Race Report: Nantucket Firecracker 5k
Lot’s of firsts for this race. First time I ran a July 4th race. First time I have run a race on Nantucket. First race I have run since my injury. First time I ran a sub 21 min 5k and set a PR at 20:56.
Nantucket is the best. Not sure how many of you have been there but it is an amazing place. Sitting just off the coast of Massachusetts, it is a beautiful island with amazing beaches, a quaint downtown, fantastic running paths/trails and a truly relaxing and laid back atmosphere. My wife and I were married on Nantucket last year and we are so lucky to be able to go back as much as we do.
The July 4th weekend on Nantucket was awesome, we ate well, ran well, golfed well and relaxed. It was just what the doctor ordered as the calendar flipped to July and one month before our 14 week NYC marathon training schedule starts. Coach Jerry (who is also my brother-in-law) and I went out for a bunch of runs together the first being a track workout. Our marathon training schedule this year is going to have an option for speed workouts on the track so he wanted to introduce them to me. We did 8x 200m at a sprint (half around track) with 200m resting jogs. It was a great workout, tough, but one that I feel will absolutely help with training this summer.
Nantucket Firecracker 5k: The race was held by the Nantucket Health Club and is in its 21st year. It is a flat and fast course which is out an back. Being my first race since my injury I had one goal in mind: finish feeling strong and without any pain. I have been feeling quite good and strong since my four week layoff and had decided to really push it even though my fitness level is still weak.
I went out pretty hard and fast hitting mile 1 in 6:15- I felt strong and had not pains from my recent injury. I came up towards the turnaround and saw Coach Jerry make his move in the lead pack, within about 7 seconds he opened about a 30 yard lead and as he passed me on the turnaround he was pretty much putting the hammer down on the others in the lead pack.
The final 1.1 miles I really felt where my weak fitness level was prohibiting me in keeping to my pace as I fell off pretty quickly. I reached the 3 mile mark and came around the bend towards the finish and saw the official clock slowly ticking away to 21 minutes, I was going to finish this race under 21 minutes and I didn’t care how much it hurt. I just made it in at 20:56 and was quite satisfied with how the entire race went. I still believe that for me the 5k is the most brutal and hard of races. I am built for distance, not the speed required for this distance; however I do see and realize that speed work like the 200m workout and 5k distance is so important for building a faster marathon time.
Coach Jerry finished in 1st and 1 min ahead of the 2nd place finisher at 16:26 and walked away with a bottle of wine and a cash prize of $100. Not too shabby. Check out all results here.
Overall it was a fantastic race, weekend and July 4th. Hope all of you had a relaxing time and were able to get out for a race or enjoyable run.
Did you run a July 4th race? If so how did you do? Have you started marathon training yet? What speed workouts do you usually incorporate?
Congrats on a great result.
I am about to start my training for the Philly Marathon. I am using one of Bart Yasso’s training plans again. It calls for a variety of speed workouts – Yasso 800′s, mile repeats, ladder workouts.
Love the Yasso 800′s and their strategy, Coach Jerry and I talked about them and are trying to find a way to get them into our training program. Good luck with your training!
Congrats on the PR Scott, and to Jerry on the win. It was a great day for racing!
Thanks man and congrats to you as well on your July 4th finish.
Nice PR Scott! Really impressive since you were out with an injury not too long ago. You can really roll in a month or two once you start running even more consistently.
Thanks man, definitely felt weak on the last 1.1 miles of the race. Looking forward to building the base into marathon training. Thanks again!
Been thinking about what speed work to add to my training schedule since I am following a pretty standard one, the 200m workout looks very interesting.
We have my interpretation of yasso’s 800′s in the plan for new York.. I have found tremendous benefit from shorter speed/endurance intervals when it comes to the marathon. Stay tuned!