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Firestone Grand Prix 5k

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Location:

St. Petersburg,FL,

Member Since:

Dec 30, 2014

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

  • 5k - 3/8/14 - Armadillo Run - 15:58
  • 10k - 2/7/15 - BDR, Safety Harbor - 33:17
  • 15k - 2/21/15 - Gasparilla - 51:05
  • 1/2 - 12/14/14 - Holiday Halfathon - 1:13:31
  • Marathon - 10/04/15 - Twin Cities - 2:38:46

Short-Term Running Goals:

2016 Races

Clearwater Halfathon - Jan 11
Donna Hicken Marathon - Feb 14
Gasparilla 15k - Feb 20
Florida Beach Halfathon - Mar 6
??? Chicago Marathon ???

Long-Term Running Goals:

Find balance. Run with my girls. Break 15 in the 5k.

Personal:

Born in 1973 in Southern California.

Ran in high school for Arcadia. They have a famous cross-country team now. In my day, we were famous for dodging our coach during runs.

Over the next 15 years I ran very little, but life was awesome. I lived mostly in Northern California, where I met my wife. We moved back to her native state of Florida in 2005, where I gradually started running more seriously.

 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Race: Firestone Grand Prix 5k (3.04 Miles) 00:15:28, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.003.000.0012.00

AM: 3 miles, couple strides.

PM: 9 miles.

Fun local race last night. It rained lightly until about 15 minutes before race start. This plus the cloudy skies made for better conditions than we've had in weeks.

After months of battling injury, a teammate and great runner - Sean Gallagher - made it out last night. He is not near peak fitness, but he still took the race out fast with a couple high school kids and other ambitious types trailing in a phalanx behind. He's one of those guys who will go out hard no matter what, and it's pretty awesome.

I wasn't sure what to expect from most of those runners, but one guy I knew was serious was Mike, who was hanging a bit back with me. After about a third of a mile we moved up to the front and starting setting the pace. One of the kids came with us, and lasted until about mile 1.25.

This event is a precursor to an IndyCar race held annually in downtown St. Petersburg. The 5k winds through the narrow canyons of walls built up to contain the cars. I ran steady and tried to slowly lower the pace. Mike remained with me until shortly after the 2 mile mark, when I was able to open a small gap. With him close behind, I was motivated to keep moving - knowing that if we were close at all near the finish line he would crush me.

Sadly, reports of the short course proved true. It measured between 3.04-3.06 from the informal survey I took. We estimated it took 20-30 seconds off an actual 5k time.

I was very happy with this race. I wanted a test run before the track race in two weeks, and I was hoping I had some 5k fitness. Everything came off well, and I think I have a shot at running 15:4x on the track.

One impressive constrast that really stood out was how far Mike has come in a year. We raced a 5k for the first time almost a year ago. In that span he has gone from a guy in the upper 17s to hovering close to the 16 minute barrier. At this time next year, I'll be chasing him.

Splits:

  1. 5:09
  2. 5:06
  3. 5:02

Comments
From Bret on Sat, Mar 28, 2015 at 19:05:59 from 99.1.220.106

Well done Drew! Did they wave the checkered flag when you won?

From Drew on Sun, Mar 29, 2015 at 12:55:09 from 24.92.19.68

Thanks Bret - sadly no flag, just a few golf claps.

Of course, I still did my usual post-race ritual of pointing at the sky, dropping for a set of pushups then kissing the ground, and my biceps.

From SlowJoe on Sun, Mar 29, 2015 at 17:12:02 from 104.51.208.13

Nice work Drew. Weird, I have the same post-race ritual, but I incorporate it into every training run too, and add some screaming.

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