This morning I ran the "By George" 5K at Hains Point in Washington DC. I am running a marathon in two weeks and my main goal with this short cycle was to build on my endurance base from my last cycle with speed. I've been doing more workouts at 5K pace or faster, like 200m repeats, 1:00 hard/1:00 easy, and short treadmill intervals.
So instead of doing my typical long run with marathon pace miles, I opted for a 5K to see how my speed was progressing.
Nine days before my December marathon, I ran a Turkey Trot at a pace of 6:33 which was slower than I was expecting. My legs got really tired towards the end, making it apparent that my focus on tempo runs as opposed to speed intervals resulted in legs that didn't have pep at top speed. My splits were 6:34, 6:40, 6:30 and 5:50 for the final kick.
Today's 5K would test if my renewed focus on short speed intervals made any difference. Why does this matter for a marathon? Because I also felt that during my marathon my legs were sleepy. Sure, I set a PR and I was thrilled with my time. But I knew where I needed to improve to break that 3:15 barrier.
Before the Race
I panicked a little bit when my GPS told me it would be a 40 minute drive to the race instead of my planned 30 minutes. I would get there with only 30 minutes to get my bib, pin it on, and warm up. But thankfully the drive ended up being closer to 30 minutes because the GPS had us going to a different part of Hains point. Also - since the bathrooms were locked until 8:00, they told us the race would start at 8:10 instead.
After pining on my bib, I warmed up with one of my running club friends for just over two miles. (I joined a running club! More on that in a future post.) She found a porta potty about half a mile from the race so we didn't have to wait for the golf club bathrooms to open at 8:00.
It was a small but competitive field with only 25 women! The race felt larger because there was a 10k going at the same time.
It was 34 degrees, overcast and breezy. Hains point is almost always windy even if it's not windy elsewhere. I would say the winds were about 10-12 mph sustained. Not horrible, but it made the temps feel much cooler than 34 degrees, especially with no sun. I would give this a 9 out of 10 on my personal weather scale. Ideal temps, overcast skies, no precipitation, and with wind that probably robbed me of a few seconds but not much more than that.
I opted for short sleeves, arm warmers and my favorite CW-X capri tights. (If you want to try them, code ELIZABETHCLOR saves 10%.) I also wore convertible mittens with hand warmers inside of them. I would have worn my new running club gear, but I don't have a singlet yet (just a crop top) and it was too cold for that.
I wore the New Balance SuperComp Pacer 2, which is ideal for shorter races. It has a carbon fiber plate, but with a lower stack height than most carbon fiber plated shoes. I like to be closer to the ground when I run 5Ks. They have an 8mm drop so they don't irritate my achilles tendons. These shoes are responsive, comfortable and fast. Unfortunately, I am almost done with all the pairs of adidas Adios Pro 2 that I stocked up on. Versions 3 and 4 of that shoe don't work for me, so I am on the hunt for a go-to racing shoe. This New Balance Pacer is excellent for short distances, but I might want more cushion for a marathon.
After I finished my cool down, the man who calculates the regional runner rankings approached me and congratulated on my first place spot. The rankings just came out on Friday and for 2024, I was ranked first in the DC/MD/VA region for the 45-49 age group. I definitely had not expected to come in first! Rankings are based on all the local races you run throughout the year so my 40:31 10K and 1:29:50 half marathon were included. He said that usually as you get older the goal is to stay at the same pace because that means you are improving. He said he rarely sees people get faster as they age up. I told him I attributed it to being self-coached. Instead of following someone else's plan, I know my body best. I am a coach myself and I have been at this long enough that I know how to train for the various race distances. I started coaching myself in mid 2023 and that's really when the improvements started coming after plateauing for a few years.
Race Goal and Plan
I thought sub 20:00 was possible, but not likely. All I wanted to do was to improve on my 6:33-paced 5K from Thanksgiving. I planned to hover right around 20:10 but potentially faster if I could really gun it at the end.
Mile 1: 6:28
I went out very quickly but it didn't feel like it. I think I ran the first quarter mile at a pace of around 6:15.
I didn't want to hold myself back so I just went with it. But then the reality of the headwind set in and I slowed down. Because I knew I would have a tailwind during the last mile, I gave myself permission to run exactly at goal pace and not try to outdo myself. And my stellar pacing skills landed me exactly where I wanted - 6:28. As I said earlier, this was a competitive field so I had plenty of other runners around me, both male and female.
Mile 2: 6:35
I really wish I had pushed harder here. This mile features a curve and also the hairpin turnaround. Those two things steal momentum and I also found the wind to be bad here. It was a headwind during the first mile but it was a side wind here and I think mentally I got too annoyed by it. Plus, I kept promising myself that I would run a really fast last mile so I once again gave myself permission to not push myself but rather to "hang in there".
Mile 3: 6:20
It was go time and I was closing in on a woman ahead of me. At this point I knew it was going to hurt and I challenged myself to really lean into the pain and push as hard as possible. I was thinking I could possible squeak under 20 minutes if I really gave it my all. I did close the gap between myself and the woman ahead of me, but she still finished 9 seconds ahead of me. I am pretty sure I ran this mile as 6:30 for the first half and 6:10 for the second half. Strava data supports this! As soon as I knew I only had half a mile left I really turned on the gas.
Final 0.13: 5:48 pace
I watched the clock tick just over 20 but I wanted to be as close as possible to it. I ran HARD and I felt really strong. My legs had much more power than they did at the Turkey Trot. I was the 5th female finisher out of 25. A small field but competitive!
My official time was 20:08. I was very happy with this! Of course I immediately started questioning if I could have gone under 20 minutes with more effort during that second mile, but really it's just an arbitrary milestone and I met the goal I set out for myself which was a sub 6:30 pace. I wanted to be around 20:10 and that's what I did. Maybe I should have set a more aggressive goal and I would have done it! I'll try to find another 5K before it gets too warm.
After the Race
I cooled down with my teammate, who was the third female finisher. We ran about two miles and shared our race experiences. Then we met back up with Greg who informed me that I had won a cherry pie. I just realized I haven't mentioned Greg in this post yet, but he was there supporting me and taking photos. This race meant that he couldn't sleep in so I really appreciated him being there.
On our way back home we drove by our soon-to-be home. We aren't permitted to go inside but we like to drive by it to see how the exterior is coming along. We don't have a closing date but we anticipate a move in April, right before the Boston Marathon.
Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
This was my third fastest 5K ever and I have run over 150 of them! According to "official" results, it's my 4th fastest, but my 3rd fastest course measured shorter than this one by 0.05 miles. My average pace today was faster (6:26) than my average pace of that other one (6:28) so I am claiming this as my third fastest 5K ever.
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| Finish Line |
20:08 is so close to 19:xx and I am excited about the possibility of breaking 20 again. Once again, it is an arbitrary mile stone and Strava tells me I ran a time of 20:01 today. But it's just cooler when your finish time starts with 19.
Compared to the Turkey Trot mile by mile: 6:34 to 6:28, 6:40 to 6:35, 6:30 to 6:20. Excellent progress! The Turkey Trot is hillier but it's a fast hilly and I have run a 19:58 on it in the past.
Not to get too hung up on time, but that's what today was about for me. I've gotten to a place mentally where racing isn't always about time, but today I wanted to test where my speed interval training had landed me.
I won my age group, but I was the only person in my age group! So I was first place and last place.
If I had it to do over again I would have pushed harder during that second mile and not tried to save it all for the final mile. I think I could have saved about 5 seconds there. If it hadn't been windy I think I could have saved another 5 seconds too.
Perhaps my goal was too soft and I am not challenging myself enough with my goals. I am excellent at setting out to do exactly what I tell myself I will do. A 5K is the perfect venue for risk taking so there is no reason I shouldn't have set my sights on sub 20 from the outset.
The New Balance SC Pacer 2 shoes were perfect. I accidentally got a wide width pair without realizing it, so the fit was a little sloppy, but next time I will buy a regular width and I think I will feel more locked in.
As for my marathon in two weeks, I feel ready! This race was just the confidence booster I need to feel sharp and dialed in.
