Race Report: 2012 White Rock 'n' Roll 5 Mile
It was a gorgeous day at White Rock Lake. I was there to run the 2012 Dallas White Rock ‘n’ Roll 5 Mile race. Staged by the Dallas Running Club, it would mark the first time I’ve raced since last December’s Dallas White Rock Marathon Relay.
While I typically don’t race much during the spring (it’s mental recovery time from the previous summer/fall/winter’s training), it was a great opportunity to run alongside my friend Tom. This race would mark our third together in the past year, the beginning of a great habit. And with 1100 fellow runners (including Beth from Life is a Run), it was a comfortably-sized event.
The race started off great, as we cruised alongside the lake for 1/2 a mile. The second we turned inland, away with the cool breezes from the lake effect, replaced by stagnant and humid air. I never run well in humidity. The weather sucked the wind out of me, and between mile markers 1 and 3 I slowed down quickly. I recall feeling rather winded at mile 3, but between there and the last 1/2 mile I maintained a fairly steady pace. The last 1/2 mile represents a sprint, where I wanted to finish strong and not be too far behind Tom, who went ahead of me around that time.
Despite the humidity, I ended up getting a PR for the distance: 00:48:35 (link to official results). Of course, it was the first time I ran an official 5 mile distance, so anything would have been my PR! But, if you compare it to similar distances, it was respectable. When you factor in the lack of training, time of year, and stresses at home with young children, it was downright bad-ass in my mind. I might have been able to shave off a bit of time if I could have run better tangents. However, that’s near-impossible at White Rock Lake, with all the bi-directional traffic we encountered.
Here are my official stats and course map as recorded by Chuck (my Garmin).
