It's all relative

Belleair Sunset 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: Belleair Sunset 5k (3.107 Miles) 00:15:58, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.133.117.24

Belleair Sunset 5k Race Report

I feel weird doing a race report for such a short race, but as my first time *really* breaking 16 minutes, I felt compelled!  

Weather: Very windy, hot, humid, ~80 degrees, cloudy.

Training: Let's be honest, I haven't been training for a 5k, I've been training for basically a marathon as I was planning on racing tomorrow.  However, the Clearwater half marathon race was cancelled (believe that?!?!) for tomorrow, so Anthony and I decided to walk up and register for this race a couple of hours beforehand as we didn't want to waste a taper.  Although I was feeling very fit, I was worried about the race being so fast.  Anthony and I both knew what we wanted- to break 16.

The race: I decided to just shoot for 5:09 per mile and hope there'd be people running quickly to make it easier- fortunately, my wish was granted.  Mile 1 had five different guys clock in under 5:10, with a local, Christian leading Anthony, Ken, and me (yes that's proper grammar believe it or not) by a couple of seconds through mile 1.  At that point, I knew at the next turn (and the 20 mph wind) was going to come as a ridiculous, strong headwind so I chose to tuck in behind Christian.  He.  Did.  Not.  Like.  That.  He literally took one glance at me over his shoulder and shot to the other side of the road as if I had rabies.  Which I don't think I have...  Hmmm...  I could feel Anthony laughing at how ridiculous it must have looked from behind.  Interestingly, I just decided to pass Christian instead to hold the pace and the kid tucks in right behind me along with Anthony!  Serves me right I suppose... beating me at my own game.

Mile 2 continued like that for a bit until the turnaround and at that spot things got a bit more serious.  However, the way the route is set up, they don't take you back the same way, so the now tailwind was much lighter on the return which was unfortunate.  Mile 3 began with just Anthony and me stride for stride as Christian had fallen apart and somehow was about 30 seconds back after just a half mile and now Ken was on his heels.  Anthony was a step or two back, and I finally felt like we were going to do it- we were going to break 16 in a road race!  I needed that push, and needed him here today to do it, to feel strong enough to mentally.  We got through mile 3 a little slower than anticipated (for once I actually think I should have looked at my watch to fix my pacing), and I saw the clock 200 meters away, clicking away in the upper 15:20s.  I had a very strong surge at the end, putting about 6 seconds on Anthony and flying under the clock as 15:58 rolled onto the screen.  

I know getting under 16 is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but it's one of those barriers that is just haunting in a way.  I'm glad I'm through it.  Winning the race was truly an afterthought.  Anthony finished in 16:05, Christian in 16:53, and the other guy leading with us at mile one, Ken, in 16:56.

Splits-  5:06, 5:09, 5:16, 0:27

Comments
From Mark on Sun, Jan 22, 2017 at 18:09:49 from 47.203.200.24

Way to go Mike! I can't believe Clearwater was cancelled. I had missed a good bit of training due to being sick but thought about jumping into it but looks like have to wait until next year for that one.

From Tom K on Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 07:54:56 from 66.87.122.128

Breaking 16 totally makes up for the cancelled race, and the win is just icing on the cake! Great race report!

I am curious though, did you talk to Christian after the race? Maybe he should have let you draft, huh? Ha!

From Jason D on Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 13:24:37 from 24.127.111.174

Congratulations on the PR and win, Mike. Those minute barriers in the 5k are special as it gets increasingly hard (and at times unlikely) to hit the next one.

From Drew on Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 17:45:37 from 173.171.194.85

MIKE!!!

Quint told me you broke 16 today! Reading this made my day. I'm really happy for you. I know how much work you've put in and I think this is a big deal- for you personally and inspiring for all of us running with you. Maybe it won't be such a big deal next year when you're running 15:30 :)

Your training looks great and I expect this will be one of many PRs in 2017.

A lot of other things cross my mind but I'll save them for the next long run, assuming I can hang with you long enough to get em out. :)

From Mike M on Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 06:52:09 from 168.213.5.107

Mark- thanks buddy! Was hoping to see you randomly at Clearwater, figured you'd be doing it.

Tom & Jason- thank you :) And Christian didn't mention it, but Anthony was laughing about it for a while after, so I'm happy I wasn't seeing things...

Drew- Thank you for your support. I can't wait to compare it to what it felt like when you broke it. I honestly have no idea how you did that solo.

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: