Friday, July 4, 2008

Preservation Pottstown 5k, Sub 23!!

It started out kinda goofy... I drove out to Pottstown with plenty of time before the race. Then, I got into town and started driving around. The race didn't really put good information on the website about where it was located... So, I was left to a couple good guesses and the help of the locals. After about 15 minutes of driving around Pottstown (almost thinking I wasn't going to run), I finally found the location.

I went through my pre-race routine.... You know, pacing around nervously, trying to find a place to go to the bathroom and checking my Garmin a million times to be sure it was working. Then, we went to line up...

I started out strong. And, for the first time, I used the Garmin feature that gives you a running average of the mile as opposed to your pace at that moment. That helped me scale back as I was running too fast and pick up tempo when I was slowing down. The only thing I don't like about it was the constant micro-managing of the race. But, if it helps me accomplish my goal, I guess I can deal with it.

I got out a little faster (but not too fast) in the first mile than I wanted to. I ran the first mile in 7:13. I was actually thinking that pace was sustainable. I was shooting for 7:20s the whole way through... So, as long as I was running under that pace, I was happy.

Then, the second mile came in pretty darn close to goal pace. I was starting to struggle half way through the mile. Despite that, I tried to hold the pace and push through it. For the most part, it worked. I ran a 7:21 for that mile. But, I knew I was in for a fight in the last mile.

The last 1.1 was exactly that. I fought my way through and the pace fell off a bit. But, I still managed to run a 7:39 for the last mile and kick it in at the end. I finished the race in 22:53!! Sub 23, finally! So glad to have that monkey off my back.

The race organizers goofed up a bit by not writing race day registrants names on the pull off piece of the bib. So, as a result, the organization of results was really a mess. I went up and made sure that they had my name with my result and took off. It was going to take far too long to figure that mess out and I wanted to get back to the family. Knowing how bad their web presence was for the registration process, I'm guessing there isn't going to be a web results page. But, I'll keep my eyes peeled. I did manage to find out that I finished 56th. No clue how many total runners though.

9 comments:

Topher said...

Congratulations! That's an awesome time. Isn't it cool when you predict a PR on your blog for the whole world to see, and it comes to fruition?

Enjoy the long weekend!

Anonymous said...

Way to go man! I knew you were going to crush it. I didn't want to say too much and make you freak out, but you were running too strong to not break 23. I guess that means I have to now too. :(

stevespeirs said...

Many congrats! Sub-23 is awesome; really pleased for you Eric.

Sounds like the last 1.1 was exactly how the last 1.1 is supposed to be; a fight and a struggle and a sprint to the line.

Enjoy the moment, enjoy the weekend and start thinking about sub-22...

Cheers!

--Steve

Bill said...

Congrats man, sweet run.

Eric Gervase said...

Sub 22... mmm...

Thanks all. I thought it was going to take a disaster for me not to PR. But, I'm super thrilled with a sub 23. Marathon training here I come.

Don S. said...

sweet! congrats! bet you can't wait to tell justin you beat his PR by 0:02 haha

ulachopi said...

Congrats! That's a really impressive run!

Eric Gervase said...

Hey Don... I had no idea what Justin's time was. In fact, I thought we might have been tied. Can't wait.

Nitmos said...

Congratulations! I know you worked hard for it! You are on that nice, fat part of the bell curve where you can see huge time progress in your training. A bunch of PR's are right there in front of you.

Get on with marathon training. Amen.