5k Marta Fernandez de Castro: 23:00

 It was a fun day. However, I wanted o run 22:59 for the 5k and ran 23:00. doing a mega sprint in the last 200m, probably I closed in less than 40 seconds in that 200m. I was very happy because I thought that I had run 23:00 in 5.2k, because initially the race was supposed to have that distance. Well, in the end it was a 5k race and I felt short from my goal. The race was not easy, you had two climb a couple of bridges and the weather at 26 celsius. When last week you ran at 17 celsius, running at 26 celsius, you really note the difference. No excuses though, I tried during the race to throw an extra year, but the legs did not go any faster. In fact I suprised myself when I did that sprint, because I thought that I would not have the strength to do so. I race without a watch and I really feel good doing so. you really get in tune with your body and know when to push and when to hold back. I climb the hills very slowly, but I catch runner back up in the downhill.

I started from my home, warming up easy until the starting line, then ran some more and did 6 x 80m strides or something like that. Controlled, but faster than  race pace. Then I lined up and was in the 3rd row.  I tried to go out as controlled as possible, in the first 100m a lot of people were passing, but I tried to maintain composure. I was not feeling pretty good at the beginning. Felt somewhat hot and thirsty, then felt better, but legs would not want to move. I am frustrated, but a  couple of women defeated me by 90 secons in the last 5k race and yesterday they only defeated my 50 seconds, so I think  it affected everybody. I think I did not run that bad, but that 23:00 really left a bad taste in my mouth. 22:59 looks much better. I am not really sore today, it seems that my body is getting usted to being sore from races, or maybe I did not push enough yesterday in the middle kms. Oh well, it is what it is. Did what I could. After the race ran around 15+ mins easy to home. I seldom see nobody doing cool downs except the faster runners, but medium pack runners dont do cool down. I have the behavior of an elite, but I am very slow lol. They say you have to copy what elites do, so I will keep doing what I am doing. Some photos from the race:

I think the fist photo says it all.