Sara Low 5K

Saturday Annette and I traveled to Batesville for the Sara Low 5K. This was a great race, very challenging course and for a good cause. There was a special ceremony with music and speakers before the start which was very moving. Sara was a flight attendant on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11 and this was where she ran track when she was in school.

I knew there would be hills but I didn't expect there to be one a 1/4 mile into the race. It was a downhill first then a steep uphill. I ran pretty strong through the race though I never really turned the speed on in fear that it would hurt my foot. So my plan was just to maybe finish under 30:00. Well, that didn't happen but I felt good through the whole race and ran every hill except the last one. Really the only reason I didn't run that one was because sweat had gotten in my eyes and I was having to walk trying to wipe it out with my t-shirt. Sometimes I think my head is a river or something. I have yet to find the perfect solution for sweat. Some races I will use a bondi band and that works probably better than a hat, but just doesn't look as good. Not that I really care about that anyway. I like a hat sometimes to shield the sun.

As far as the run goes it was up one hill and down another pretty much till the finish. First mile was a 10:10 which I was happy with. I felt so good that I skipped the water stop. I figured I needed all the extra time I could get and it helped as my second mile was a 9:22. Probably faster than I should have been running and that was because some of the downhills. Third mile was a killer as there was a long up hill, probably 1/2 a mile at least then the race finished on the track. Third mile was a 10:24. As you finished on the track the announcer would call out your name and they even had you up live on the scoreboard screen. My final time was a 31:02 with a 9:55 average pace. About 4 minutes slower than my 5K PR this year but with the foot injury and only running less than 10 miles a week for 9 weeks I guess it was OK. Bottom line I still ended up with the same Grand Prix points I would have gotten if I would have run a 25:00 5k. My age group is very tough.

My foot was a little sore and stiff after the race. I think the downhills made it hurt more than the uphills. With the 1 mile warm up I ended up with 17.2 miles running for the week and today my foot feels great so I am happy! I'll report on Sunday's 66 mile bike ride later.