Fremont 5k and Briefcase Relay Race Recap

Fremont is a place of bridge trolls, chocolate, naked bicyclist parades, and the new Brooks Running Company HQ. It is also where one of my favorite annual 5k races takes place, the Fremont 5k and Briefcase Relay. The briefcase relay option is also a 5k distance, with teams consisting of five runners wearing office/business attire from the waist up. Each team member runs one kilometer, passing off a briefcase filled with canned food that is donated to charity afterwards. I personally judge the relay teams not upon their time, but by their team name. This year's winner for me was the "Brooks Boxers or Brief(case)s".

The Fremont 5k is different than most other local 5k events in that it is an evening race, starting at 7:00 pm on a Friday. I love it. I usually go out for my daily training runs in the evenings after work and so my body is especially synced and ready to go at that time. I arrived at 5:30 p.m. and headed over to the gear check tent where I met up with a runner who I had met at the Cougar Mountain 5 Mile race a couple weeks prior. He asked if I wanted to join him for a warm-up run and we headed off along a section of the Burke Gilman Trail, towards Gasworks Park. With about 30 minutes left we arrived back at the general event area and I ran a couple strides before making my way to the starting line.

Start of the Fremont 5k!

I took a moment to look around and was happy to catch sight of Lulu and Chris (fellow Monday Night Run friends) in the crowd. I also noticed Uli Steidl (10-time Seattle Marathon winner and winner of the Boston Marathon Masters Division for two consecutive years) and Brooks Beast Coach Danny Mackey (with a 15:50 finish he apparently doesn't just talk the talk, but runs the walk...) lining up at the front, along with an assortment of other Club Northwest and Seattle Running Club representatives. Hooooo boy. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love competitive fields, but it has one unavoidable side effect that I bet you guessed coming a mile away (pun intended). Yes ladies and gentlemen, I went out too fast. Not just too fast, 5:12 first mile split too fast. Here is more or less an elapsed time internal play-by-play of the first mile:

00:00 - Breathe in "I am", Breathe out "Here now". -Thanks Erin!

00:01 - I got this!

.

.

.

05:00 - I got this!

05:05 - Hey, is that Kristi Houk from Club Northwest right next to me? The Kristi Houk that always finishes ahead of me by a full minute or two at EVERY race?

05:12 - Watch beeps signaling that I have passed the first mile.

05:13 - ABORT! I don't got this!

At that point, I slowed way down knowing that in about six minutes I would be in for a world of hurt. I slowed down to about 6:00/mile pace and fell into a solid pack of runners. A little past the mile mark, a group of young adults were cheering for their friend Lauren. There were two women right ahead of me (they ended up with 2nd and 3rd overall in the women's division) who were both named Lauren so I am not sure exactly which Lauren they were cheering for. Maybe both? Maybe they call everyone Lauren. Maybe they were also cheering for me too! See? Mental tricks aren't just for kids! Small moral boost achieved, I hit the halfway mark and was turning around when all of a sudden I heard a "LOOKING STRONG, CARL!". At first I thought maybe I had taken the mind games too seriously, but I looked back and noticed my friend (assistant coach for the Nathan Hale High School Cross Country and Track teams) standing there in a volunteer vest. These two moral boosts in the second mile pushed me through with a 6:05 split.

The third mile hurt. A lot. I was about halfway through the third mile when I passed Lauren's fanclub once again. I was just thinking how imaginary cheering just wasn't the same when I caught sight of another friend and fellow Greenlake Track Club member, Pablo, who had come down to cheer Chris and I along the course and snap a couple race photos. When you are exhausted and hurting at the end of a race, words can't describe the real effect of having a friend genuinely cheering/encouraging you has on your entire outlook at that moment. I finished the third mile in 6:02 and crossed the finish line a little later with an official chip time of 18:46, securing a solid sub-19:00 finish!

Feeling that third mile!
Photo credit thanks to Pablo Cabrera.

Fellow Monday Night Runner Chris looking strong near the finish.
Photo credit thanks to Pablo Cabrera.

Post race thoughts/comments:

1. Thanks for coming down and cheering on your TC team, Pablo. You helped me survive that awful final mile!

2. I have been continuing to get my long runs and track workouts in with the Green Lake TC and can really feel my fitness improving. We have been running about 10 miles on our Sunday long runs and our latest Wednesday track workouts have consisted of tempo runs, hill work, and 3 x 200/300/400 ladder repeats.

A snapshot from my GPS watch of our latest Green Lake TC Sunday long run, starting and ending at Gasworks Park.

3. I was able to volunteer the following weekend at the Cougar Mountain Trail Series #2 event. I ran into fellow TMNRer Brenda, who placed in the women's division of the 5k!

Brenda and I at the registration/packet pick-up booth I was helping with.
Photo credit thanks to Brenda.

4. The next races I plan to run are the Firecracker 5000 (July 3rd  midnight run at the Seattle Center) and the Seafair 5k.

TMNR with the Brooks Beasts TC (6/2/2014)

The Monday Night Run this week was simply awesome! Seattle's very own Brooks Beasts Track Club came out to run with our group and just hang out while answering any questions we might have. Before we set out on our run around Green Lake, the Brooks Beasts coach Danny Mackey lead our group through their daily activation exercise routine. These activation exercises only take a few minutes and are used to get key muscle groups firing before you set out on a run.

Coach Danny Mackey explaining the Brooks Beasts pre-run activation exercises.
Photo credit thanks to Daniel Julian.

We split up into smaller groups to practice. Above, group being lead by Brooks Beast Katie Mackey.
Photo credit thanks to Daniel Julian.

After completing these exercises we set out on an easy 4-mile "Soapbox Loop" run around Green Lake. I fell in stride with the two Brooks Beasts runners Riley Masters and Cas Loxom. They both recently won their respective heats at the Payton Jordan Invite at Stanford University in early May. Cas ran the 800 Meter Section 1 event in a time of 1:48.38 while Riley ran in the 1500 Meter Section 1 event with a time of 3:38.42. A couple of my fellow Green Lake Track Club friends joined up with our group and the miles flew by as the two professionals talked to us about racing advice and strategy.

Throughout the run, while talking with Riley and Cas, I also paid attention to their running form and stride. It was impressive. They made the 6:40 pace we were holding look absolutely easy (which of course it was for them), as if they were simply floating across the ground. They had the running form that comes out of putting in a lot of quality miles day to day.

Was able to take a picture with Brooks Beasts Cas Loxom, Katie Mackey, and Erica Moore.
Photo credit thanks to Daniel Julian.

In what seemed like no time at all, we finished up the run and was able to pick up a Brooks Beast t-shirt and take a couple photos with some of the Beasts and fellow TMNR/GLTC friends!

Photo with TMNR + Green Lake Track Club friends.
Photo credit thanks to Daniel Julian.

The Brooks Beasts t-shirts ran out quickly but Karsten (a Super Jock n' Jill employee) said he knew the Beasts and graciously gave me the one he snagged. It was even in my size too! Thanks man!

Brooks Beasts t-shirt!

Definitely a fun night and I am looking forward to running with them again. 

You can find out more about the Brooks Beasts at:

http://www.brooksrunning.com/en_us/brooks-beasts-track-club

You can also follow them as they compete at events throughout the year on Flotrack.