May 18, 2009

Race Report: Piermont 5K

On the same weekend as friends of mine were in both the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Mile Run in Virginia, as well as the Florida Keys 100 Mile Run, I had a race of my own to look forward to: The Dennis P. McHugh 5K in Piermont, NY. Yeah, I know, life is tough, but someone's gotta make these sacrifices. (:

I intended to run this as hard as possible to conduct a fitness test on myself and that's what I did. The test results were a tad disappointing, but not surprising. Two months ago I could have run this course at least two minutes faster. Since I didn't run a 5K two months ago, however, I technically have a bittersweet PR of 29:11 net (official time was 29:37). (previous PR 29:47)

One interesting aspect of this race is I believe I came in higher in the field than any race I've ever done - my position of 291st place out of 531 corresponds to the 55% percentile - which is getting pretty close to the top half. *that* has me quite excited.

The first mile of the course is gently rolling out-and-back on the streets of piermont before turning right onto the completely flat mile-long pier from which the city gets its name. I was cruising along at about a 9:00 average pace feeling a bit winded from the hills and looking forward to the flat stretch. My mind was wondering if I could sustain the pace through the race.

By the time I completed mile 2 I was slowing down noticeably, and really had to concentrate to keep my pace below 10 minutes per mile. Going back down the pier I could see almost everyone else in the race and, being competitive by nature, it's always encouraging to me to see all the thin athletic-looking people minutes back of me after a mere 2.5 miles. I was, however, deteriorating and spending most of my time thinking about the finish line.

By the time mile 3 was wrapped up I was in a world of hurt and a finishing kick seemed impossible. It was all I could do to maintain the pace I was at. When I finally did cross the finish line (under 30 minutes, thankfully), I was dizzy and needed something to lean on. Average pace (based on official time) was 9:30, which for a 300lb man, isn't too shabby, honestly.

So, despite my disappointment in my time, I can honestly say that I left everything I had out on that course and I'm proud of that. I attribute my time to inconsistent training and weight gain since the Caumsett 50K, which is something I need to reverse before Dam Wakely Damn on July 18.

Official Results

motionbased log

1 comment:

  1. Good race! Some times I think I'd rather run a relaxed 50K than go out and try to race a 5K. That just hurts. Congrats on moving up in the standings. I watch that stuff too. :)

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