Mason State Bank 5K 2015

Mason State Bank 5k - Mason, Michigan

Today was my first 5k of the race season. This was the second time I've done this race. I don't think I would have known or done this race if my work didn't pay the registration fee for employees (kind of difficult to turn down a free race, right?). Most of the races I know about and do run are around the Detroit, Michigan area (creature of habit I guess).

Pre-Race

I left my house wearing a heavy tshirt and running pants over my running shirt and shorts. I also had my Hansons Brooks Distance Project hat on to help show support for that team. The heavy shirt I wore is the same one I've worn before races for many years. On the front it says 'Do you want it?'. The back says 'It doesn't matter how good you are. It matters how bad you want it'. I can't say wearing the shirt brings good luck. It's just something I do I guess.

I got to the race about 45 minutes before start time. I always like getting to a race early like that. It helps keep things calm and relaxed before the race starts. There's enough time to park the car, find the start line, and get a good warm-up in.

Because it's a small race, I was able to get a good parking spot near the start line. Since I still had plenty of time before the race started, I walked around to help get the blood flowing and start getting my mind focused on the race.

With about 30 minutes before the race, I got some water and started out on my warm-up run. I think my body knew to take the warm-up mile easy. My warm-up mile time was one of the slowest warm-up mile times I've had in months. On other runs, I've tried to go slow for the warm-up! Today's warm-up was about a minute slower than usual (which is a good thing!).

After my warm-up mile, I went back to the car and took off my heavy shirt and running pants. I had a nice sweat going. I did some dynamic stretches while still at my car for about 5 minutes. I like to make sure I get things nice and loose before every run (training or race).

There was about 10 minutes before race time. I made my way over to the start of the race, doing some short strides along the way to help keep the heart rate up a bit. Because this race is big family friendly event, there were a lot of other runners of all ages. This made trying to find a good spot in the starting corral a bit difficult. I tried to eyeball it and made sure I was on the outer edge so I wouldn't get boxed in.

Race

The race started on time - 7pm. The start of the race was the typical take a few short strides, then stop, take a few more strides, and stop again. This usually happens until people actually cross the starting line.

The first mile of the race was mostly a straight away down the street from the starting line. This was great as it allowed people to spread out and start getting their rhythm going. I had my race plan set where I wasn't going to get caught up in the usual 'first mile jitters', where the first mile runners go out too fast and then end up dying before the finish line. My first mile time was 8:14. That was faster than what I was expecting, but I knew I wasn't pushing the pace at all. I still felt good and relaxed.

The second mile of the race had a loop close to the 1.5 mile mark. The course was still relatively flat for the most part. I always like when a race has a loop somewhere in the race. It gives me the opportunity to see who's in front of me, and see if there might be anybody I think I could catch up to before the end of the race. My second mile time was 8:03. After seeing that mile time on my watch, I knew I had things going in my favor. Negative split for the first two miles. This is how I've been training the past few months. Once I get past the second mile mark, the beast is unleashed and the game is on.

The third mile (and the end of the race), I knew was going to be flat until the last 0.1 of the race. The pack of runners really started to thin out at this point. There wasn't big gaps between runners though. There was still enough runners to have them help pull you along for the ride and help push your pace that much more. Things were moving along quite nicely. I knew before the finish, at the 0.1 mark of the course was a nice 'bump in the road'. I had trained on some bigger 'bumps in the road' to know this was going to be easy. I turned the corner for the 'bump in the road' and dropped the hammer. I started sprinting up it and to the finish line. I felt great all the way through the finish line. I knew I had a great race and set a current personal best 5k time. The third mile time was 7:59. Again I was able to get a negative split. My overall time was 25:16. Got a 5k personal best by 20 seconds!

Post Race

After crossing the finish line, I made sure to grab some water. As I was walking and drinking the water to help cool down, I noticed the free massage tables weren't all lined up with people (nice perk for finishing fast I guess). I decided to finally take advantage of it. After all the years of racing, I've never taken advantage of the free massage. I'm not sure why that is. I had the massage therapist focus on my calves as I knew they could use some extra attention. She did a good job, taking her time working on each leg individually. I found out during the massage, the massage therapists were there as part of the Lansing Community College program, getting some real-life experience in. I don't mind being a guinea pig and helping out a college student - especially when it involves a massage.

Because I opted for the massage, I didn't go for my mile cool-down like I usually do after a run. I decided to go back to the car and get a good stretch session in to help reward my body for the hard work it just did. I did about 5 minutes of static stretches to help keep things loose. After the stretches, I finished off my water, got in the car and headed home.

Overall Comments

I like the Mason State Bank 5k. For a small race, it's really well organized. The starting line was wide enough where people could spread out and not have to worry about tripping over each other. There were enough volunteers and police along the course to help guide runners where to go, and help make sure no vehicles got on the course. The course itself is great. Most of it is on the street, where you still have room to spread out if you want. I do like the last 'bump in the road' before the finish. I think it's a nice 'gotcha' moment for some runners who don't expect it (or do a good job scouting the course prior to start time). The finish corral was still nice and wide where runners weren't tripping over each other (even for those who make the mistake of crossing the finish line and stopping right after). There was enough water and food at the end of the race for all runners.

Would I run this race again - Definitely.

Would I recommend this race to others - Yes.