Unionville Festival 5K June 2012

25:12 (5:02min/km)
M30-39(2) M(35) O(48/214) 

The story of this race is long and interesting. Originally it was meant to satisfy my own ego. I live in Unionville and this race was hosted in Unionville during our annual Unionville Festival. I always call Toogood Pond my "backyard". So I wanted to PB and hopefully sub 25 in my own "backyard". After the good result I got in April's MEC 5k race, I was even more determined to achieve the sub 25 goal. I trained so hard in the month of May, I even doubled my mileage from April to May. To do all this just make my ego happy.

One day we received a message from Tu, to most of Felix's running friends. The message was about Felix was going to move to BC and everyone chip in $5 to register for Felix so he could do this race with us. It's a way to thank him for the past years inspiring and helping us in running. Immediately everybody agreed to register for Felix without Felix and Judy's permission. But the race conflicted with Ride for Heart which Jenn and Ray already registered. We were going to pick Pearson Runway run instead, but the date was so closed to Felix's moving date already. We didn't want to cause him any trouble for his moving job, so we decided to do Unionville together. This race used to have only 5k in distance, but this year they added 10k. Not long after the MEC 5k, I was so pumped up, and I started to check for 5k races not too far away and results. One race I found very interesting was the one in New Market in the end of May 2011. They have both 5k and 10k just like Unionville Festival run. I checked their results from last year and I found out most fast runners were doing 10k. And the top three overall for 5k were 19:xx, 24:xx, 26:xx. After seeing that result, I thought to myself, maybe I had to chance to finish top 3 in my age group. So I was sooooo happy when I heard the everyone else were going to do 10k with Felix. Thanks to them I had more chances to win. Horray!!

On the race day, I was so nervous. I wasn't this nervous when I did MEC 5k in April. Probably I had higher expectation this time. It was just 20 minutes before race, I wanted to warm up but it seemed nobody else wanna warm up. I wanted to warm up because I know I can do better if I warm up properly. I left the gang and went for a jog myself, and I noticed my HR was going at 170bpm. 170bpm for warm up?? What's my race HR gonna be??? 200bpm? I started to worry and I think that actually making my HR higher. I returned to the gang after a jog and I thought "I'm probably going to screw up this race, maybe I should just aim for a PB which is anything faster than a 5:19 pace. I was worried and restless. I just wanted the race to start and get this over with.

Finally the crowd started to move toward the starting line. Within few minutes, the race started. I think I placed myself too far behind. The trail was so narrow and I had to run on grass to pass people. This was supposed to be my backyard, why did I make this stupid mistake. After going for a while, I was able to maintain 5min/km pace for the first 3km. On the 4th km I started to struggle. I was tired and out of breath and started to slow down. I really wanted to stop and walk for a bit, but I knew if I stop and walk, I was probably not going to run again. Suddenly I heard beeping sound from my watch. Oh my, 1km left. That's what I needed to know. It's only 2 and half laps on track, I could finish it. It's like the last set of interval, just bare with it and you'll be done soon. Then I was 400m before finish line, I saw quiet a few people in front of me. I wanted to attack but I had second thought. I started too early during MEC 5k and ended up breathless at the end. I thought maybe I should wait till 200m left. Then I saw group of people in front of me started to speed up but I was still hesitating whether I should follow them or not. Soon they were out of my sight from the right turn and I knew I missed the chance to attack. I ended up sprint to finish line with nobody in front of me for me to beat. But it's okay, I beat my biggest competitor which was myself, my lazy self. I finished the race with 25:12 and I was happy. Even I didn't achieve the goal of sub 25, but at least now I know I can do it. I was proud of myself. And thank you Felix, I wouldn't had done this without your coaching and encouragements in the passed years. And now, no more slacking and start all over each year. I'll keep improving and one day I'll be able to race against my running friends.

This was the biggest win for us. We grabbed total of 5 medals. Felix AG1, Tu AG2, Jack AG3, Daniel AG2, and me AG2. Now we can really claim Toogood Pond is OUR BACKYARD!

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 25:14.3 5.02 5:02 1 4:59.7 1.00 5:00 2 5:02.8 1.00 5:03 3 5:01.2 1.00 5:01 4 5:17.4 1.00 5:17 5 4:51.0 1.00 4:51 6 :02.3 0.02 2:26