It's all relative

2019 St Pete Grand Prix 5k

Recent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesMike's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewMonth ViewYear View
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2015201620172018201920202021
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

FL,United States

Member Since:

Feb 08, 2015

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

Certified course PR's:

Mile: 4:28.0 (Florida, Jan 2020)

5K: 15:12 (FL, Jan. 2020)

10K: 31:44 (FL, Feb. 2020)

15K: 49:03 (FL, Feb. 2020)

1/2 Marathon: 1:10:34 (FL, Feb. 2020)

Marathon: 2:26:57 (WA, July 2019)

100k (63.7 miles, trail): 9:11:00 (FL, Jan. 2019)

Personal:

I started running in 2010 and have (mostly) kept it a habit ever since!  

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Race: 2019 St Pete Grand Prix 5k (3.05 Miles) 00:14:58, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.953.0510.00

St Pete Grand Prix 5k

Goal time (aided): 15:00

Final time (aided): 14:58

Course: The course itself is awesome! However, the course is notorious for being short.  Tons of twists and turns (it is a race car track set up in St Pete) all fenced in with barriers, road blocks, and the course starts and finishes on the beautiful waterfront of St Pete.  I have spoken to the race director a couple of times who assured me it was 5k, but she is definitely not correct.  I'd give it a max of 3.07, but more likely 3.04-3.05.  It is frustrating when race directors aren't even close to accurate- 100-110 meters makes a big difference in a race only 5k long.  It is even more frustrating when they call it a "5k".  I guess "4.9k" doesn't have the same ring to it.

Race- I went out on fire with nothing to lose- short course, C race, no tapering, knowing I wanted every mile under 5 minutes.  After about 10 seconds, a twenty-year-old ran out ahead of me- now, we're in business.  He had runner shorts, a tank top, head band- he had the look!  He ran the first quarter in 1:10, and the second quarter in 1:12.  Wow, 2:22 for the first 800!  I couldn't help it, I fell right into the speed trap about two steps behind him, but knew I had more.  I was confident that this gentleman was in for rude awakening based on his breathing pattern, but who knows, I've been wrong before!  We rolled through mile 1 in 4:49 and he was about 1-2 seconds ahead- way too fast, but, whatever, I was enjoying the challenge.  

Mile 2- I passed him right about here.  Oh man was trying to hang on, but I kept it fast.  I rolled through the next half mile in 2:25 and entered the first 180 degree U-turn in pit row.  He was definitely faltering here- about 15 seconds back- so I tried to relax a little, moving through mile two in 4:54.  I knew I was about to pay the price, but forget it, it was worth it... at the time.

Mile 3- This mile was cool, although I was feeling the fitness falter, especially running solo again.  The pit crews, family, car riders, etc. were all watching/drinking/talking trash while outside the fences, so that was motivating.  The frequent turns were a pain- I can't even imagine having to do that in a machine capable of such high speeds.  5:01 overall for this mile.  

The finish: I glided through with 14:58 on the clock and still had energy left, which is always a cool feeling in a 5k- I'm usually beat.  I finished with a 4:55 per mile average overall, and a 4:49-4:50/mile average is needed to break 15:00, so again- bogus course.  The guy who had been running with me finished in 15:57 or so.

Final thoughts: I had 3.06 for the distance on my watch, but I didn't care- I knew the type of race I was getting into, so I wasn't angry.  It was worth it to see "14:xx" on the clock down the last straight.  The weather turns pretty poor from here on out in Florida, but I may take another stab at a couple of races before Boston, however my main focus will be the marathon, so it will just be a no tapering scenario for them.  

I think on this day (had the course been long enough) it would have been interesting to see what I would have done if the course was certified.  Alas, it was not, so all I've got is a fun story that I hopefully won't embellish with time!  

Add Your Comment.
  • Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
  • Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
  • If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.
Only registered users with public blogs are allowed to post comments. Log in with your username and password or create an account and set up a blog.
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
Recent Comments: