10 seconds faster than last week, 1 second faster than last year, and 6 seconds off my PR.
…that pretty much sums up my performance at this year’s Trinity Berwyn 5K!

2015 marked my third consecutive year running this race. In 2013 this was the fourth race of my post-college career. That first year I struggled and had to walk up the final hill before finishing in 25:48. In 2014 the Trinity 5K fell on my birthday and I zoomed through the rain with a new PR time of 23:32 – a great way to kick off my 30s! In 2015 I basically matched my previous year’s efforts, a sign that I’m right on pace for my end-of-year races!

2015’s edition of the Trinity Berwyn 5K was held on Saturday, November 7th. The weather was ideal for running – 61° and overcast – and I drove to the race alone while Matt and Piper slept in. After the two previous years I was very familiar with the course (which actually goes through my grandma’s old neighborhood!) so I knew what my plan would be.

Although it’s generally a good idea to start a 5K slow and try to run negative splits, this race’s elevation profile gave me a different idea. After a long downhill in the first mile, the second half of this course is mostly uphill with a steep climb in the final mile. For this reason I threw rational, negative-split thinking to the wind and decided to go out FAST. I wanted to take advantage of the downhill while it lasted!

Mile 1 clicked by in 7:13, feeling smooth and very comfortable thanks to 116 feet of elevation loss. I dropped to a relatively normal (for me) 5K pace of 7:44 during mile 2. Then the fun began.

Mile 3 was tough!! Gone was the cute “run with your heart” saying from the previous week’s race. This was just “run with your training and strength and hang in there for one. more. mile.” I pushed up the big hill, remembering how I had walked it two years before. As I neared the top I passed a guy and then really tried to pick up my pace as best I could. I had covered this section of the course during my warm up and knew that I was very close to the finish.

I flew through the third mile split with a time of 8:16. I think I probably ran up the hill at 9:00++ pace which meant that I really was moving quickly by the time my watch beeped the mile time. I took the final turn into the Trinity parking lot and saw the clock. Things were a blur by this point but I knew I needed to get across that line in under last year’s time. I gave the last few meters everything I had and crossed the line in 23:31… 10 seconds better than my race the week before, 1 second better than 2014, and a mere 6 seconds off of my all-time 5K personal best. Success!

After the race I ran a long cool down through the town of Berwyn before returning to Trinity to see the final results. I finished 5th place female and 1st in my age group! I collected my medal and then drove home to Matt and Piper to tell them all about my morning.  😄

Trinity AG Medal

Berwyn Train Station

I’m taking this weekend and next off from racing. I’ll be biding my time until Thanksgiving day, when I hope to finish even faster than 23:31 at my third running of the Seven Summits Turkey Trot. Hopefully come race day I’ll be targeting a new 5K PR!

Miles since last post: 43.2
Days since last post: 9
2015 MILES: 1503.4

Past Races:
• October ’15: BAAR 5K (10/3), Double OyVey 10K (10/25) [10K PR], Boo Run 5K (10/31)
• September ’15: Run-A-Muck Trail 5K (9/19)
• August ’15: Boxcar Mile (8/13), Pickle in the Streets 5K (8/27)
• June ’15: Media 5 Mile (6/19)
• May ’15: Broad Street 10 Mile Run (5/3) [10M PR], Rocky Run Trail 5K (5/15), Victory 5K (5/17)
• April ’15: Tyler Trail 10K (4/11) [10K PR], Empower the Children 5K (4/18), Haverford Twilight 5K (4/26) [5K PR]
• March ’15: Athlete’s Closet March 5K (3/7), St. Pat’s 5K (3/14), Granogue Trail 10K (3/21), Pickle Run #3 (3/28)
• February ’15: Athlete’s Closet February 5K (2/7), Pickle Trail Run #2 (2/21)
• January ’15: SRA New Year’s Day 5K (1/1), Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/3), Pickle Run #1 (1/17)
• December ’14: Jingle Elf 2 Mile (12/5) [2M PR], Brian’s Run 5 Miler (12/7) [5M PR], Athlete’s Closet Holiday 5K (12/14)
• November ’14: Trinity Berwyn 5K (11/1)  [5K PR], Metal Run 5K (11/8), Seven Summits Turkey Trot (11/27)
• October ’14: Martin’s Run 5K (10/5), Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/18), Bark in the Park 5K (10/25)
• September ’14: Talk 5K Trail Run (9/13), Run A Muck Trail Race (9/20), Haverford Township 5K (9/27)
• August ’14: Riddlewood 5K (8/3), Radnor Red Steeplechase (8/17), Pickle in the Streets 5K (8/28) [5K PR]
• July ’14: Cam’s ‘Moonlight’ 5K (7/10), Swarthmore Independence Eve 8K (7/18) [5M PR]
• June ’14: Radnor Conservancy 5K Trail Run (6/1), Media 5 Miler (6/20)
• May ’14: Elwyn 5K (5/3), Run for Victory 5K (5/18) [5K PR], Rocky Run 5K Trail Run (5/30)
• April ’14: Las Vegas Security 5K (4/3), Rick’s Run 5K (4/19), St. Tim’s 5K (4/26)
• March ’14: Athlete’s Closet March 5 Miler (3/1), Color Out Cancer 5K (3/30)
• February ’14: Athlete’s Closet February 5K (2/1)
• January ’14: Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/4)
• December ’13: Athlete’s Closet December 5K (12/14), New Year’s Eve YMCA 5K (12/31) [5K PR]
• November ’13: Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2), Turkey Trot 5K (11/28)
• October ’13: Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19), Oy Vey 5K (10/27) [5K PR]
• September ’13: Run-a-Muck 5K (9/21)
• The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)