I ran the "Dash Around the Point 5K" this morning finishing in a time of 20:06 by my watch, which was good enough for the female win.
I signed up for this race as a rust-buster of sorts - my first race back after taking a (not a) season break and then doing some hills/tempo work. It was on Hains Point, which is a nice flat route with a well marked, certified out and back course for the 5K distance. Interestingly, the course posted on the website was NOT the certified course. But it was pretty similar, and I'm not currently fit enough to care whether a course is certified.
I got to the parking lot around 6:50 for the 8 am race, which was the perfect amount of time to grab my bib and warm-up. I noted them laying a mat in the parking lot very close to my car as I grabbed my bib - I couldn't figure out why they needed a mat there since it wasn't anywhere near the start/finish.
But after I finished, as I saw the racers lining up for the 10K (which preceded the 5K), I realized that they were not going with the course on the website. Rather, we'd start right next to my car (which fortunately was not in the way) run about 10m one direction, then around a median and double back on ourselves. From there, we'd exit the parking lot, make a right turn to go through a gap about 10 feet wide between a police car and a curb, and then we'd be on Hains Point. From there, we'd do an out and back before doing the reverse curly-Q to get back to the finish.
The pre-race email had included the statement:
"Masks are also required on NPS-managed lands when physical distancing cannot be maintained, including narrow or busy trails, overlooks and historic homes." There are a few sections of the trail in the race that could be fairly busy and very difficult to stay 6+ feet away from others. We understand no one wants to wear a mask when running, but please abide by this new ruling when you near other runners, bicyclists, and other members of the public.
which had made no sense to me at the time - Hains Point has plenty of room for spacing/social distancing. I assumed the statement was boilerplate for all their races. But....in light of the new course, this made much more sense.
Per their Covid protocols, we were sent off in waves of about 15 each. We did not start at the start line, but rather some distance back, so we could be spaced out, with masks on. Then, when the race was started, everyone ran to the start line and we were off.
As is normal for me, I got dropped by everyone at the start. Which meant that I was at the back of the group for the tight turns and the police car gap. (I guess this is where the fact that I never raced cross country shows - I'm one of those people that would totally get trapped behind a pack the whole race). After we made it past the police car, space opened up and I was able to start working my way past others. I was fifth woman when I passed the police car and turned onto Hains Point, but was able to pass women 4, 3, and 2 fairly easily as soon as I had room to do so.
There was a woman from Georgetown Running Club (one of my running team's friendly rivals) ahead of me, so I kept my eye on her, gently working my way towards her and a man Once I bridged up to them, I sat there for a bit. But the pace didn't feel right for a 5K, so I picked it up.
There wasn't much except open road ahead of me at that point. I could see a figure in the far distance, so I focused on him, trying to reel him in (surprisingly, I almost did catch him by the end).
That was pretty much the rest of the race - the most exciting thing was the turnaround cone, which I executed poorly. (note to self - remember that you run turnarounds much faster when you swing wide so you don't slow down too much).
The return to the start/finish area was much easier than the departure since I didn't have anyone blocking me. I kicked as best I could though the turns and then I was done. With my car nicely right there to grab my rain coat (it was gently raining during the race).
Splits by Garmin autolap (no mile markers) were:
Mile 1: 6:42
Mile 2: 6:30
Mile 3: 6:17
last bit: 37 seconds.
***
I have to admit, I ran a lot slower today than I was expecting to. So that was disappointing. On the other hand, my splits are lopsided, indicating that I likely left time on the table. I think some of that is getting stuck behind others at the start, and some is that I was too conservative in the first half of the race. I didn't feel like I was working hard until the last mile - not ideal in a 5K.
I'm not too worried about all of this. Since my break I haven't been doing the types of workouts that would lead to a good 5K, save the one set of half-mile repeats I did this past Tuesday. I'm just not calloused to that type of effort. My team is restarting track workouts this week, and I think I'm in a good place right now to respond quickly to those. In the meantime, I got a race in, and all races are good practice.
Other notes:
- Weather was 46 degrees and light rain, with not much wind. Which is some of my favorite weather to run in. My breathing was great.
- When chatting with one of the race managers, I asked afterwards why they hadn't gone with the posted course. He didn't offer an answer, just chatted about something else . I honestly can't figure out why - Hains Point was completely closed to traffic anyways, so it would have just been a matter of putting the timing mat and the turnaround cone in a different place. Huh.
- In retrospect, I wonder how the race would have gone if I had deliberately sat at the back of my group of 15, let them go for 5-10 seconds at the start to give some space and then crossed the starting line. Maybe something to try if I do this course in this set of circumstances again.
- Any time you get to race in the time of Covid is a good race.
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