Race Report: Tiger Trail 5k

A few weeks ago, on a whim, I signed up for a race: a 5k that came up in the Minneapolis Running monthly race calendar, run as a fundraiser for a local nordic ski team. At 5k, it was 1/4th of the distance of my shortest race since moving to Minnesota two years ago, and less than 10% of my longest race to date. But, it seemed like a fun course, for a good cause, and more importantly I thought it might get me pumped up for running again. 

Going into the race, I was feeling pretty fast, given my low level of conditioning. I was hitting 5:30 pace in striders and intervals without noticing the effort all that much, though the intervals were never longer than a block or two. My short tempo runs had all ended up at under 7-minute pace for 3 or 4 miles. I figured I could probably run a decent 5k in under 20 minutes.

I was wrong. 

Getting to Theo Wirth Park on Saturday morning, I saw the ski team running around and goofing off (as they do). I started to think that I was about to get my ass handed to me by a bunch of high-schoolers (pardon my language). I was none too concerned about this, as I was anticipating this somewhat even before I showed up. It is a bit of an ego blow, even so. 

The course itself, as I saw on a preview lap, was set up in a double-loop pattern, just over half a mile per loop. Even warming up, I realized that this was not going to be a fast 5k, since it took place on short, steep hills on a winding course. I figured I might still be able to hit 20-21 minutes, given a decent effort. 

I didn’t. 

With a blowing of vuvuzelas, the race was on. I quickly realized that, though I was unlikely to be the first one home, I was going to be in the top 5, as me, 3 high schoolers, and the RD distanced ourselves from the rest. My primary goal for this race was to run as even as possible throughout, while still giving a good effort. This equated to running with the RD for the vast majority of the race. 

I felt reasonably comfortable with the pace, as I should have. I ended up running just 20-30 seconds per mile faster than I did at the Night Lights half marathon last year, coming in at 22:50 for 3.2 miles, for my slowest 5k ever at about 7:09 pace. My mile splits were 7:07, 7:17, and 7:13 (though they can’t be directly compared). I wish now that I had taken splits at the laps as well, so I could compare more directly. 

All in all, though, the race served its purpose. These small, almost neighborhood level events are the ones that I seem to enjoy the most. Before, during, and after the race, the adults in the group were consistently introducing themselves to me and asking about me. The race itself rekindled my running fire, and in the days since I have been focused even more on my training and getting back into form.