You know how I said that 10Ks are my favorite races?

Well 5Ks are my least favorite races.

Running a 5K fast is hard and painful. I can warm up and get into a good groove in a 10K… no luck in the 5K.

Pre race was easy and simple — the race was just a few blocks away. I drank some coffee, ate some oatmeal, and took a selfie. The most difficult part of the whole thing was walking out the door without Oakley. He howled and cried.

#533

The Miles for Meals 5K was a small race, only 134 participants. ALL proceeds went to the Meals on Wheels program for seniors in Savannah which is really cool that the sponsors were able to make that happen.

The starting line

This race wasn’t a good one for a PR attempt. It was hot and humid. I’ve been dealing with plantar fasciitis. The race was delayed. There was a last minute route change.

We didn’t get road clearance, and had to circle around Daffin Park twice. Mentally that was tough. I run that park multiple times a week so it was hard to get out of my head. I knew exactly what was coming up, how far we had left, and where I get tired and take walk breaks.

I went out too fast. My legs were great but my lungs hurt the entire time. I walked twice. Due to the course change and delay, I didn’t know my pace (no mile markers and I started my app too early).

I ran across the finish at 27:35.4 (no time chips).

I won second place in my age group and missed my PR by 2 seconds. I came in 34th overall.

Pace was 8:52 (last month I ran a 10K at 8:42 pace). Next time I’ll start slower and try to get accurate pace information. I’ll also go some place further from home. I did do a warm-up jog and some stride outs which I think were really helpful (until we got delayed).

So lessons learned, but I can’t be too unhappy with a sub-30 run!