My strategy for this one was “take it easy”. I entered it as a way of keeping some connection with the HM (held on the same day) as much as anything else. Thinking about it, it was probably my first 5k race. Preparation amounted to run/walking a few parkruns and I’d just taken the group through week 3 of C25K.
The 5k used the same start area as the HM and, with about 60 of us (compared to around 300 for the HM) there was plenty of room! I spent my time doing some brisk walking at the back of the area as a way of warming up hence I crossed the start line just ahead of the tail walkers. In practice, gun time is irrelevant for me and chip time doesn’t start until I cross the line so being at the back didn’t really matter.
I set off at what I estimated to be a reasonable pace, passing a few runners on the way. The first 700m is downhill and I was able to keep my HR below 120. On the first, short climb, it went up to 125 then dropped back. Since I’m close to the end of my 6 month recovery period, I wasn’t too worried about HR. Besides, I was advised at the start of my recovery that “conversational pace” is more important than HR. Since there were a few runners in view ahead of me, I focussed on gradually overhauling them and checking my conversational pace as I went past.
The start and end of the 5k follow the HM course with a bit in the middle to link the two together. It really does feel like a mini version of the HM and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s interested in the HM but wants to know what it’s like first.
Had a nice chat with someone who’s more used to running longer distances on-road and was using this as to give trail running a go. I think she found some of the uphill sections hard going. She eventually crossed the finish line just in front of me.
I finished just inside 32 minutes. That was my fastest run in almost 6 months! Photo shows my usual, studious, approach to races.
Let’s just pop in