Joining the Races

A few months ago at the office a coworker mentioned they had been convinced to sign up for a local 5k race at the nearby winery. I started thinking - how did I go from running ~4:40 miles and competing in school state races to just sitting in front of a computer all day with a few runs a week to stay roughly in shape?

I guess going from school to work is the easy answer alongside a back surgery, so I signed up for the run alongside the girlfriend and the weekend of the race arrived. I did not expect to wake up in the 40s in Florida in March, but it was a chilly morning to be in running shorts.

As we walked into the winery to get our bibs and check in - the party was already alive with folks warming up, music and a voice pumping folks up for the 8:30am wave. There would also be a 10am and 11am wave, but we picked the earliest time anticipating some Florida heat in the later waves.

As we lined up they asked for folks with a 5 minute, 6 minute, 7 minute, etc mile time to organize themselves. It was funny to see the little kids standing in the 5 minute group because when the horn went out - they tore out in a sprint and started walking before the 300 meter mark.

With my average mile in training sitting at roughly 8 minutes a mile I didn't know what to expect coming back to an official race. I wasn't in high school anymore and all the kids that looked like they were in high school probably were going to do a 5/6 minute pace.

As the race started I tried to go really quick in the beginning to get away from the masses and at pushing a 6:40/mile pace in the beginning I was going a bit too fast for my fitness level. Slowing down was natural because the course was very confusing with twists and turns while changing from concrete, gravel to mud.

The official course provided that I roughly studied was above, but that is not really at all what we ran. My Garmin watch recorded the following route.

As you can see compared to the official route we looped around buildings, pallets and went out onto this extension for a turnaround. You had to do 2 laps of this and boy the 2nd lap was terrible with congestion. On the little turnaround point there had to be a hundred people crowded in there forcing my pace to 9:30/mile to get through that mess.

I can't be mad though as it was called out directly in the race description.

This is not the optimal course for a PR, but it is a great option if you're looking for the most fun you've had at a 5k!  Runners and Walkers are welcomed to participate!

I just wish the walkers would acknowledge some folks are running and make room for the runners instead of blocking the trail. I didn't really want to brush shoulders as I tried to squeeze through, but I had no choice with rows of berries on either side.

I completed though and felt like I was in top ten in my wave, but had to await the other waves for a full picture of my final place. Of course the later waves had the sub 6 minute competitors who knocked my placing down quite a way.

So when I checked later in the day and saw a 47th place it didn't sound great, but for my first race since school - I was happy with it. My Garmin recorded 25:54 (8:21/mile) so it seems like the official timing was spot on.

Talking with some folks & coworker after the race - I was a new face as most of the folks all ran for a group/club and were catching up. We congratulated each other and they were talking about the next races coming up (Skyway 10k & TPA 5k) which seemed very cool places to run.

Both races were back to back in April (6th & 12th) and of course were full already. They mentioned you needed to have some recorded timed races in your profile to qualify for these and encouraged me to run a few more local 5k's and attempt to do the unique races next year.

So I learned about the ecosystem of Garmin Connect & RunSignup and found a race in my town (Temple Terrace) in the upcoming week! So I pinged the girlfriend and we signed up for the 44th Annual Driscoll's Strawberry Classic. I signed up for the 5k & 1 mile which were only 30 minutes apart, so I was going to finish the 5k and then join the girlfriend for a 1 mile cool down.

This time the course map and officially ran route lined up 100%.

This time running a 5k in 68 degree weather felt a lot different than running in 48 degree weather. Paired with recovering from a cold my breathing wasn't normal so maybe both of those excuses led to my mental brick wall I hit in the final half mile. My perfect pace of 8:00/mile dropped into 9 territory.

However, I pushed hard many times throughout that race into the 6/7 minute pace so to finish with an actual 8:00/min average I was happy - I hit my goal. Still a bit rusty and need to get back to a steady fast pace for the entire race. Maybe as I drop some weight and get into a more standard training routine I'll improve.

When the official times went up I found myself and saw some solid improvement from my last 5k (roughly 50s faster), but this crowd was overall a bit better.

I wonder where all the men aged 30 to 34 are, because to compete only against 17 others in my age group seems weird. Too bad I didn't beat the 3rd place guy as I would have gotten a medal in my age group.

So now in one month I've ran more 5k's races than I've done in the past decade and I'm happy with it. Its too easy once you have different work priorities and life priorities to ignore racing, but now I'm looking to find a race every month or so to support a great cause and work to improve my timing.