LMJS 4th Sunday Race 5K: 2018 Total Time Complete!

The Numbers

Race Day: Sunday, December 23, 2020
Bib #288.
Gun-to-Chip Time: 18:45 (6:02 min/mile) — new adult PR!
Overall: 2/73 (right behind John van Hoff).

Total Time

Apr 2018 15K: 61:58 (6:39 min/mile)
Nov 2018 10K: 39:59 (6:26 min/mile)
Dec 2018 5K: 18:45 (6:02 min/mile)
Hmm… I probably should’ve tried harder at the 10 and 15K’s earlier this year.

Notes

Overall, this felt pretty good. I didn’t feel like I suffered too much through out the run, and before I knew it, it was all over. That’s the good thing about 5K’s — they’re kinda short!

Unfortunately, I was aiming for a little better today, specifically something sub-18:30 (5:57 pace). And actually, I thought I was on track for 5:56 for much of the race… until I realized that the mile markers were slightly ahead of what my watch was telling me. In the end, assuming that my watch is correct, the slightly extra distance I covered added up. Oh well. “B” goal today was to beat my 6:05 pace at the 4.5 mile last Sunday, and you know what? I ran twice as many miles this week coming into this race too. So I’m satisfied.

More Notes

There were a better turnout today (112!) than expected. That said, all the fast guys somehow decided to run the 10K today. That left just me and John van Hoff competing for a sub-19 time at the 5K; from the get-go I was chasing his neon green shirt, and he was almost always in sight (I only lost sight around tight corners). But he extended his lead to 33 seconds over the last mile.
I’m not a huge fan of the staggered start lines: currently, the 5K starts behind the 10K, which starts behind the 15K. So there was some slight congestion at the start. But only a little bit.
I established position pretty quickly and it was pretty obvious after about 20 seconds who I was going to chase and who was chasing me. So I was surprised to hear someone approach me from behind after about 3 minutes (a little over half a mile). Turns out it was Joseph. And for a while, we ran together; he actually passed me at one point! Then I separated out ahead after another half mile or so. He was really breathing hard. There wasn’t really anyone else close behind us (as far as I could hear).
I’ve realized that I really like racing the same route every so often. It’s easy now to remember (almost) exactly how far everything is. I really felt like this relieved a lot of mental burden. There’s a lot of value in knowing a course well, I think.
Oh, out of coincidence, I was supposed to grab a ride from Ruth this morning, but she couldn’t make it to my place in time. So I called an Uber Pool. As it turned out, the rider already in the car was also going to the race — and also to volunteer! Plus also another avid Berkeley runner! How cool is that! Had pho with her, Ed, and Chris after the race. Great way to conclude the last 4SR race of 2018.