So, after 17 weeks, I completed the Garmin Connect 5k training plan. My “A” race, the Gobbler Grind 5k 10k & Half marathon put on by the runners edge race company, went really well. I felt great and performed beyond what the training plan predicted.

The garmin Connect phone app works with the garmin smart watch. Workouts are sent to the watch, and supposedly, they use feedback from workouts to customize the training. I didn’t notice anything like that. I enjoyed having a workout right there on the watch.

After the slam, while helping Sydney train for her 100-mile race, I decided to try a fast 5k. You know, just to train for something. My personal best time for that distance, according to athlinks, is a little over 18 minutes. Forget that! I was hoping (secretly) to get somewhere in the 20th minute. The training plan only went down to 22 minutes. That’s pretty close and very fast. So that’s where I set the training goal.

17 weeks is a long training block. For comparison, most intermediate to advanced marathon training plans are 12-16 weeks. So I’m training for a little longer than a long marathon training plan to run about an eighth of the distance. But I’m a slow old guy, so it makes sense.

On November 9th, I ran the Veteran’s Day 5k in Parkville in 22:39 seconds. That was fast enough to win the men’s master’s division. I almost ended the training there. I was encouraged by Sydney and the training plan to finish with the goal race. I felt like i should at least try for my secret target time. And two weeks is plenty of time to cram some good training in.

Throughout training, I had been skipping some key workouts. Hill repeats, spring intervals, tempo runs… all the workouts designed to improve overall speed. I really didn’t deserve the good results. I was really hitting the strength training. I was doing really well with the nutrition. Maybe if I had made up those workouts, I would have hit the 20-minute mark.

Gobbler Grind is a very popular race. The route winds through corporate woods business park and the surrounding neighborhoods. The runners edge doesn’t offer very many races throughout the year, but what they do offer is usually very well run. This event was great, overall, but there were some issues.

The start/finish area was in a different spot than usual. That isn’t a big deal. Unfortunately, because of the placement, fast 5k finishers were crossing the route of the half marathon. Seemed pretty dangerous, yet hilarious as long as nobody got hurt.

There were the usual race sponsors at the finish line festival. A massage place, supplement superstore, fleet feet shoe store. There was also a food tent, offering great breakfast food for sale. I’ve got no problem with people selling food, but i didn’t know about it until I got there. I would have brought some money. Lucky for me, Sydney is okay with being a sugar momma sometimes and hooked me up with some breakfast tacos. They were delicious and totally worth the cost.

We tried looking up my results after I finished so I could avoid standing in line at the results table. With a big race like this, even my p.r. isn’t enough for any awards. I don’t mind. It’s neat to win, but I’m racing the clock. Anyways, the results weren’t showing online, so I stood in line. Just to see. Sydney had a feeling I probably won something. I did. I finished in 21:20, which won 2nd in my age group! I was a little off from my secret goal of 20:xx. I was way ahead of the training goal of 22:xx. I had a lot of fun training and running. So I feel like a winner.

Happy Thanksgiving!