Race Report: Luck of the EMUs 5K.
I'm going to keep this one short (like a 5K). Luck of the EMUs is a small race put on by the Eastern Michigan University Running Club. It's run exclusively on sidewalks around the EMU campus. It's sort of like a cross country race (the course wouldn't know a straight line if you gave it a compass and a map), except without the grass. For the most part, the course is rolling hills. There are medium grade hills at .8, 1.5 and 2.3 miles. The one at 2.3 is really nasty. It's a really small race, maybe the smallest I've run. I think there may have been 50 participants. Maybe.
I ran to the race course (It's about 2.5 miles, it's really close!), and then signed up there. Like usual, I didn't know anyone at the race, so I was pretty much on my own, though I did talk to a 50 something guy running his first 5K in a while. Of course, since the participation was pretty small, that meant that the race course is pretty lonely.
After the race started, I got passed by the top 4, and that was it. I didn't pass anyone, and no one passed me. I was kind of disappointed, as I was expecting something like the UM Intramural race, which is loaded with Fraternity Men who may be athletic, but they are not runners. They go out like a bat out of hell, and then the slow guys like me who plan for the race eat them up in the last half of the race course. Not this time.
Still, the race went very well. i started out at a decent 6:10 clip for the first mile. The hill at .8 was easily surmountable, but the hill at 1.4 was a little harder, and I was working pretty hard to get up it. It took a little bit of a toll on me (6:30). That third hill? It was a real bear to climb. However, this is where all of those miles seem to be paying off. I paid for the exertion up the hill for about 100 meters, but after that, I was back to pretty smooth sailing. I think I hit the third mile at or around 6:30-6:40, and cruised downhill to a 19:41 finish.
Executive summary:
Time 19:41
splits: 6:10-6:30-6:40ish.
place: 5th out of 50ish.
ag: 5th ot of 25-30.
So, my 5K PR is 19:35. 6 seconds off my PR with little speed and lots of easy miles? Ok! I'm excited about the concept of adding speed over the next few weeks, and seeing how this half marathon turns out in Toledo. There could be some real success coming over the horizon!
I ran to the race course (It's about 2.5 miles, it's really close!), and then signed up there. Like usual, I didn't know anyone at the race, so I was pretty much on my own, though I did talk to a 50 something guy running his first 5K in a while. Of course, since the participation was pretty small, that meant that the race course is pretty lonely.
After the race started, I got passed by the top 4, and that was it. I didn't pass anyone, and no one passed me. I was kind of disappointed, as I was expecting something like the UM Intramural race, which is loaded with Fraternity Men who may be athletic, but they are not runners. They go out like a bat out of hell, and then the slow guys like me who plan for the race eat them up in the last half of the race course. Not this time.
Still, the race went very well. i started out at a decent 6:10 clip for the first mile. The hill at .8 was easily surmountable, but the hill at 1.4 was a little harder, and I was working pretty hard to get up it. It took a little bit of a toll on me (6:30). That third hill? It was a real bear to climb. However, this is where all of those miles seem to be paying off. I paid for the exertion up the hill for about 100 meters, but after that, I was back to pretty smooth sailing. I think I hit the third mile at or around 6:30-6:40, and cruised downhill to a 19:41 finish.
Executive summary:
Time 19:41
splits: 6:10-6:30-6:40ish.
place: 5th out of 50ish.
ag: 5th ot of 25-30.
So, my 5K PR is 19:35. 6 seconds off my PR with little speed and lots of easy miles? Ok! I'm excited about the concept of adding speed over the next few weeks, and seeing how this half marathon turns out in Toledo. There could be some real success coming over the horizon!