Race Report: The Flat-Out 5k

A little after eight on Saturday morning, at the Flatiron Crossing Mall in Broomfield, half a mile into the Flat Out 5k, I found myself in an utterly unfamiliar position: first.

Rewind a bit: I had only decided to do the race on Wednesday morning. I went over to a friend's house the night before, and got back later than I had planned. On the starting line, I looked around, saw a few faces I knew, several I did not, and only a few who looked like they could challenge me over 5k.

The gun fired, and I took off at what felt like a very reasonable tempo. Unfortunately, shortly after the gun went off, my GPS lost the signal. I am starting to rely on that less and less. Either way, I quickly moved into first place, feeling good with an easy stride, and save for a brief period held the lead through the first 3/4 mile.

The rest of the race was a learning experience for me.

Looking back, I should have kept the pace I was running. I might have been passed by the eventual winner, but I would not have been passed by anybody else and could have cruised to a relatively easy first or second place. I was not ready for the hills in the second and third miles, but were I out front, running as though by myself, I could have handled those as well. I did not know the racecourse very well, but I knew the area well enough to predict how long and steep the hills would be.

Failing that, when the third and fourth-place runners passed me, I should have stuck with the (now) second place runner, and old training partner, rather than the third place runner, an old coach. The coach, Pete, admitted that he didn't feel good, and yet I simply stuck with him for a while until I realized how slow we were going and passed him around mile two. By that point, though, the second place runner, Stuart, was too far away to catch.

And so, rather than first or second place, I ended up crossing the line in third. This is still my highest-ever placing in a race, but with a little more experience, I could have done better.

That said, I find myself in decent shape, speed-wise. Much better than I would expect, since I have generally neglected speedwork lately. I have instead focused on trail running for volume and vertical. My only speed work of any sort has been the Wednesday night fun run at the BRC. It appears to work for me, though, as I have not had the muscle injuries that plagued me back when I did track workouts. I may, however, insert a few more fartleks into my regular workouts, to sharpen my speed more.

I will also have to do some mental training, since it seems possible that I may again be in the lead some time this summer.