Cruising the Creekwalk 5K Race Recap

January 27, 2018

It's been seven months since my last race. I was somewhat disappointed in my last two 5K's because I wasn't running the times that I did before my knee surgery. I avoided signing up for races for fear of my finish times. I've finally realized that it's just going to take time. One of my goals for 2018 is to get back to running the local races that I love for fun and catching up with old running friends.

I am currently training for the Publix Women's Half Marathon in Savannah, GA. After a month of running consistently, I was ready to race again. This was my fifth year running Cruising the Creekwalk 5K. I missed the online preregistration. Race day was in the 50's with light rain. I debated going, but it was either run this 5K or run 7 miles alone in the rain. I gave myself permission to skip my long run for some speed work.

I am glad that I decided to go. My friend Valerie (icecreamrunner) was there. We lined up together at the start line. She started incorporating hills and speed work into her training, and she hoped to beat her last 5K time of 28 minutes. I didn't know what to expect after seven months of not running consistently and not racing. I hoped I could still run a sub-30 minute 5K. Deep down I hoped to better my time from my last two 5K's.

It was great to see Valerie again. It's been a while!

We caught a break in the rain during the race. I never heard any announcements at the start. We were all standing at the start line talking when all of sudden the buzzer sounded and everyone took off. I looked down at my Garmin and noticed it was on a walk activity. I messed around with it to get it back to run mode. My run/walk intervals are already programmed in, and I knew I might need them later. I've used 90 sec run/30 sec walk intervals in my training runs before this race.

Valerie's husband captured this picture of me fussing with my Garmin at the start.

Valerie is on her phone.

Valerie and I were running side by side during most of the first mile. I clocked the first mile in 8:33. Valerie started pulling ahead. I tried my best to stick with her, but by 1.5 miles I needed a walk break. The gap was widening and I knew there was no way I could catch her.

During my first walk break a nice lady patted me on the back and encouraged me to keep going. I know she had good intentions, but I was slightly annoyed. I thanked her, but I felt the need to assure her that I was using walk/run intervals.

Mile 2 is always my slowest in this race. There are a few small inclines followed by some fast downhill stretches. I clocked mile 2 in 9:46 using the 90 x 30 run/walk intervals.

I ran as much as I could in the last mile. I didn't follow the intervals on my watch and only took two 30 second walk breaks. As I neared the finish line the clock read 27 minutes and some seconds. I sprinted to cross before the clock hit 28 minutes. My last mile was 8:40. My finish time was 27:49.

Finish line photo

While my finish time was nowhere near a personal best on this course, I am still pleased with it. I didn't expect to place because this race usually yields fast times. I was surprised to hear my name announced for second place in my age group. Valerie finished in 26:37 and took second place in her age group as well.

2nd Place AG 30-34

This race was a real confidence boost to kick off 2018. I plan to run another local 5K in February and hopefully a 10K in March (I haven't decided on which one) before my half marathon in April.