The results are in...
5 miles
44:58
9:00/mile pace
I'm happy to report the first race of the 2011 season was awesome. The St. Malachi 5 Miler really gave me the chance to see how much stronger I'm getting, and I attribute that (and am uber grateful) to having Brandon to train with. He pushes me at times when, if I were training alone, I would have slowed down or given up. So, Brandon...thank you!
I thought race day was going to be shoddy Cleveland weather again (as I stayed home from work the day before, because of the massive amounts of wet snow falling from the sky) but it turned out to be an incredible day! Sure, there was still snow on the ground and things were a little bit wet, but the sun was shining and that counts for about 5-gazillion happy points here in CLE.
Apparently I missed out on the big hill at the end that was part of the course last year, but I was kind of impressed with the "hills" they threw in this year (one hill is a bridge). It was a fun course though, out and back that went around Browns stadium and the Rock Hall. This is what the elevation looked like:
(according to my Garmin)
The hills toward the end were definitely not to be taken lightly, but in my opinion, we killed it. We did start out too fast though, and I should have known better in that respect. I have a watch that tells me my pace and I generally know what I'm capable of, and a sub-8:30 mile is not something I can hold for 5 miles. So we had to stop to walk a couple of times, but we still ran it in 9:00/miles!!
I was surprised that there was only one water station at the turn-around though. Brandon said that he definitely needed more water than that. So, from now on, we are definitely bringing our own water bottle to races. Even if it's just my 10-ounce hand water bottle, it will be beneficial if I have something to drink between water stations, should I need it.
Overall, great race! Well staffed, fun long-sleeve race shirt, lots of post-race food and water...although, I didn't go to McCarthy's for the post-race party (since we gave up booze for Lent) but I'm sure that was a good time too! It's a race I'll definitely participate in again and it was a really great halfway-through-training-checkpoint to re-motivate me after a week of slacking off (our mileage totalled 10 miles last week with a few yoga practi sprinkled in). I'm definitely ready for the week to come:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 5 miles easy
Wednesday: rest/cross-train
Thursday: Speedwork - 6 miles with 3x1600 and 800 jogs
Friday: rest/cross-train
Saturday: 12 miles
Sunday: rest/cross-train
As always, lots of Peace, Love & Bagels,
