Human Race Recap
One thing I enjoy doing when I start preparing for a race, whether it be preparing to sign up for a race or to keep the motivation up for the training, is to read the race experiences of other people. I scour the web for race recaps and blog posts. I don't usually research shorter races but I think it will be fun to keep a journal of the races I have run.
On Saturday I ran the Human Race 5k in Fort Collins, CO. The tagline of the event is "Man vs Machine" so the Fort Collins Municipal Railway gets out one of the old trollies and drives it up and down Mountain Avenue. If you run the 5k faster than the trolley then you win a commemorative t shirt. I want one.
The race starts on Mountain Avenue and runs west approximately 1.5 miles before you turn around and return to the finish which is just a tad further than the start on Howes Avenue. Probably about 0.1 miles further :) Not only is the course shaded by the big, gorgeous trees that line Mountain Avenue but you also get to run past the beautiful and historic homes that make Mountain Avenue so special. The trolley travels on the rails in the grassy median with the electric lines above sparking and cracking as the trolley rolls along.
For my warm up I ran from home to the race and had two miles in by the time I arrived at the porta potties by the start line. I quickly snagged a cup of water and got in line. After taking care of business I did a few running drills and called it good.
I had about 10 minutes to spare and so I lined up with the rest of the eager runners. This year they had signs up for your pace which is a nice touch and eases the side to side running one does in the beginning. The weather was cool-ish for a summer day with overcast skies and relatively high humidity for the arid west. Perfect!
After my last 5k on the 4th of July I promised myself I wouldn't go out as fast but I think I went out faster. Oopsies! Per usual with a 5k-they suck the entire time. As the first few tenths of a mile were ticking away and I was checking my pace on my watch I felt good but 6:00/mi is too fast (for now) for the beginning of a race.
Slowly my pace crept closer to 7:00/mi and I did my best to keep it under 7:00/mi.
I huffed and puffed my way to the finish line with a time of 20:55 (6:33, 6:50, 6:54, 37s). This was good enough for 1st in my age group but still not fast enough to beat the trolley! I took nearly a minute off of my time from this race last year but I still have work to do if I am going to run faster than the Machine!
On Saturday I ran the Human Race 5k in Fort Collins, CO. The tagline of the event is "Man vs Machine" so the Fort Collins Municipal Railway gets out one of the old trollies and drives it up and down Mountain Avenue. If you run the 5k faster than the trolley then you win a commemorative t shirt. I want one.
The race starts on Mountain Avenue and runs west approximately 1.5 miles before you turn around and return to the finish which is just a tad further than the start on Howes Avenue. Probably about 0.1 miles further :) Not only is the course shaded by the big, gorgeous trees that line Mountain Avenue but you also get to run past the beautiful and historic homes that make Mountain Avenue so special. The trolley travels on the rails in the grassy median with the electric lines above sparking and cracking as the trolley rolls along.
For my warm up I ran from home to the race and had two miles in by the time I arrived at the porta potties by the start line. I quickly snagged a cup of water and got in line. After taking care of business I did a few running drills and called it good.
I had about 10 minutes to spare and so I lined up with the rest of the eager runners. This year they had signs up for your pace which is a nice touch and eases the side to side running one does in the beginning. The weather was cool-ish for a summer day with overcast skies and relatively high humidity for the arid west. Perfect!
After my last 5k on the 4th of July I promised myself I wouldn't go out as fast but I think I went out faster. Oopsies! Per usual with a 5k-they suck the entire time. As the first few tenths of a mile were ticking away and I was checking my pace on my watch I felt good but 6:00/mi is too fast (for now) for the beginning of a race.
Slow down, Momster!I finally got my speed under control and then the smarter runners caught up to me. The gentleman that I finished next to at the Fire Cracker 5k pulled ahead, "Stick with him. He runs smart." And he continued to put distance between us. Perhaps I should have asked him to help me run along.
Slowly my pace crept closer to 7:00/mi and I did my best to keep it under 7:00/mi.
Speed up, Momster!After a week of no running because of work travel I should be plenty tapered and rested, right?
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| Pain cave all the way to the finish! Photo cred: http://greeneventscolorado.com/ |
I huffed and puffed my way to the finish line with a time of 20:55 (6:33, 6:50, 6:54, 37s). This was good enough for 1st in my age group but still not fast enough to beat the trolley! I took nearly a minute off of my time from this race last year but I still have work to do if I am going to run faster than the Machine!
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| Wrangling my cheering squad. Momster is always on duty. Photo cred: Caveman |
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