Burgers & Beer 5km Mini-Race Recap

Super short on time this week so thought I'd throw a few thoughts down on (virtual) paper while they're still fresh in my mind.

I had headed to Universal Sole at Lakeshore East on Thursday evening last week to pick up my race number and tshirt. It's a cute recycled cotton shirt (in keeping with a green race), a little yellow for my liking but not so yellow that I will never wear it.

The race was Monday night, with a 7.00pm kick-off. It was a hot(ish) and humid night for running. Particularly as I'm not really an evening runner to begin with. I started off with a one mile warm up. This turned out to be a good idea as my legs weren't down with the idea of running initially.

I didn't really have a solid goal for the race as I haven't done a 5km race in a very long time. Add the weather to that and I was in unknown territory.

My approach was to run at a pace that felt uncomfortable but not unmanageable and to run by feel only. I knew looking at my watch to see my pace would psych me out - a fast pace would result in thinking I couldn't maintain it and a slower pace would leave me feeling defeated.

It was an out and back course from outside Lakeshore East running south to the Museum Campus and then back up again. The path was a little crowded with participants and the odd non-runner and a bit uneven on the out section. I saw one guy after the race who looked like he'd taken a tumble at some point on the course which wasn't that surprising.

My previous best 5km time was around 32:30 which I knew I could beat but where I would end up was somewhat of an unknown.

The unofficial results put me at 28:33. I am actually very happy with that, especially given the conditions. Plus I remember when I started running semi-seriously (also known as training for my first half marathon) - I was living in Canberra and there was a loop path known as the "Bridge to Bridge" going around part of Lake Burley Griffin which was 5km. I ran that loop frequently as part of my training. Back then, the idea of being able to run that loop in under 30 minutes was a magical "in my dreams" idea. I get frustrated sometimes because I'm not really a very fast runner but when I think back to then, I can see how far I've actually come and that means that there is so much possibility of where I may still go.