Over the past weekend I wanted to run my first 5K up in Middletown, NY but I wasn’t able to. So today I decided to gauge how well I COULD have done.
Most of my “runs” are typically about 3 miles of walking and running – usually about 50/50. In fact I only ever ran 3 miles without stopping once, on my treadmill… about 2 years ago 🙂
So, after about 30 minutes of racquetball with my wife this morning – slow paced – I decided to head for the Heritage Trail where the paved portion begins at Airplane Park.
Armed with my Android phone and bluetooth headset, I set my Cardio Trainer app to start and began my run.
When I got to the halfway mark, I was still feeling pretty good. I should note that it’s not usually exhaustion that stops me. I don’t get tired after 1.5 miles. Normally it’s either my knees or my hips that give in to the temptation of rest 🙂 But today, all was feeling pretty good. So I kept up the jogging pace.
I have my Cardio Trainer app set to tell me my speed and distance every 0.2 miles. I was keeping my average speed around 6.1 MPH and still feeling good on my return leg.
Finally with the end in sight, I noticed that I was still not feeling tired. My hips/lower back was just starting to show signs of aching but overall I knew by now I would be able to finish.
Finally – 3.1 miles.
I checked my stats – 3.1 miles in 30 minutes and 39 seconds. Average speed 6.1 MPH. And feeling great.
When I got home I checked our local newspaper, which printed the 5K race results. With my time I would have placed about 141 out of 353 entrants. Of course, considering the course was similarly flat 🙂
All in all, I don’t think it was too bad, all things considered. I have a few more 5K runs bookmarked, so I will get at least one in before summer is out.
