My registration for the LifeMark Health Esquimalt 5k was a last-minute decision, but it was a great one!
Originally, I planned to go to Vancouver and run the St. Patrick’s 5k because I wanted to get a 5k PR and couldn’t find a 5k to run in Victoria.
I needed to run a 5k in the first half of 2013 before I begin the really serious training for the BMO Marathon and the Run for Their Lives.
Not saying that I wasn’t training hard now as I always train hard. I’m just saying that in the last few months I was more focused on speedwork and weight training (I needed to do that) rather than distance. I couldn’t expect to get faster just by doing long slow runs all the time. I also couldn’t gain muscle for my upcoming fitness competition if I only ran. Balance, my friends!
I was super happy to have found the LifeMark Health Esquimalt 5k because it saved me a trip to Vancouver and fulfilled my desire for a 5k PR. (as I will be in Vancouver next week for my fitness competition anyways.)
For years, it has been my goal to run a 5k under 20 minutes. Sometimes, even when I was wasn’t running due to my foot injury, I would Google “how to break 20 minutes in a 5k” and spend a long time reading all the different running forums and articles.
Going into this race, I had no idea what to expect. I just heard it was flat and fun, so I signed up 🙂
The morning of race day, I followed my usual routine. Get up 1.5 hours before the start time. Eat an energy bar and drink an energy drink. Normally, if I wasn’t training for the fitness competition, I would be eating high-carb meals on the few days leading up to the race and drinking a lot of water. However, because I have a fitness competition next week, I’m carb-depleting and dehydrated. So, I really wasn’t sure how the race would go but I wanted to see what my body would do.
Above: Victoria Royals Mascott Marty the Marmot was at the start line with us!
I arrived at the Esquimalt Recreation Center about a half hour before the start of the race and parked far enough away from the start line to fit in a warm-up run. About 5 minutes before the start, I got pretty anxious. I reset my Garmin Forerunner 110 
I talked to a few people at the start line to try to figure out how they will be pacing themselves because I wasn’t sure how to pace a 5k, given that it was my first 5k since the injury. Some people were shooting for sub-18 and others just wanted to finish.
Above: Almost ready to go!
The race started and I started too fast. I did my first km in 3:42. Surprisingly though, I maintained a very good pace and by the 3km mark I was at 11:30min (yes, that would be a 3k PR for me). I stayed as close as I possibly could to the leading pack of runners. I noticed that there was only 1 woman in front of me about 3.5k into the race. I thought to myself: “I will push hard because I want to try to catch her. I also must not get passed right in front of the finish line like what happened at some of my other races.”
Above: I believe this was taken at the first turn-around. I’m the only girl in the sports bra and teaser leggings by Public Myth (in the center of the photo)
Once I got to the Lampson/Lyall intersection, I knew we were almost done. I looked at my watch and saw that if I pick up the pace a little bit, then I will break 20 minutes. When I saw the finish line not too far away, I went for it!
I looked at the timer as I crossed the finish line and saw “19:25” (3:52 per km or 6:13/mile). It was an amazing feeling! For the first time ever, I beat my goal time of 20 minutes. The results are posted on Race Day Timing. I was the 2nd woman across the finish line and 1st in my age group. Also, I was 11th overall out of a total 402 finishers (men and women).
Above: Receiving my 2nd place certificate.
However, the best part? Along with my 2nd place finisher certificate, I received a complimentary entry into next year’s LifeMark Health Esquimalt 5k. This means I get to do it again! Awesome!
Happy Running! 🙂