I got a free entry into this year’s LifeMark Esquimalt 5k because I finished 2nd in the women’s category last year. I’ve been looking forward to this race for quite a while.
The course is both fun and challenging because it has a few hills, but none of them are overwhelming.
If you haven’t done a 5k yet, I think that it would be a great race for you to do as your first 5k because, like I said before, it’s a lot of fun. I love this race!
I decided to take it a bit easier this time because I knew that I would be racing the Comox RV Half Marathon the next day. This race was the start of a stellar racing weekend. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE race weekends!
At the start line, I got to hang out with my buddy Marty the Marmot, the beloved Victoria Royals Mascot. Also, I was thrilled to see one of my clients and a few friends from the gym doing the race.
The weather was a little bit colder than I would have liked, so much so, that I opted to wear my Public Myth teaser jacket for the whole race, as opposed to running in a sports bra. I also wore the teaser crop leggings. Apparently, it was a Public Myth teaser collection kind of race 🙂
I started near the front and decided to stay there even though I originally planned to take it easy. I definitely didn’t start too quickly. Now that I look back, I feel like I ran my first half a little too slow. My goal was to finish in around 20 minutes.
Here’s what I’ve noticed about 5k races, even though I haven’t done a lot of them (I like the longer stuff): they are too short to take it too easy on the first half and too long to sprint the whole thing. If you run your first half even a little too slow, it will make a huge difference in the final outcome and you may not be able to make up the time towards the end.
By the 3k mark, I knew that I would be finishing between 19:30 and 21 minutes. However, by that time, my main goal changed from “finish in 20 minutes” to “maintain your 3rd place position (for the women)”.
I found the hardest km to be between 3-4. I looked at my Garmin and I noticed that I slowed down due to slightly tired legs. After I made it to 4k, I thought, “ok, time to pick it up again”. So, that’s exactly what I did.
Above: Heading for the finish line 🙂
By the time I was 200m away from the finish line, I knew that I wasn’t going to get a personal best but I still had a decent run and enjoyed my race. I also knew that the real personal best would be the following day, when I raced the half marathon, so I wasn’t disappointed with my performance in the 5k.
Above: Post-race fun with Striker Highlander.
I finished the race in 20:28, which is a 4:06 per km pace (6:36 per mile). I was the 3rd woman across the finish line and 22/434 overall.
The best part about placing in the top 3 is that I get a free entry into next year’s race, which always makes me happy 🙂 I look forward to doing this all over again!