Goal: 25ish?
Result: 25:09
Motivation: My show chorus (Song of Atlanta Show Chorus) has been preparing for our international contest. As part of that effort, we've been focusing on personal stamina/endurance. Since it's more fun to get out with friends than go out alone, we picked a fun-sounding, female-empowering race to do together, the inaugural Atlanta Wonder Woman 5K/10K.
A 5K didn't really fit into my spring training plans, but I figured I could do the race in place of one of my tempo workouts for my mile training plan.
...and then COVID-19 came, turning the race virtual, and derailing my mile plans.
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| I didn't run with my mask, but it made a fun picture while I was waiting for my grocery pickup afterwards |
Training: I've just come off an eight-week strength training program (LIIFT4), that worked out really well. I dropped inches (and a little weight), and feel a ton better in my skin. During the program, I maintained ~30mi per week, with a long run of 10 each Saturday, but no speedwork, progression runs, etc. Just mileage.
Pre-Race: Yesterday, I did another "easy 10" with my family, then spent the day outside, working on a carpentry project, and enjoying some drinks and pizza. This morning, I slept in until 6:30am and then had to scramble a bit when I realized we had a 7am-8am grocery pick-up window, and I needed to get out ASAP if I was going to run before the heat and still make it to Kroger. Needless to say, I didn't set myself up for a goal race.
I've done one "virtual race" before, and it wasn't really well-executed. It was more of a "hey, let's kind of push the pace" day than a race. Today, I decided I'd put on my "race bib", and actually execute something more similar to what I'd do if this were a real race day.
Race: I parked at the greenway entrance closest to Kroger, did a half mile warm-up jog, and then stopped for a moment to stretch, update my watch (hoping the GPS actually worked today), and set some intentions (Enjoy being able to push yourself) for the run.
...and then I took off.
The first mile felt gooooooood. I haven't pushed hard in forever, and it was really empowering to feel my body settle into that faster gear. I felt proud to be running along the greenway, arms pumping, with my race bib on my chest (silly how something like that can motivate you).
For the rest of the "race", I just focused on my breathing, enjoying the push. I had no idea how fast I was going. Since my GPS watch had had some issues with distance recently, I'd decided to run about 3.5mi total, and manually lap it at each major path intersection, so I could go back and verify distance later. Even if my watch said something funky, I'd have the duration and a measurable distance. This meant that I didn't have my normal mile splits to rely on, though. It ended up working in my favor, I think, because all I could do was run.
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| kind of a weird pace graph? it almost looks like I knew where the 5K mark was and slacked a bit until my final kick |
Reflections:
I finished around 25:09, which it more of a "tempo pace" for me than a "race pace". Still, considering how little I actually prepared for this race (and how little I've been pushing the pace for the past 8+ weeks), I'm pretty pleased.
Bonus: I made it to Kroger with 2min to spare on my grocery pick-up window ;)
I really liked this whole "virtual race" thing, and think I'll try to do another 5K (or, gulp, maybe even that mile I've been pining away for) sometime this summer. Maybe I'll even train for the next one... lol
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