2013 CORVALLIS FALL FESTIVAL 5K RACE REPORT

The course, same as always. I really like this run... slight uphill to start and then downhill to the finish.

Are any of you surprised I ended up actually racing this event and almost PRing? No? Neither am I. I set out to "take it easy" but had a feeling that I would feel decent enough and end up running harder than I planned. That is exactly what happened, although I still felt I was only going 95%. I had no intentions of being that close to a PR. It was kind of similar to the Pints to Pasta race a few weeks ago... went in having no expectations and was seconds away from getting a new record.

So Libbie and I left around 7:20am. Last year we left at 6:55am. This year I just didn't care as much. Libbie had forgotten about the race and I basically forgot it too. I remembered early on in the week, then it just kind of slipped my mind, and then on Saturday I remembered again. The weather was (still is) TERRIBLE outside. We are in the middle of the worst rain/wind storm I can remember in years. It is like a mini-hurricane out there. Anyways, I half expected us to just say "fuck it" to the 75 minute journey each way. We ended up doing it though and I am glad we did!

We got there just a few minutes before registration was closing. After getting our bibs, I ran my t-shirt back to the car in a little warm up jog. By the time I got back to the start the race was 3 minutes from starting. Cutting it close! It was good though, I didn't have much time to think or stress about possibly hurting myself. We noticed there was no timing mat at the start line... so all times were gun times. Turns out looking back this was the case in 2012 too. In 2011 they had a mat at the beginning and chip times. Kind of weird, because the race was chip timed, just at the end though.

Libbie and I at the finish line.

When the bell went off I went into what I felt was around a 7:30/mile pace. Not surprisingly, it ended up being faster, but I was feeling pretty good. It wasn't too hard and I was in the top 15 people or so. I was paying special attention to my recent muscle strain in the buttular region. Fortunately, I couldn't feel a thing which made me feel confident. The feeling of anything being wrong down there had definitely faded the previous couple of days, so not having it feel like anything at all was great. The only real pain I was having was what felt like shin splints in my left leg. I had played indoor soccer for over two hours on Friday night and was a little banged up from that, so I believe that was the culprit.

The mile one marker came right as my phone read off the first mile time. Rarely are they synced that perfectly. 7:05 mile. Certainly a little slower than my 6:50 some odd mile last year, but right near the 7:00/mile overall PR pace. Just hold onto 7:05s and I would get about 22 minutes. Perfect. I kept running, feeling more and more confident. There are some light uphills... didn't bother me a bit. There was some puddle dodging due to the weather, but nothing too bad. Eventually I hit the mile two marker, which again, was right where my phone said it would be. 7:01. Alright!

So at this point I know I'm just above record pace and having a good race. I didn't really feel the need to push it, so I just kept my pace up. At one point there was a giant puddle in the way of the optimal course line. Everybody was running around it, probably adding 20 yards to their distance. I made the decision to just plow through it. I got wet but based on the fact I was now ahead of people who were in front of me before, it was worth it. My lungs were burning but my legs felt great, the way a 5k should feel.

Eventually there was a small hill up the Memorial Union (not a problem) and then I knew it was the home stretch. I picked up my pace a little. I tried to attack the downhill portion as much as I could but couldn't really go all out because I was scared of hurting myself, either due to over exertion or slipping on the wet ground covered with leaves. So I reeled myself in a little for long term survival. I hit mile three with a 7:00 mile on the nose. Into the finish I rolled. I couldn't see the clock until I had about 15 yards to go and saw that I would be a few seconds short of a PR. Oh well.

Depsite missing tying my PR by 5 seconds (I ran a 21:50, compared to 21:45 last year) I wasn't disappointed at all. I ran a great race and most importantly didn't injure myself. Last year I was WIPED at the finish line and it took me a few minutes to even come to my senses. This year I was pretty much fine as soon as I stopped running. Heavy breathing for 30 seconds yes, but coherent and able to thank the volunteers. Had there been no marathon next weekend and I was able to flip the switch from "Hard Effort" to "Balls to the Wall Leave it All Out There" mode I have no doubt I would have PRed.

So that was really encouraging! For doing nothing but long distance training the last 6 months I am still getting stronger in the shorter races too. Once I am recovered from the marathon I'd like to sign up for a 5K and maybe try to set a new PR. We'll see. Overall I was very encouraged with this race and glad we battled the elements to get it done! This is the race where all this running mumbo jumbo started so I always enjoy coming back here to pay tribute!

Official Results: 21:50, 7:02/mile. 16/303 overall. 11/101 all males, 2/14 M25-29.