happy to see 17:49 when I stopped my wife's watch!

In my training log. (3.11 would have added 2-3 seconds at pace, so I'd still be sub-18.)


My heartrate went (and stayed) up when I crossed Franklin. But I have a
hard time believing it was around 207 bpm for the last 1.7 miles...

After my wife and I looked all over the house for my Garmin pre-run, I found it shortly after getting home from my workout. Damn. Well, at least I have it now! I breathed a sign of relief, but felt dumb for not having my good ole Garmin for this effort. Oh well.

I'm curious how the 5K in Hopkins went! I'll pass along any info if I see any.