On Friday evening, I participated in my second 5K race event: the Banthumloop in Bergentheim, the Netherlands. It’s a small regional event that saw a few hundred people competing, with 135 people in my bracket (Men aged 20 to 39).
In my first event, the Hardenberg City Run, on May 18th 2024, I set a time of 31:58. I had the feeling I had more to give, which is a bit of a waste – you can only set a finish time once, after all.
This time, I set out to give more and do better, and aimed for a time below 30:00.
And I succeeded! I finished in 29:19, giving me 41 seconds to spare to my thirty-minute goal.
It wasn’t exactly a cakewalk, though. While in the first few minutes I thought “this pace feels kind of slow, let’s pick it up”, I quickly felt like I started off too strongly, way above the pace I’m used to running during my normal training.
I adjusted and slowed myself down before I’d have to start walking along the way. Around twenty minutes in, I started feeling more fatigued and really wanted to start walking. I had to push myself to keep running. Uncomfortable, but as I’m learning more often: it’s fine to be uncomfortable for a while as long as it doesn’t cause pain.
Near the end, I could see part of the race timer near the finish: 29:__. I couldn’t see the seconds, and I knew I wanted to finish within thirty minutes. Of course I could have checked my watch, too, but I felt a rush, mustered up what was left of my energy and pushed for a small final sprint.
And I made it! This time, with barely any energy to spare – I do feel like I’ve pushed myself more to my limit, and I don’t think I could’ve run much faster. Perhaps a few seconds, but not a lot more.
Next time
The next run will be on August 23rd, a 10k race. I still have around nine weeks left to go, and I’d really like to finish within 60:00. With the way I’m training at the moment, I’m confident I’ll make it, but it’ll be a tough challenge regardless.
To improve
It’s easy to say “I want to be faster”, but that’s probably hard to improve on its own. I feel like I should work on increasing my cadence, and possibly decreasing my stride length. I feel I could run faster that way, and I also feel less strain – but it will take some getting used to, so I’ll try and incorporate it into my routine.
I also hope to get off my weight plateau and start losing a little more weight. Every kilogram helps, especially when running, so I hope to sit around 106kg by the next race day – a little under 400g to lose per week. Goals!
