San Diego 5K "Downhill into Downtown"

Daylight savings time makes race morning particularly brutal! 5:00 a.m. felt much much earlier! It was a 7:14 a.m. start.

This race started less than a mile from my house, so I jogged up to the start and lined up just a few minutes before the race began.

Mile 1 - 6:14: Right on target. I planned on the first mile at 6:15, which I think is more or less my "5K pace."

Mile 2 - 6:05: I knew the downhill started toward the end of mile 2, so I picked up the pace.

Mile 3 - 5:42: This race is advertised as "Downhill into Downtown." It's fast. I didn't realize exactly how downhill this course was. In comparison to other 5Ks I've run, the last mile ran itself! So the challenge was to keep my effort level at a 5K effort - rather than just cruising down the hill at 5K pace.

There's 5K effort.

The last 0.1 - 5:25 pace: At the end of mile 3 and in the last stretch, I was trying to catch the 3rd and 4th place women. But they were playing cat and mouse with each other and picked up the pace too.

3rd and 4th place finishers with me (orange shorts) trying to catch them

But I was able to keep the 6th place finisher from passing me in the final stretch. It was a pretty competitive race. I guess every one had some gas left in the tank at the end.

6th place finisher on my tail!

18:47 (6:03 average pace)

2nd of 112 in division F30-34, and 5th female of 663. 27th of 1054 overall.

Two Little Runners

Kristen