Moonlight Run 5K

Finally...a sub 25:00 5K!!

I made a few changes in my preparation for the race and goals I set/things I did during the race.

1) Food intake: Last 5K I ran, I killed a Chinese Buffet for lunch. Today, I had a much more sensible lunch (quesadilla) and about 2.5 hours before the race I had a couple of servings of pasta with lite butter and parm. cheese. I topped off the pre-race food with a GU 45 minutes and 20 minutes before the race. After the race, a banana.

2) Running with music: I run with music during my training runs, but until this point, I did not run with music during the race. I liked this addition, but am still torn, because I also like the sounds during a race.

3) Target Splits: Last race I planned splits that were :15 apart. This may have been too much. This time I planned splits for 8:05, 8:00 and 7:55 and then the last .1 mile at :44. This is how I did...

Mile 1: 8:06 (+ :01)
Mile 2: 7:58 (-:02)
Mile 3: 7:53 (-:02)
Last .1: :45 (+:01)

4) Running "Games": In past races, I found that my mind was fighting with my body, and I figured I needed something to occupy my mind. The music helped, but I also did a version of Fartlek running. I picked out someone a bit ahead of me and caught them and then slowed down until I "recovered" and then did the same thing again. I didn't need to do this until the 3rd mile and I think it got me through quite well.

Mileage: 3.13
Time/Pace: 24:43/7:54
Avg Heart Rate: 163

Temp: 79
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Medium Humidity