March 11, 2012

Corktown 5K Race Report

Let me start by saying that the Corktown 5k was NOT the best choice to try and PR a 5K. I had no idea how big it was going to be! There were 8,000 runners on an out-and-back course (meaning you can only run on half the road).

I had some goals in mind for it: My "A" goal was to finish sub-26:00. It would be tough, but I thought I could maybe do it. My "B" goal was to finish sub-27:00. My previous PR (personal record) was 27:17, so my "C" goal was to just PR with anything less than that.

I had fun getting ready this morning, dressing festively for the St. Patty's race. I wore the green sparkle skirt that I made for Jessica and me, and black running capris and a black shirt. I wore my green wrist warmers that I made, along with a headband that I made out of leftover fabric from the skirts. Oh, and Jessica sprayed my hair green:

The race didn't start until noon, so Jessica and I left at around 10:00 this morning for Detroit. We found it easily enough, and parked in a spot that worried me we'd get towed. There were already a lot of people there. We met up with my friend Renee and her husband (her husband Dave was running) and their kids. Jessica and I walked around and got a couple of pictures:

Jessica has a thing for men in kilts ;)
I made a decision at that point that if you know me at all, you would realize was just CRAZY for me. I decided not to wear my Garmin Forerunner during the race. (Insert gasp here). I know, totally insane, right? I've never done a race (even walking the half-marathons in the past) without wearing a Garmin. I've never even run outside in my life without my Garmin!

The truth was, I was really discouraged by the number of people in this race, and I had a feeling it meant I wasn't going to hit my goals. I knew that if I wore the Garmin, I would constantly be looking to make sure I hit that 8:20ish pace to get a sub-26:00 time. So by choosing not to wear the Garmin, I was basically saying that I would just let it be. I would run for fun, and if I didn't meet any of my goals, so be it.

When it was time to race, I got up near the front but not TOO close to the start line. I didn't want to get stuck with all the walkers and run/walkers, because it's hard to dodge people in a crowd of 8,000. When the gun sounded, I could barely trot, let alone run. It was super packed.

As always in the beginning of a race, my mouth went dry and my heart was racing before I even got to my "happy pace". I get so nervous, and then the adrenaline on top of nerves just makes me feel like my chest is going to explode. I couldn't stop thinking about how dry my mouth was.

The first half-mile or so was pretty difficult to have a steady pace, because people were weaving all over the place. I just tried not to fall, and that was all that was on my mind. About a mile of the course was on a brick road, and that was hard to run on. The bricks weren't very even in areas, so I was just trying to watch my footing.

Since it was an out-and-back route, at mile 1.5 we had to go around a big inflatable pole thing and run back to the start. When I got to the 2-mile marker, a man was yelling out times, and he said that it was 15:45 from the gun start. When I heard that, I thought, "Holy shit! That's less than an 8-minute mile that I'm running!!" Figuring that I didn't cross the start line until about 15 seconds after the gun time, I figured I was running about an 8:00/mi pace. I stepped it up a little there with one mile to go, but I was really feeling exhausted.

The last mile seemed to go on forever! However, at the very end, you have to go around a corner and then the finish line is about 1/10th of a mile after that turn. So the finish line kind of sprang up on me unexpectedly, which was nice.

As I got close to the clock, I saw it read 27:14, so I knew I didn't hit my 'A' goal. I almost just slowed down since I didn't reach the goal, but I realized that 27:17 was my previous PR, so I wanted to finish before that number hit. I crossed the finish line running HARD, and the clock said 27:16--it was then that I realized that I forgot to take into account my chip time, so my time was actually less than that. I knew that the 2-mile mark of 15:45 had to have been wrong. I know I didn't slow down the third mile.

And since I didn't wear my Garmin, I had no clue what my results were!

 I met up with Jessica and we found Renee and Dave. We went to the beer tent to get our free beer. It wasn't green, like I expected. It was a darker beer though, and I didn't like it, so I ended up giving mine to Dave.

We went to a bar for a little while, hanging around outside (it was super crowded). I had a beer there. Renee and Dave left with their boys, and Jessica and I walked around a little bit more and chatted with a friend of hers. We left right as the parade was starting. Even if we wanted to see the parade, it was way too crowded to see anything.
This was just one small part of the sidewalk


I looked up my results when I got home:
So at least I hit my B goal! And I can cross this one off my 30-in-30 list. But I still kind of want to strive to hit that sub 26:00 ;)  There is a 5K in September that Dave was telling me was a good one to try to PR, because it's really small and an easy route.

Anyway, here is the medal we got--it's pretty nice!
Over all, I'm pretty happy with the race. I'm happy to have met my sub-27:00 goal (barely), especially when it was so crowded.

28 comments:

  1. WooHoo! I just got home from church and made my kids lunch and came online hoping you'd already posted something about your race. You did AWESOME! I applaud your decision NOT to wear your Garmin. You've been motivating me! Yesterday I signed up for my first 5k, on St. Patrick's day. It will be walked, for the most part. I'm extremely nervous and full of anxiety. I don't know if it helped or not hearing that you, an amazing runner/half-marathoner, were nervous for your 5k. CONGRATS!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I get nervous before EVERY race--doesn't matter how long or short, big or small. I feel like I'm going to vomit before it starts ;)

      Congrats on signing up for your first 5K--that's awesome! I know it probably means nothing coming from me (who just admitted the extent of my own nerves), but try not to be nervous and just enjoy it. Especially if you're walking! Bring your camera and take some nice pics along the way.

      Delete
  2. Way to go!!!! Happy St. Patty's Day early. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am SO happy for you! That's awesome! Look at where you came in for gender and division!!! You came in ahead of nearly 90% of all the other women, including women your age! That is FRICKIN' AWESOME!!!!!! I am so proud of you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow I love that medal for a 5K! So cool! I have a St. Patty's 5K next Saturday called Kegs and Eggs because they are giving free beer and free hot breakfast after the race! :) But I know we won't get a medal, which stinks. But I'm definitely going to dress up for it! I have to get a move on and figure out what I'm going to wear! I might go to Goodwill and see if I can find anything there for it! :) And the dollar store has some cool stuff too! lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. So happy for you!! thats a beautiful medal!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is awesome!! I also was at the Corktown 5K (my first ever!!) I was one of the jog/ walkers. I finished at 53:03. Just over 16 minute miles which is a little slow for my jogging speed but it was sooo packed I would hit my pace and then get stuck behind other people... I had a great time and I am proud that I finished the 5K! Way to go on meeting your goal!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love that medal! That was a lot of racers!! I'm nervous about my first 5k coming up in the summer!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks like a lot of fun!

    That's a GREAT time, way to go!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congrats on the great time!!! I've been anxious to see how you did all day. You inspire me SO MUCH!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great job!!! And I love the skirt. I'll look on your site for a tutorial. I can (barely) sew straight lines but I think I need to try to make me one of those. Very cute!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congrats on the great race! Love the sparkly skirt and accessories :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is the Shannon again that saw you. Sorry about not saying 'hi', but I was SUPER nervous and (like you) when I saw everyone I freaked out more and got a little depressed knowing I wouldn't run very well dodging people. And at the time I didn't even know about the uneven bricks. It was tons of fun seeing everyone dressed up though. Did you see the potato?! Haha.

    After the race was done (which I did get stuck behind everyone) and ended up not getting a medal (even though I signed up in January!! :( I started looking around for you again, because I decided I could say hi then. But I couldn't find you. I am looking forward to the Martian run though and if I see you then I promise I'll say something. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm the opposite w/ my Garmin and races. I do wear it to races so I can analyze my splits after the fact, but I put it on clock view (no pace) and refuse to look at it. I find that it slows me down because I get fearful of the fast pace. Or I just stress about not making a PR the whole way. Nice job your race! Big races are tough to PR, so double congrats. Looked like a fun one.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Nice job! I saw most of the race today but I couldn't spot you and your cool skirt! It was crazy down town today!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I've been following your blog for awhile but didn't realize you were near Detroit!! I'm from Dearborn (but now I live in Utah).

    ReplyDelete
  16. Congrats on hitting your B GOAL!!! You and Jessica look super cute!!!

    www.willbeskinnyernie.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Congrats on the new PR! You did a great job, and looked awesome while powering your way to the finish line. Love the medal too!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great job! And I love the hair :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Way to go!! This is awesome!!!

    Love the green hair, too...so festive! :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Bought my granddaughter a new Barbie, it has pink streaks in her blonde hair. My daughter-in-law saw it and said, "I'd like to do that to Amber's hair." I was horrified. I said, "Maybe temporarily."
    I like the green hair, but I'm glad it washed out. Also loved the green sparkly skirts, and arm and headbands--SO CUTE! WTG on the PR!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Your time is awesome! I aspire to be able to do that someday. I'm running a 5k on Saturday that's called the Shamrock 5k, and I am excited. If I can do it in less than 32 minutes, I will be happy with that. That medal is really cool. They aren't giving medals at the race I'm doing, but my kids are doing the 1k kids run and they get one, so they are super excited. :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Yay for the time - that is awesome. I LOVE the outfit. I am a boring runner - I've never dressed up for a race before. Maybe I should start... Way to go, Katie!

    Amanda

    ReplyDelete
  24. Love the outfits and hair! Congrats on the new PR!!! It was my first Corktown race too and I thought it was so much fun with everyone dressed up all festive!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I have my first 5k in two weeks and I couldn't be any more nervous! I am afraid I will start off too fast and then not have enough in me to finish strong!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I am such a nerd when it comes to detail so I have a weird question. How did you and your friend get consecutive race/bib numbers? I am assuming because you registered together or picked up your race packets together? In the races I have done (about 30-40 total, all local to me), they determine race number by your last name (for pre-registrants). So for the Shamrock run here, my husband and I had consecutive race numbers (we obviously have the same last name). Anyway, just curious how other areas/races do things! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I paid for Jessica's race as a birthday gift, so I registered both of us together--which is why we have consecutive numbers. But I didn't even realize that until you pointed it out! :)

      Delete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

Featured Posts

Blog Archive