Seasons 52 Park Ave 5.2k Race Report

I really enjoy Track Shack races, they do a great job.  This morning was the Seasons 52 Park Ave 5.2k in Winter Park.  I knew I had a PR in the bag this morning, that's not arrogance talking, I've just never run a 5.2k distance before... so, instant PR.  That's always nice!

And it was cold this morning.  Ok, for northerners, they might confuse this with summer.  But, for us Floridians, it was downright frigid.  The temperature was 45 when I woke up.  It might have warmed up slightly before the race began at 7:30, but not much.  I tried to look happy to be up and outside on this cold winter morning.

See, happy!

I got down to Winter Park at about 6:30, parked, and walked over to pick up my packet.  After walking back to my car and affixing my bib to my shirt, it was about time to start warming up.  I decided to jog the course, or at least that was the plan.  But, I have a horrible memory and the course wasn't marked yet.  I guess next time I need to keep the course map with me.  There are so many streets around Winter Park and I'm not real familiar with them.  I was worried that I would take a wrong turn and not make it back to the start on time.  I ended up doing a little over 2 miles.

Once I got back to the staging area, I hit the port-a-potties.  That's another thing I like about Track Shack races, always plenty of port-a-potties.  There were probably about 30 or 40 lined up.  Now, I was ready!  I headed to the start line and did some strides to get the blood moving again before the start.  Before I knew it, the national anthem was being sung, Jon Hughes (the owner of Track Shack) said something I probably should have paid attention to.  And, then we were off!

I enjoy running through Winter Park, it's got beautiful neighborhoods with houses that I will never be able to afford and a lot of the streets are paved with bricks.  Ok, that last part sucks, I don't really like running on brick paved roads.  You have to watch out more than normal for potholes and bricks that may be jutting up.  They look pretty, I just hate running on them.

The first mile was pretty good, I got out pretty fast and tucked in behind a couple of people.  My plan was to find Jeremy Davidson and try to keep up with him, but he didn't show up.  So, now it was just running on my own. I went through the first mile in about 5:45, and feeling pretty smooth.

I don't know what happened the second mile.  I guess I just lost focus, but I slowed down quite a bit.  I passed a couple of guys and got passed by a couple of guys, but near the end of the second mile I caught back up with the 2 guys who had passed me.  I went through 2 miles in 11:45, so I ran 6:00 for the second mile.

The last mile was painful, but faster.  According to my Garmin it was my fastest mile at 5:45.  Track Shack had a timing mat at the 5k mark, and I went through that at 18:11, which is a new 5k PR for me.  After that, we turned onto Park Ave. with 200 m to go and I kicked as much as I could with the finish line in sight.

There was no one in front of me to pass, but I ran the last 200 meters under 5:30 pace.  My timing chart below shows my dip in pace in the middle of the race.

Overall, I'm happy with my race.  I started strong, and I finished strong.  I finished 3rd in my age group, 35-39, and 18th overall.  I just need to figure out how to keep pushing the pace in the middle of the race.  Also, with how much left in the tank I had to kick at the end, I don't think I'm pushing myself enough for the whole race.  Races are supposed to HURT, and I only really started hurting for the last half mile of the race.  I think I need to race 5k's more often if I want to get my time down more.  This was my first 5k race since August.  There's another Track Shack 5k February 15th, so I'll get another shot at the distance soon.  I may try to find another one sooner than that.

This was a great race and the first time I've run it, but I plan to be back next year.  Track Shack puts on great races with good sponsors and nice refreshments after the race.  And Winter Park is always nice to run around in.  I would definitely recommend it!

Garmin splits: 5:50, 6:01, 5:55, 5:33 (0.21 miles).  The watch measured the course slightly short at 3.21 miles, which is weird, I always though GPS watches measured courses long.  This is my first race with the Forerunner 220, so I'll have to see how it performs in future races.