I ran the Mount Harmon Earth Day 5k yesterday and in an attempt to be succinct I thought I would tell you about it in list form.
Oh, and here is a picture. You know, for proof.
- This is the 1st 5k I have ever run on grass. It was hard.
- I was the 17th overall finisher out of 114 peeps. I was the 4th female (this put me on the leaderboard) and 2nd in my AG.
- My time was 27:14. I know that time seems horrible (for me) but like I said the race was hard. Really hard.
- I haven’t run a 5k in that slow of a time (for me) since I had to take a year hiatus from running because of my jaw issues.
- There were a lot of hills. I think there were also a lot of switchbacks. I think that is what they are called. In any case, the course went up and down- a lot.
- It was raining and I didn’t hate it. In fact, it really didn’t bother me at all. Can’t blame my time on that.
- Bill was 3rd overall!!! His time was in the 23s. This is what I used for frame of reference to feel better about my time. His is usually much faster.
- I am determined to return next year and have a better time.
- This race made me question wearing a garmin. At 1.60 miles I looked at my watch and knew my time would be not anywhere near where I wanted. I felt deflated and might have pushed harder not having this information.
In summary, this 5k was a hard one. The hardest 5k I have ever run happens to also be my 1st 5k. It was at Brandywine State Creek Park and had two very large hills. Mount Harmon is a very close 2nd.
A big part of starting this blog is to help me get some perspective on running and life in general, to see where I can improve. This requires me to be honest with myself.
So, what has been going on with my running?
Well, I haven’t really been doing any speedwork and it shows. In addition, my regular treadmill pace has fallen way off. Not sure how I let this happen but it did. Turns out I kinda like to not feel like I am dying when I run.
I have recently started running outside more and I plan to continue to do so. I am running outside at a conservative pace to allow my body to become accustomed to using different muscles and a harder surface, or so I am telling myself.
I also plan to start my “season” of 5ks. I have a goal time I want to at least get close to, if not beat. I am hoping simply running a lot of 5ks will help me get faster.
Bill-please comment below and speak to how hard this 5k was so I feel better about myself. Thanks 😉
Yes, hardest 5K I can remember in a long time and the weather was perfect .. low 60s overcast and misty. I too have never run on grass for an entire race which was tough. Not sure how to compare it relative to concrete but I feel like there is so much more drag in running thru the grass which was probably about 3 inches in height? It def wasn’t as short a golf fairway. I joked with Becky that this was the Wimbledon of 5ks 🙂 Outside of the the grass, there were a lot of short hills and hard angles. Certainly an interesting race and I’m in for next year too! We had a great day together as usual and got to view the beautiful manor house at Mt .Harmon!
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