a circle in a square world
If I ran races more often I probably wouldn't be doing race reports after so many of them, but I only do a few, and they keep being interesting to me, so I'm writing.
I ran in the Run Around the Square 5k last weekend, and the most interesting part was that it was the first race I've done with my new toy, the Garmin ForeRunner 225, which is the first ever GPS watch I've owned (thanks, Katy!). I have ALL the data! Data is fun.
First off, it told me I ran a great race (not The Great Race, that's next month) without needing to wait for posted results. My total time was 24:40, which is a 5k PR for me if I define the P as standing for "Pittsburgh" (my best 5k was on a super flat, straight course, which Pittsburgh does not have). It also told me that I got a new 1mi PR which I wasn't expecting. It took me over 2 years to "officially" beat my last 1mi PR, since all I had to go on was total race times (and I rarely race anything less than a 5k), but now the Garmin tracks my mile splits as well.
The course was mostly flat for the first mile, went up 260 feet in the next mile+1/3, and went most of the way back down in the last 3/4 mile. The first mile had my best pace, the second was slower with a few noticeable dips, and the last 3/4 I sprinted and sped up my average pace from 8:44 down to 7:57. Woo!
My heart rate averaged 184bpm with a max of 195, and although I was pushing reasonably hard, at no point did I feel like I was doing too much. I've suspected for years that my heart rate runs high (various age-based equation estimates give me "max" ranges between 183 and 174, but I can hit 170 while barely breaking a sweat), and I had been intending to look into stress testing for a while. These numbers feel like they represent my experiences better.
After the race there was wandering around collecting food and drink and goodies and looking for other people I knew (didn't see many). Stayed around to see if I placed in my age group (didn't, but got 7/90), then biked home. Nothing hurt, which is a major win. Or at least, nothing hurt that wasn't the expected lingering muscle soreness the next day that I consider normal and not actually an injury.
Nice race, I should do it again.
I ran in the Run Around the Square 5k last weekend, and the most interesting part was that it was the first race I've done with my new toy, the Garmin ForeRunner 225, which is the first ever GPS watch I've owned (thanks, Katy!). I have ALL the data! Data is fun.
First off, it told me I ran a great race (not The Great Race, that's next month) without needing to wait for posted results. My total time was 24:40, which is a 5k PR for me if I define the P as standing for "Pittsburgh" (my best 5k was on a super flat, straight course, which Pittsburgh does not have). It also told me that I got a new 1mi PR which I wasn't expecting. It took me over 2 years to "officially" beat my last 1mi PR, since all I had to go on was total race times (and I rarely race anything less than a 5k), but now the Garmin tracks my mile splits as well.
The course was mostly flat for the first mile, went up 260 feet in the next mile+1/3, and went most of the way back down in the last 3/4 mile. The first mile had my best pace, the second was slower with a few noticeable dips, and the last 3/4 I sprinted and sped up my average pace from 8:44 down to 7:57. Woo!
My heart rate averaged 184bpm with a max of 195, and although I was pushing reasonably hard, at no point did I feel like I was doing too much. I've suspected for years that my heart rate runs high (various age-based equation estimates give me "max" ranges between 183 and 174, but I can hit 170 while barely breaking a sweat), and I had been intending to look into stress testing for a while. These numbers feel like they represent my experiences better.
After the race there was wandering around collecting food and drink and goodies and looking for other people I knew (didn't see many). Stayed around to see if I placed in my age group (didn't, but got 7/90), then biked home. Nothing hurt, which is a major win. Or at least, nothing hurt that wasn't the expected lingering muscle soreness the next day that I consider normal and not actually an injury.
Nice race, I should do it again.