Anthem 5K Preview

The first road race of the 2011 season is tomorrow morning. The Anthem 5K is the first leg of the Louisville Triple Crown of running. Net proceeds from this race go the WHAS Crusade for Children, which helps children with special needs.

If you follow this blog, you know that I am raising money on my own for a similar cause. For more info on the kids that I'm raising money for, click here.

I'm definitely excited to get the race season underway. Triathlon's are what I train for, but the running only races are a fun way to start off and finish the triathlon season. I've only done the Anthem 5K two previous times, in 2009 and 2010. Last year I managed to shave 3 minutes and 5 seconds off of my 2009 time...that kind of improvement isn't going to happen this year!

My PR in this race is 21:23, which works out to a pace of 6:52 minutes/mile. This seems like a good pace, but I've managed to clock a 21:52 during the run portion of a sprint triathlon before (after swimming and biking), so I think I have room to improve.

My goal this year is to cross the finish line in under 21 minutes. In order to do this, my pace needs to be 6:45 minutes/mile or better.

Swag hooked my up with some lighter shoes, the Asics DS Trainer 16 (see picture to the right) to use for speed training and short distance races (such as a 5K). My current shoe, the Asics GEL-Foundation 9 weighs 13.3 oz. The DS Trainer weighs 10.0 oz. So will carrying .41 pounds less makes me faster? I've only had them on once and only did a mile and a half...so we'll see if the shoes can help me reach my goal in the morning. Forecast is calling for a few clouds temps in the low 30's - sounds perfect!




RECENT WORKOUTS:
2/19/11: Run - Aerobic Zone run - kept HR low (8.02 miles in 1:05:00)
2/21/11: Run - Aerobic Pacing test - HR below 150 bpm (6.87 miles in 58:27) - avg mile was 8:38
2/21/11: Weights - Strength Superset Series
2/22/11: Bike - LT test - 40 minutes at hard pace to establish LT HR (23 miles in 1:05:01)
2/23/11: Swim - TrainSmart Swim Group - 3800 yd in 1:29:20
2/24/11: BRICK - 90 minute bike (21 miles), 2 min. transition, 10 minute run (1.5 miles)
2/25/11: Swim - Easy swim (1470 yd in 27:06)