Shamrock 5K, THE 5k of 5k's: Race Report

In Baltimore, when March rolls around and Daylight Saving Time starts, every runner knows it's time to blaze through the streets on the fastest 5K course around.  My goal for this race was pretty simple, just PR.  Since most of my workouts are focused on the marathon, and I kept this week a big one (90+ miles), I knew my legs wouldn't exactly be firing fast.

So with that in mind, I set out from my apartment at 12:35pm to get a 15 minute warm up in, some stretching, and strides before the 1:15pm race.  Falls Road had a strong contingent out there both racing and spectating; they helped keep my warmup and cool down honest!  Crowds lined both sides of the starting street, a sharp downhill on Charles, a road normally quite busy at all hours of the day.  I lined up a couple of rows back, ready to go.

This point to point course runs through downtown Baltimore, starts off with a half mile downhill, and is largely flat the rest of the way.  There is always an ongoing debate about how to handle the fast first mile.  My plan was to run between 5:00-5:10.  I had no interest in running sub-5, as I knew many others would.

After the gun went off, we all settled in, while I made sure to hold back just a bit early.  As soon as the course flattened out and made a quick left, I started to pick up the effort.  With the early downhill over, the rest was going to be a grind to the finish.  I passed some people early, but eventually settled into a loose group with 3 or 4 other runners.  I run with two of them, Brennan and Andy somewhat regularly.  This was the second race in a row running with people I know and train with, which makes everything so much easier!

I hit mile 1 right at 5:01, and just kept pouring it on.

I didn't feel completely dead at that point, so I must have done something right.  Brennan ran ahead of me, while Andy started fading back (but was still ahead).  As we made the turn around, Andy faded off just a bit, leaving Brennan, me, and some other random guy.  I dropped the random guy and managed to catch up to Brennan.  We hit mile 2, getting hit by some wind..

5:21

I was looking for sub 5:15 for the second mile, but based on the conditions (windy) and how my legs felt (unhappy I ran 82 miles in 6 days), I figured this was what I would get.  I focused any speed and strength I had left to keep the last mile at 5:20 as well.

Brennan and I towed each other along, as we kept getting hit by wind gusts running back towards home.  I got a few cheers from the main pack on the other side of the road, decked out in full on green (everyone else was much more festive than the lead runners).  As we turned off Key Highway and onto Light Street, I started to really feel the pace, the miles, the road, the air, my legs, and anything else that wanted to complain.

But I kept grinding.  As we made the second to last turn onto Pratt street, it took nearly everything I had to hold it together.  We got some cheers, a runner caught and passed Brennan and me (neither of us had an answer), and as I crossed mile 3, I threw down the last little bit that was left in the tank.  We hit the final turn onto Market place, and I crossed the finish line...

16:14 by my watch, though my official net time was 16:12 (16:15 gun time).  I'll take the 16:12, well because, the race hurt!  That beats my time from last year of 16:25 by 13 seconds, and my overall PR (16: 24 on the track) by 12 seconds.  Not too bad for a big mileage week and a bunch of marathon training!

I ended up going for a rather long cooldown to round out what is probably slightly more 90 miles for the week.  I also completely skipped the post race awards, mainly because the post race party turns into a giant cluster f*** of runners and beer.  But as it turns out, much to my elated surprise, I actually won my age group...

11th overall, and 4th 20-29 year old male to cross.  The top 3 were all 20-29 as well, making me the age group winner.  Damn!  I may have placed 11th last year and came in 6th for my age group, but either way, it's been a dream of mine to place in my age group at the 5K of 5Ks.  I'm going to make sure I get that stupid glass beer mug (or whatever it is).

Overall, a highly successful race.  I think a sub-16 is in the not so distant future.  Maybe some summer speed work will be just what this runner needs!  But now, back to what matters, marathon training.