Yesterday was the Texas Independence 5K at the San Jacinto Battlefield in LaPorte. I was really excited about it when I signed up for it because I've never been out there even though it is only 15 minutes from my house. For all those non-Texans, the Battle at San Jacinto was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Two of the biggest features at the site are the monument (571 feet tall) and the Battleship Texas that last fought in WWII.
The weather was cloudy and grey, chilly (around 64), and windy. Not optimal! My goal was to get a sub-40 minute time but unfortunately I didn't make it. Last 5K I ran with Rachel I did it in 39:45 with an average pace of 12:49. BUT that average pace is a little deceptive. When we started that race we were running really fast for the first 3/4 mile...like 11:30 pace. That was way too fast so I had to slow down after that. I was exhausted at the end of the race and all day. I didn't want to do that again for this race and I have really been working hard on keeping a constant pace outside.
To help me, I set my run keeper to only tell me my average pace every 2 minutes. Normally it tells me time, distance, and pace every 5 minutes but I knew 5 minutes was too long to correct the pace. It is strapped to my arm so I can't really look at it while running plus every time I try to play with my phone while I am running it makes me kinda dizzy.
I ran the first mile straight with a little over a 13 minute mile pace. I'm pretty happy with that. I was getting a little fatigued as I went and my pace kept getting a little slower and slower as I went. For the last part of the race we had to lap around this circle once and then part of it again before hitting the finish line. So when I was doing my lap around and passed the finish line it was at 36 minutes so I had a feeling that when I actually crossed it I wouldn't make my 40 minute goal.
Honestly I was kind of disappointed with myself that I didn't get a sub-40 time but this engine just didn't have any more steam. I could always say that I could have done this better or done that better but it doesn't really matter now. All I can do is just keep working harder and eventually I know I will get it.
So I learned a few things here:
1) I am getting better at keeping a constant pace! Yay!
2) I can run a whole mile outside so I need to make myself start doing that.
3) You can't PR every race it is an accomplishment just getting out there.
Here are a few pics I took...you can see how gloomy it was out there.
As you probably know I am not from Texas but I love their spirit and humor. :)
I have a 10K coming up in 3 weeks back home in New Orleans and my next 5K is April 20th. I will be working hard to get my sub-40 then!
Until later, happy running!
Jamie
