Fools 5k Race Report

Roughly eight weeks ago, I started mapping out my tune-up races for the Boston Marathon.  I did not have much luck finding the prescribed race distances and was left to pick either a 20k or a 5k for my final tune-up.  I have learned enough to know that the 20k would have taken nearly two weeks to fully recover from, which would have bumped right up to the Boston Marathon start, so I chose a 5k. ........

I have had a goal of running a 5k under 16:00 for eleven years and have been worried that time will soon run out.  Honestly, until last year, I hadn’t even broke 16:30, but I ended the year with a 16:06, 16:08, and 16:13 so I still feel it is possible.  Yet, I turn 32 years old this year.  With my goal in mind of running fast, I had to find a quality race.  So, rather than driving 15 miles for a first-year 5k that I surely would have won, I chose to drive 90 miles to Cedar Falls for the Fools 5k.

As seen in the photo above, the race is advertised as a flat, USATF certified course with a history of fast racers and great post-race amenities.  The director put a cap of 1000 entrants on the race, which was met nearly 6 weeks ahead of time, which is a testament to how well respected the event is.  With late VIP entries (extra $50 donation) added, the race got 1095 registrants.  The course was indeed pancake flat and the racers turned out too.  Of the top 10 finishers, eight of them were sponsored runners.  The weather was 45-degrees with a decent breeze, but not quite windy.  It was a perfect storm for a fast day.  In fact, both the men’s and women’s course records were broken.

Start of the race. I felt honored to have received an "elite" number (#3).

My plan for the race was to run the first mile in 5:00.  Then run under 5:20 and 5:15 for miles 2 & 3, which would hopefully leave me with about 30 seconds for the final 0.1 miles (5:00 pace).  I nailed my race plan perfectly.  I ran the first mile in 4:57, the second in 5:14, and the third in 5:16.  That actually gave me a 33-second cushion for the final sprint.  I ran that sprint at 4:40/mi pace, which is 28 seconds for a tenth of a mile and finish time of 15:55.  However, the size of the field made running tangents impossible on the double out-and-back course.  We had to share the road, which often meant running twenty feet outside of the certified tangent.  This would be the equivalent of running a track race in lane 5 or 6.  Ultimately, my watch read 3.18 miles in 5:07/mi pace (which is a converted 15:54-15:55 5k).  My official finish time was 16:17.  For the record, I am 99% satisfied and 0% bothered by the additional distance.  I am now completely confident I can break 16 minutes this year and have not even started doing speed workouts yet.

Course map shows gaps in my route where I could not run tangents.

Split times from my running watch showing a pretty consistent race.

I debated whether or not going out aggressively would be the right move, but I also felt it was necessary to stay with the pack of racers who I had hoped would push me to run faster.  Looking at my half-mile splits above, I feel that I made the right choice.  I was happy to have not faded since each half-mile split was quite consistent.  The 2:21 was a fast shocker to open the race, yet just one minute into the race, I was sitting in seventh place.  I passed one runner around 1.25 miles and started creeping up on fifth place, but could get no closer than about 7 seconds.  As I ran, I was happy with the splits on my watch and I knew I was under the pace to run my first ever sub-16 5k.  I may have pushed a little harder to catch fifth place if I were without my pace knowledge.  I ended up placing sixth overall, but beat three runners who have sponsors, so that is exciting.

Rounding the final corner to finish.

 

I am really excited for Boston, but even more excited to finally knockout my eleven year goal.

Here is my training for the past week.

Sunday was my last true long run of my training.  I decided I would try to simulate the Boston Marathon course as best I could in regards to hills.  I managed to pick up about 550 feet of elevation gain, which is pretty close.  The key for me, though, was running the long hill on Riverside Road, which is located NE of Ames.  I ran there at 18 miles into my workout.  Its hill has a continuous ascent for more than a mile.  At its steepest part, it rose 72 feet in just 0.35 miles, which makes it slightly more challenging than Heartbreak Hill.  I sped up through that hill and ran 6:20 pace for the last 4 miles.  It definitely served as a confidence booster.  Total: 22 miles – 2:23:36 (6:32 pace)

Next was a nice recovery run that I started by running through the prairie behind AHS and went out Ontario.  It was nothing special, just easy miles and some hills.  Total: 6 miles – 45:24 (7:34 pace)

The following day was my track workout of the week.  Since there was a tune-up race at the end of the week, this workout was designed to be easy.  I did a 3-mile warm-up, then ran 5 x 600m repeats.  The goal was 1:55 each and I ran 1:54, 1:53, 1:50, 1:53, and 1:51 while holding back.  I closed out with another 3 miles for the cool down.  It was horribly windy outside for the warm-up and cool down.  The winds were easily 25 mph with gusts pushing 40 mph.  I did the repeats on the indoor track though.  Total: 9 miles – 1:01:51 (6:52 pace)

The next run was the semi-long run for the week.  I got a little dehydrated on this run unfortunately.  I ran the Gilbert gravel and then some loops at Ada Hayden on the hilly path.  The gravel was designed to give my feet a break from the pavement.  Total: 14 miles – 1:33:54 (6:42 pace)

The rest of the week was recovery for the Saturday race.  So, Thursday was an easy 7-miler with 6 strides thrown in.  I mostly ran this on flat terrain.  Overall, I felt pretty tired and sluggish from the dehydration the day before and the back-to-back harder days.  There was also a HS track meet thrown in there, which amounted to a late night.  Total: 7 miles – 53:01 (7:34 pace).

Friday was an easy 6-miler, but I ran it at Moore Park, which brought in some hills on the three loops.  It went well.  It was followed by another long night at a track meet.  Total: 6 miles – 46:09 (7:42 pace)

For Saturday morning, at the race, I ran 9.5 miles including my run outs and warm-up drills.  Total timed: 9.2 miles in 59:38 (6:29 pace).  I came back that afternoon and did a hill repeat workout with Courtney.  We ran 8 x 300m hills at Moore Park, with 600m recovery jogs around the loop.  The hills were a 5% grade (rose 50 feet in 0.19 miles). The first repeat was pretty tough, but I loosened up quite a bit to run sub-5:00 pace on most of the later ones.  My knees are feeling it still three days later though.  Total: 8 miles – 1:03:21 (7:55 pace)

For the week (Sun-Sat), I hit 81.5 miles in 9:26:54 or 6:59/mile.