Thursday, August 11, 2011

Race Report: Flying Pig 5k

Wednesday night I ran a 5k!


It was at 7pm.  I'm not used to planning out my eating before a night "race."

I wanted to put forth respectable effort at the 5k, however, I also wanted to enjoy the rare opportunity for an afternoon at my friend's pool.

I had my usual coffee in the morning and some wheat cinnamon raisin toast with almond butter.  An early "lunch" involved some pita chips and hummus, Greek yogurt and honeydew melon.  (sounds good, right?)

Then I went to my friend's pool where over the course of 3.5 hours I got some slight sunburn on mostly the right side of my body, enjoyed a cold beer in the pool, had some soft pretzel sticks dipped in cheese sauce that another friend brought from the Philly Soft Pretzel factory, and a slice of ice cream cake.  Real nice.  I also made sure to drink 20-some ounces of water that I brought (I had good intentions of staying hydrated!)

I got home an hour before the 5k to choke down down a banana (no cramping) and more water.  I showed up at the park 20 minutes before the race to pick up my number and t-shirt (Only ~160 runners! Small races are so nice!)


The race started right on time... I forgot to start my watch because I was talking at the beginning...I think I started it about :30 late.  It was in the low 80s and not so humid (maybe only 50% humidity?).

At mile marker 1 the guy yelling out times yelled out 8-something but I didn't believe him, I don't think I was that fast. Since I screwed up mile 1, I hit the lap button when I hit that mile marker so at least my watch could have meaningful data from that point on.

Remaining paces:
Mile 2- 9:14
Mile 3- 9:08
.11 nugget- ( :56) 8:22
Overall Time: 28:07
According to the results page, I finished 92/157.

Thanks to some basic math, that means my first mile was below 9:00 after all?  Crazy.

Thumbs up for a new best time.


This is a new PR, but it is important to note: this is only my second real 5k.
My first race/first 5k was July 2009- pre-blogging days- and I ran it in 30:39 (9:51 pace).

I did do a "virtual 5k" on my own back in early June in 29:15.   Yay for improvement!


The race was run entirely in this park: through fields/dirt paths.  There was a cool part where we were running under really low trees that branched out over the path, from both sides, and kind of made a tunnel.  It was nice to run a race not on roads.  There was a water stop soon after the 2nd mile marker where I did grab a quick swig.  The water was nice and cold and gave me a little boost for the last mile.

My sub-$20 entrance fee got me a t-shirt, the motivation to run 3.1 miles faster than I would have on my own, and proceeds benefited Athletes Helping Athletes and a local school's track & cross country program.  Win- Win- Win!

My fantastic husband had a slice of Brooklyn pizza & salad waiting for me when I returned home.

no time for well-centered photos. hungry.

The pictures do not do it justice. This Brooklyn pie is amazing. 
And way too close to our apartment.

The End.

11 comments:

  1. Nice job on your 5k-especially since it was at night and following an afternoon in the pool!!
    :)

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  2. It sure is the right time of year to have an evening race. Congrats on improving your time.
    With all the training I've done for the Half Marthon I really want to do a 5k in the next few months to see by how much I've improved.

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  3. Vanessa- thanks!

    trailrunningchick- thank you! It was a semi-last minute decision, I only signed up 4 days before. You are doing the FIRST plan, right? I wish I knew I'd be doing a 5k when I had the Run Less, Run Faster book out from the library (I went back to the library to look up the pace charts yesterday).

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  4. I've never done an evening race, but it sounds fun! I also haven't done a 5K since December. I need to find another!

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  5. Great job!! Where did you get the pizza!! YUM!

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  6. Nice job! Gotta love a PR on a Wednesday night! 5Ks are tough!!!

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  7. Christine & MissFancyPants- thanks!

    Kara- This was my first evening race, it started at 7pm. There was a midnight 8.4 mile race in Philly back in July that I really wanted to do (glow in the dark accessories/clothes required), but we had plans to be away that weekend.

    Runthelongroad- thank you! 5ks are tough... maybe that's why I've avoided them for over 2 yrs :) Is it weird to say a half is almost easier because it's a more comfortable pace??

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  8. Great job, achieving a new PR is always exciting!! :)

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  9. Way to go on the 5K PR! That pizza sounds well earned and looks AMAZING!

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  10. RunItMyWay & runningonwords- thanks! I guess this is technically a "margherita" style pizza, but my pizza place refers to it as Brooklyn.

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