Saturday, October 26, 2013

Black Cat Chase 5k Recap

Last night I ran my first race since the marathon, the Black Cat Chase. This would be my third year running it. It also happens to be my favorite 5k!



"Black Cat Chase Run hosted by the Frankfort YMCA and sponsored by Mainsource Bank - An annual, local 5K run/walk around Downtown Frankfort and the State Capitol with festive atmosphere, costumes, music, and fun for all ages and experience levels." -Frankfort YMCA 

Since the race is run near the end of October, the race tends to take on a Halloween theme, and many of the runners dress up in costume. I've never dressed up for a race, but I like seeing the all the costumes. Plus Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.

                                                 Every year, they take a photo on the Old State Capitol Lawn.

 
I had been nervous about this race all day. I'm not sure why. Obviously, I can run 3.1 miles. Maybe I was nervous because I have only run 6 miles since I was in Chicago. Maybe I was nervous because I was really worried about what my pace was going to be. Before I began my marathon training, my average pace had been between 10:30-11:00/mile. Toward the end of training, I was running around 12:00-12:30/mile. I think that lots of factors contributed to me slowing down. I think it began with the heat and humidity during summer training, then the fatigue started to set in toward the end of training, and I just got used to my long slow run pace. Either way, I knew I was not going to PR (30:15) this year, and I decided early on that my goal was to finish under 33 minutes, and see if I could push myself the whole way.

After lining up at the start, I tried to get my Nike+ watch set up, but it never got a signal. Irritating! At least I had my Nike+ app on my phone and used that instead. It's not quite as accurate, but at least my run is recorded. I usually use my watch to check my pace, so I basically ran this 5k blind. My strategy quickly changed to, picking out a person who was ahead of me and then attempting to pass them. This worked really well, as we headed up the large hill to circle around the Capitol Building. I was passing people left and right! I continued using this strategy the whole race, and I ended up passing a person who I thought I would never catch! It was tough, but I finished strong. Official time was 31:16!

I'm really happy with my mile splits, especially since I was really unprepared for this race.


 I'm also really happy about my overall effort that I put into it. There were many points during the race, that I wanted to slow down, but I never did! So, no, it was not my fastest 5k, but it's a new starting point. I've been thinking about what my next goal is, and I have decided that for now, I want to work on getting faster. I'd like to get my 5k time under 30 minutes. My next 5k is the Thoroughbred Classic on Thanksgiving Day. Can't wait!
 

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