Race Report: Dairy Aire 5K

Chino Youth Museum Dairy Aire 5K

Chino, CA | March 7, 2015

I haven't done a 5K recap in so long, even though I'm still racing them, but I feel like today's deserves a post all on its own (even with another race coming up tomorrow morning!). This was the last race of the Chino Triple Crown series again (Reindeer Romp and Run for Russ being the other two).

With the big race just 8 days away, I wasn't sure how hard I wanted to go on this one. I knew that I wanted to push it, but maintain a solid pace so that I wouldn't burn out in mile 1 like I did in December at the Reindeer Romp. With a PR of 25:10 from just September, I wanted to aim for something around there - but whatever it was, I wanted to be consistent. With that, I wanted to be uncomfortable. An usual word, I know, especially when it comes to racing, but here's the way I looked at it: I can be uncomfortable for 3 miles, easy. Because it's over soon. But next weekend, at some point during those 26.2 miles, I will be plenty uncomfortable - tired, sweaty, hot, sore - and I want to know that I can break through the mental tired. Can I make it happen?

Post-race happy.

Mile 1 - 7:48
A little too fast, but when I was not even a quarter-mile in, I was banking a 7:07 mile. That'll be trouble. So I backed off, tried to control myself from booking it with all the elementary school kids and keep me legs under control. So in the end, a little too fast, but not dentrimental.

Mile 2 - 8:17
I walked through grabbing a cup of water, though I knew I didn't really need it. Mental excuse, I guess, to slow down for a hot second.

Mile 3 - 8:18
Well, at least now I'm a little consistent, right? It was here that I caught up to a mom and her daughter (maybe 7, 8 years old?) who I had trailed for a bit at the Reindeer Romp in December. Her mom was pushing her along pretty good, but you could also tell the sheer determination in this girl's face. If I only had that sort of determination that young! But anyway, turned the last double-back, walked for a second to gather any last momentum and made my way to the end. At the double-back, I had just .4 miles to go and just over 3 minutes to make the PR time cut-off.

.10 miles - 6:25
At least I know I can still book at the end!

A solid 25:00 (dead even) finish (25:07 per gun time, which is how this race rolls, boo!), but we all go by Garmin time, duh. Better yet, once I got my results text (I love Race Wire for that), I saw that not only had I PRed, but came in first in my age group too!

Age group winner.. holla! 

I definitely hit a point where I was uncomfortable - I'm a little disappointed in the fact that I stopped to walk, even if it was for all of 10 seconds, but I know that next weekend, I'll be able to push past that mental barrier and settle into the uncomfortable for a bit. God willing, this pays off next Sunday!

I love this race for so many reasons, and would encourage you, if you're in the Chino area, to make this a family-fun race with you and your kiddos. It benefits the Chino Youth Museum, and there's both the 5K and kids fun run offered. You get adorable tech tees (the cow design changes every year!), medals, and age group medals on top of that. For a race that's just $30, you really can't beat it.

Better yet? All the chocolate milk you can drink afterwards. It pays to be from Chino, sometimes. Mmmm... chocolate milk.

Tech shirt (complete with punk cow), finisher medal (black), age group medal (blue). 

What's your 5K PR? Have you ever PRed during marathon training? I feel like you're not supposed to... :)