I ran the Aerie PharmaceuticalsSt. Paddy’s Day 5k in Morristown on Saturday, March 11th. It was a bitterly cold morning but I felt the race went almost a
s well as it could have. More on the almost below. The temp was around 18 degrees but felts like 5-6 degrees. Not ideal but once I got going, I was fine. I decided to try out a new winter long sleeve from Nike that I picked up at Fleet Feet in Montclair on sale. It definitely kept me warm and was very light on me. Nothing like getting something great at the end of season sale for dirt cheap.
I ended up finishing the race in 25:55.98 for an 8:20 pace. For some reason, my chip time was the same as the clock time. I know that wasn’t the case as I wasn’t first in line haha. My watch time had it at 25:51. I ended up finishing 109 out of 638 racers. I finished 85 out of 290 males and 10 out of 27 in my age group (35-39). I was happy with a top 10 finish. Always cool to see your name in the top 10.
The course was a nice one. Very scenic. Mostly flat but had a nice steep long incline about 1.75 miles into the race. Unfortunately, this is where my “almost” part comes in. For the first time ever during a race, my shoe lace decided to come untied. Of course it was while I was going up the hill. I decided to run the rest of the hill and stop at the top to tie it on the side of the road. Of course, it had to be the one shoe I retied after warming up. I’m wondering if it would’ve come untied if I didn’t attempt to make it tighter. Ugh, it just annoyed me. I really think I would’ve ran an 8:10-8:15 pace and shaved off another 15-30 seconds of my time. It is what it is, but when things like that happen it just annoys me a bit.
My first mile pace was 8:16, second mile was 8:42 (hill + stopping to tie my shoe), third mile was 8:07, and the final .1 was 7:26 pace. I was definitely happy with how I was able to push it and have my fastest mile be at the end. I had an extra kick and when I saw the clock ticking up closer to 26, I told myself, no matter what I’m finishing with that clock still reading 25 in the minute holder.
It was good to get out there for another race in preparation for the NJ Half Marathon on April 30th. No matter what, it’s good to run with others, remember how it feels to dodge people and not have to worry about traffic. I always run faster too during races. I like to identify a few people around where I’m running to help pace me as the race distances itself. Plus, nothing beats sprinting to the finish with people cheering for the runners. So motivating.
I’ll definitely consider running this race again next year. The organizers did a really nice job with it and it was an enjoyable course. Hopefully it’s just not as cold next year.
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