Sunday Race Report - good, bad, ugly

Background

This morning Husband & I ran a local race to raise money for a preschool. I chose this race over the Veterans Day 11K because it offered a "5K" option that would have us "running on the dirt trails on the ditch banks in Corrales." The start time was later than the 11K, the venue was closer to home, and I *love* running on dirt trails.

Good

• Husband decided to run this with me and he ran my pace the whole way.
• The race venue didn't disappoint with regard to the dirt trails.
• 10am start time meant a leisurely race morning, no early wake up, no rushing.
• The beginning of the course (first half mile) was well marked.
• The t-shirt is a lime green color.
• I am happy with my performance.

Bad

• Husband tried to sign up at packet pickup. They wouldn't let him. He had to pay an extra $10 to register at the race site. Ugh.
• The post race refreshment offerings included lays potato chips. You read that right, potato chips.
• This was no 5K. More like a 6.2K.
• I started out too fast. Again.
• I spent most of the race trying to catch up to and overcome a 10yr old kid wearing a blue shirt. I failed. I'm not sure which is worse, making a 10yr old kid my target or failing to beat him to the finish line.

Ugly

• The turn point wasn't marked at all. No chalk mark, no sign, no volunteer. Nothing. I think the lead runners just finally decided to cross a random bridge and everyone else followed.
• The image on the race shirt looks like a man running in his underwear. Kind of disturbing given that a bunch of preschoolers are taking home a shirt adorned with this image.

Thoughts

I was really ticked off about the poor (more accurately non-existent) course marking for the turn point when I realized that this meant that the course would run long. I let that mess with my head for a little bit and slowed way down. Eventually I got over it and decided to run the best darn however-long-this-race-was-going-to-be run that I could.

Here are my splits by half mile. It shows that I ran the first half mile way too fast, then settled into my 5K pace. It also shows the slow down when I realized the race would be long and got frustrated, then a pick up when I got my head back into the race.

Garmin logged my 5K time at 29:47, that's a bit faster than my last 5K and this run was entirely on dirt. I'm pleased with that. I know it would have been even better if the race had actually been a 5K and I had kept my head in the race for the duration.

Garmin says that our final time for the full 3.85 mile course was 37:02, a pace of 9:38. That also makes me happy. If I had known that the course would be closer to four miles than three, I would have guessed a slower pace and finish time. Apparently I can run faster at longer distances than I think.

[updates:

1) Apparently they did time the race, earlier I thought not. My bad. I removed that statement from the Bad list.

2) They have me at 36:55 for 3.83 miles, which is still a 9:38 pace. FYI - they asked those of us with Garmins what we measured for distance and averaged the results. I applaud them for acknowledging the correct course length after the fact.

3) the kid I was trying to beat was 9 years old, not 10. Sigh]

In retrospect, am I glad I ran this today? Absolutely. Would I run this race again? No way.