Race Recap: Rock The House 5km

Last weekend I completed my first 5km race of the year, the Rock The House fun run in support of the Ronald McDonald House. I wasn't planning on running a 5km this year; however, an opportunity came up last minute to do this one, so I jumped on the chance. Overall the race was a casual fun race, with live music and entertainment throughout the course, so I could leave my iPod at home and just enjoy it all.

Planning For The Race

Since it was a last minute decision to run this, there wasn't much planning involved. Basically I decided the night before that I wanted to run a sub-24 minute 5km, which would be a personal best for me (my previous personal best was 24:01). I have been consistently running throughout the summer so I felt like this was do-able. I'm also a bit of a math nerd, so I figured out the exact minute break downs for each kilometer and charged up my Nike+ watch (I'm not cool enough for a Garmin).

The Race

Despite some sore legs from a 10km hike the day before, I actually felt pretty good and energetic during the race. My big fail was spending all that time the night before planning out my pace and timing for each km. As soon as I started, my Nike+ watch switched to miles/hour, not km/hour (damn US factory settings). I gave up on the watch and saw a girl running a few meters in front of me at a decent pace so I decided to keep up with her. This plan worked out really well because she was strong runner and held a steady pace the whole way through. I never did catch her but I did destroy my previous personal best by finishing with a final chip time of 22:19. I was actually quite shocked that I ran it that fast but my Nike + said 3.1 miles exactly so it must be true (my math is so stellar I can convert that to km in no time...)

Race Day Eats

I stuck to my race-day stand by of oatmeal. I find it easy to digest and it gives me enough energy for any distance. Clearly it helped me out with this race.

1/3 c Oats

1 Banana

1 tbsp Natural Peanut Butter

My Thoughts on Beating a Personal Best

Damn it. Now I just want to go faster. Why can't I just be satisfied for once.