Matanzas 5K

January 24, 2009, the day I sought to break my 5K PR on the acclaimed "fastest 5K course in the South" at the Matanzas 5K. Unlike last year, this year I was running fewer races with more training, almost guaranteeing a PR at every event I run in. My last 5K was the disappointment at Gator Bowl, where I was plagued by the wind and the unseasonable weather, causing me to finish in 20:51. Now I was at Matanzas, hoping to improve on my previous time and maybe snag some hardware in the ultra-competitive 11-14 age group. The race is a fast course through the heart of St. Augustine. Since the race has a later 9:00 AM start, I managed a good 9.5 hours of sleep even though I woke up slightly groggy and was retaining my stuffed up nose from the previous day. We were out the door by 7:20 AM at my command and arrived at the race too early, like always, with a good hour to spare. I wandered around, slightly comatose, for a little bit and eyed the awards. First place received a big Matanzas 5K glass mug with Matanzas 5K coffee, while 2nd and 3rd received slightly smaller mugs, and 3rd through 6th received even smaller-sized mugs. It looked like a parade of Russian nesting dolls. Next to me, my dad was eying his small "Masters Super Clydesdale" award, a group for men over 40 years old and over 225 lbs. This division usually has a slow contingent of about 30 or so runners, none of whom has broken 23 minutes for a 5k in the past several years at this race, which makes sense because most men that old and that big have trouble walking to the fridge. My dad looked to finish first in this division, giving him some road race hardware for the second consecutive month. About 20 minutes later, I met up with my coach and teammates, and we began our warm up shortly thereafter. When it came to be about 5 minutes until the start of the race, I stripped my outer layers and positioned myself in the massive field of about 1300 runners. I positioned myself farther back deliberately to help prevent me from going out too fast in the first mile. Unfortunately, the start was divided by an island in the middle, making for a very congested and slow start. Once the gun went off it took me a good 10 seconds to reach the timing mats and I could tell that lots of weekend warriors had positioned themselves too far toward the front of the field. Dad and I wasted a hefty amount of energy bobbing and weaving through the slow crowd, but once I got into the open I felt fine. The course brought us along A1A, passing the St. Augustine waterfront and Bridge of Lions. The first mile popped up along the horizon quickly and I passed it in around 6:40 gun time. By then I was widening my lead on my dad as the course veered to the right and gave us a tour of the neighborhoods of St. Augustine. By now I felt the onset of fatigue and struggled to keep up the pace. The course passed by Flagler College and soon the second mile came, which I passed in about 13:10. I started suffering in the 3rd mile and just wished for the race to be over, ending every second of agony. Finally, the finish came into my line of view and I sprinted towards it, crossing the line in 20:36. I quickly exited the finish chute and waited for my dad to cross the line, which he plodded through in a disappointing 21:52, 30 seconds away from his PR last June. Following suit, he left the finish chute as quickly as he could and headed to the parking garage, disregarding my "hellos." Dad emerged about a minute later, angry with himself for his performance. We escaped to the food tent and then to the gym where awards and raffles would be presented. I was sort of pleased with my performance, reminding myself that this was my fastest 5K on a USATF certified course. After about 40 minutes of analyzing my race, I got to check the results. In my very competitive 11-14 age group, the top 3 places were taken up by 14 year olds (high school runners). Fourth place was a 13 year old, fifth was my teammate Steven, and then I placed 6th, coming home with a small glass mug reading "Age Place" on the front. My dad's award came at the end of the ceremony and he received the "Masters Super Clydesdale" award (another small glass mug) with a pout on his face. So it proved to be an OK day for me and a bad day for Dad, but the fact that we both received awards for our efforts brought back the feeling of good ol' hardware. Now that I am entering a jam-packed race season, I'm trying to choose races that matter. It starts with my first indoor track meet in Gainesville next weekend, where I will compete in the 3000 and mile, gunning for a PR in both. My next race after that won't be until February 21st, when I will be doing the Pirates on the Run 10K in Fernandina Beach, and then the Ortega River Run 5 Miler the following weekend. It's that time when I pick up my training for the important racing events before the weather starts warming up, bringing us the inevitable hot and humid Florida spring and summer. So long and keep (thinking of) PRing!

VyStar Gator Bowl 5K

December 31st was the day I sought to fufill my New Year's Resolution from a year ago: to break 20 minutes in a 5K (I'm pretty predictable, eh?). But let's rewind back a year. I'm at the Gator Bowl 5K in Jacksonville, competing in my 2nd ever road 5K. I had a feeble build and with it I finished the 5K in 22:52, a blazing fast performance to me at the time and my 5K PR at the time. Later that night, I toasted to the New Year and made it my goal to break 20 in a 5K before '09 came. Fast forward a year and I'm here again at the Gator Bowl 5K looking to make my resolution true. Since my PR at the Reindeer Run 5K, my training wasn't going so well. About a week after the race I came down with a severe cold that halted my training by half a week and made me suffer through the short runs I managed to squeeze in. Unfortunately I had little time to get back into the swing of things because of the trip to Charleston (you can read a report on that trip on my travel blog). But more or less, I was ready for the Gator Bowl 5K, whether or not a PR was within my grasp. Since the race would start in the afternoon at 1:30 PM, I had plenty of time to gear myself up for the race. We arrived 45 minutes before the start of the race, a good hunk of time to spare. And the second I got out of the car, I entered the furnace that is Jacksonville. A couple more paces later I noticed another prominent force mother Nature brought to the table on this hot winter afternoon, that being the wind. The combination of wind and heat made downtown Jacksonville feel more like a convection oven to me. After about 15 minutes of frolicking around, my coach arrived and warmed up me and my teammate, Steven. Twenty minutes later and I'm toeing the line, preparing to (hopefully) achieve my resolution. Once the gun fired I powered forward, dodging the chip timing system. I got into the groove traversing the city streets, turning every once in a while. I felt some soreness in my legs but took it with a grain of salt and thought it was nothing to worry about. The course took us out to the Stadium, on the way passing the first mile which I crossed in 5:58, a time that made me double-take at my Garmin watch to see if the distance was accurate. It sure was, and that lightning-fast first mile reminded me of my sore legs that wouldn't go away. I struggled through the 2nd mile, knowing it would take a miracle to break 20 minutes. At this point I was just trying to survive the dreaded last mile, let alone cruise through it towards a PR. I ended up plodding through the streets, plagued by the omnipresent wind and heat, and finished in 20:52, my second best 5K time. I was disappointed with my fourth place finish (of the 30 runners in my age group) and didn't receive an award (nor did I deserve one). My watch registered a suspicious 3.16 miles, but I ignored it and let myself accept my performance. Luckily, I'll have some high-intensity track training starting in January which should bounce me back for the Matanzas 5000 on January 24th. So long and keep trying!