I finally PRed in the 5k!

Contrats!!!!

now to the important point...what do you think my strategy should be for my next 'thon?

2 5's are better. You should do one track workout per week. The track workout for a 5k person can be 400m and 800m repeats. The goal is not to see how fast you can go, but to do 10-12 of them with a short rest/jog. For instance, 8x400m with a 200m jog is ideal. You may not be there, but you can get there. Try 4x400m with 400 jog, and then try the last 4 with only a 200m jog. You will see a big difference in tiredness. But, if you can do 10-12 of these with only a 200m jog between, while staying at 2-5 seconds faster than your 5k/mile pace, you will see results.

jecht-

I don't mean to rain on your parade, man, but the course was short. its only about 2.9. so your 18:33, was more like a 19:40, give or take.

I was planning on running the race, but heard there was a reason it wasn't certified. Count it as a 2.9 mile PR if you want. Sorry.

I called after seeing the course map (it said 2.98 miles) and I was a bit worried. The race director says yes, it was 3.1, but I still ran it anyway.

Are you familiar with the bowman cup? They ran a different route in 2006.

As for my PR, wouldn't it be really a 19:10, even with the correction to 3.1 miles? 19:40 sounds a bit high.

2.9, 2.98, and of course, the director would be stupid not to say 3.1. Whatever it was, so be it. A race is the first to cross the finish line. But, when you're talking times, the important thing to me, and my point is: If I'm going to pay money to run in a race, it should be the distance advertised.

Overall, i think the race is put together and organized well. They've changed the course several times in the short time the race has been around. I have no problem with that, I would just prefer they get the distance right.

I've raced with each of the top 3 finishers within the last month, and they each ran significantly faster. You ran a respectable time. as for the PR, its anyone's guess and depends on the REAL distance. Could be anywhere from 19 to 19:20+. my point is, if the course was certified, there wouldn't be any question about it. but it sounds like you're willing to do what it takes to run faster, and i hope the advice you got will help. good luck.

Even splits? Even splits is when each mile is within a couple seconds of each other, not when you run the 3rd mile 16 seconds faster than the second.

I had that happen to me one. I ran a 5 miler sub-30 for the first time and thought that was the greatest thing until someone told me it was actually 4.9. I like to judge my performances year to year on the same courses. So even if they are off you can see if you're improving. Even when they say a course is certified there's no guarantee you're going to cut the same exact tangents and run exactly the same way the course was measured. Also I've seen courses they say are certified but they'll change the exact starting point and still advertise it as certified.

thank you for the post and advice. i'm a little disappointed though :(