Saturday, May 27, 2006

Astros 5K - 23:47

Everybody loses! Nobody picked 23:00 - 23:59, so I guess I don't have to call in 'sick' for anybody. Which is good, because I'm not sure I'd be any good at that anyway. Also, the voting doesn't record who voted for what, so I'd have no idea who won anyway. It's not a perfect system.

It was pretty warm out there, and I was ready to die at the end. My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking for about 20 minutes after the race. I wish this race went through downtown more, the out and back is not as pleasant and there's a big underpass which I was not happy about. One good thing about this race is, that it's very large and attracts a lot of walkers and general baseball fans that don't run very much, so a guy like me can finish in the top 20%. In a typical race, I'm happy to break 50%.

I was telling people beforehand that I wanted to break 25 minutes, but really, I wanted to break 24 minutes. 25 was my public goal ;). I know this is my best 5K, which is mostly true because I only run 1 or 2 of them each year. I think my best race still has to be the Park to Park 5 miler last year, because I ran about this same pace for 5 miles total. But a lot has happened since that race, like when I got injured, and then I got fat, and then I quit running, and then I started running again, and then I quit running once again, and then I started running everyday, and now here I am. I had slumped big-time in my focus and fitness, but I think I'm in about as good a shape now as I was for that 5 miler, which is not bad for only 97 days worth of focused training since the last time I quit. I feel like I'm entering uncharted territory again.

Here are the splits:
First mile - 7:49
Second mile - 7:34
Last 1.1 miles - 8:24

My watch says 23:47, but the results on ITR say, 23:41. I'm starting to think something's wrong with the system, because nobody shows a chip differential less than 6 seconds, so I think the system might have lost six seconds for everybody.

The fresh salty popcorn I was looking forward to after this race was disappointing. Instead they had some old popcorn that was left over from the last home game, or maybe it was just the stuff they collected from under the seats.

So that's all the racing I'll be doing for a while, probably until the Bloggers v. Seven Hills grudge race in August. It seems all my miles are paying off, so I'm looking forward to more training, training, training, without the disruption that comes with tapering, racing, and recovering.

That's all for now,
12 miles tomorrow.
Keith.

10 comments:

Sarah said...

A big CONGRATS on the PR Keith! I almost didn't believe you when you said under 24! ;)

The six second thing sounds like a good guess -- the results they posted were 6 seconds faster for me and Jose than my watch said.

Anonymous said...

Dang Keith. That's awesome! Have I been doing such a lousy job of watching your pace that I never realized you run sub-8 minute miles?

The only times my watch has said my time was slower than the chip time was when I deliberately hit it after a few yards so I could pose for a good finishing picture!

I think secretly that's what you did - you were busy mugging for the camera and hit your watch late. It's okay. Really.

BTW, I'm disappointed that you complained about the popcorn. My 2 cherubs left that there especially for you last weekend when we were watching the Rangers embarrass our team. Did they also give you our leftover cotton candy? And hot dog buns? We left those there for you too.

We'll just call it your birthday present.

Junie B said...

thats what it was! my Garmin showed exactly 6 seconds off my chip time as recorded by the offical mats. i was happy to see (according to them) that i was 6 seconds faster than what i thought. :)

good seeing you too and i completely forgot to rib you about mcpheever losing :O) i hope you decide to do the 10K in austin with us!

and congrats on your pr and i corrected my statement on my blog...sorry bout that i was a big foggy on the details!

and yeah the popcorn i just had at the movies WAS WAY better than what they had at the end of the race :O)

Jill said...

Great job!! Sorry the popcorn wasn't any good. Barbara should have put the left overs in a ziplock bag. Probably would have stayed fresher longer!

Crosstrain said...

Man you are getting real fast. Great race in tough conditions. Your training plan is working supurb.

equarles said...

congrats on the PR. that's great running in that heat.

WalkSports.com said...

Wow Keith!

That's why I want to get my miles up. I KNOW it will pay off with similar results. Maybe not 23 minutes, but anything uner 28 would be wonderful for this Clydesdale!

As you would say, Rock on Keith!

Anonymous said...

One HOT PR dude! Most excellent!

Woodlands Runner said...

You rock. Need I say more?

Tiggs said...

Rock the FREAK ONNNNNNNN!!!!!!! wow, I am mucho impressed! way to go!