This year started off a little ominously, with an email from the organizers telling the 5-miler field that it was recommended if you couldn't keep a sub-9:00 pace, you should switch into the 5K field, for time's sake.
Now, I've run a lot of races. A handful of those races have had a pace minimum, with either a bus picking up stragglers, or the barriers being broken down & roads reopening while the way-back-of-the-pack finished up. These races are usually big fields, and big races (marathons, halves, and going through a bigger city). Even those time cutoffs live in the double digits - 15:00 min/mi pace, maybe. So to email 1500 people and ask them to run a sub 9 was a little...surprising. I guess I wasn't the only one thought this stipulation was a little...interesting...because my final race email included an apology from the owner, saying they welcome runners of all speeds and abilities. Mmmhmm.
Gun time was 10 AM, and it was in the mid-40s, which was a big difference from last year, when it was snowing and miserable. It was also exciting, because a cycling friend was running his first race (with this runner girlfriend, too), so it was nice to have a little running posse.
The course has been the same for the past 3 years - from Kendall Square out to Harvard and back, cutting through Inman on the way back, where there used to be the "bitch out" bus for the 5K-ers. This year there was a different 5K course from the 5 mile course, which I appreciated, mostly because I didn't have to run by people who were already done.
My first mile was 10 flat, which was surprising, because my 7 miles on Saturday were garbage. My legs hurt, my lungs hurt, and everything was terrible. Sunday, though, had flushed all that. My second mile was a 9:04, which confused me. I mean, I was definitely chugging along, but mile 2 was almost all uphill, which isn't really my strong suit. I figured that it was just short changed, and that I would pay for it on the 3rd mile. I hit that in a 9:35ish, which made a little more sense to me, but was still surprising.
Then the feeling that I was going to puke came on. This is a relatively new feeling for me - the first time I ever experienced this was this past April when I ran the BAA 5K (and subsequently PR'd). I felt the same thing during the St. Pete 5K - so it really only happens when I'm running hard. I can usually deal with it in the 5K setting, since I can tell myself it's only 3 miles, and by the time it comes on, I'm already half-ish way done with the race. So when it happen at mile 3, I thought two things: 1) Wow, I must be running really hard and 2) Might as well keep it up.
The 4th mile was 9:12, which again, was weird, since it was primarily hills. The course ends by weaving through the Leachmere section of Cambridge, back into Kendall. Allegedly, I ran this last mile sub-9. My official time was 46:01, which is 2 full minutes faster than last year, and a 1:41 5M-PR, with a 9:13 min/mi pace. I was stoked, but confused.
Here's the thing: I know I've been running a lot. I know I've been working harder than I have in a long time. But, coming off of a recovery cycle, with a 9:28-pace 5K, it's kind of hard to believe that I came back and absolutely crushed past times (to put this is perspective, I beat my 2008 5 mile time by almost 10 minutes. Seriously?). Mr. Running Boots pointed out that since it's been the same course for 3 years, that I did PR on for the race, which is nice - but still. I'm having a tough time believing the course was actually USATF certified 5-miles.
All that skepticism aside, it was a fun race. It was nice to come down the finish with pals cheering (and probably heckling) me!
My next race on the docket is the New Bedford Half Marathon, St. Patrick's Day weekend!
