Ready to roll

I just picked up my race kit for tomorrow's Achilles St-Patrick's Day 5km run.We will be chipped, which is always nice. I doubt my GPS will be much use in the downtown core, with the buildings and everything. I will wear it anyway to record my heart rate for post-race analysis. I programmed a screen with no HR for the race because I don't like to look at it while racing.

I drove the course this morning. It's fairly flat with the exception of a 1/2 km section near the start. The road goes up over a railway and then down but not quite all the way down. The start location is a bit lower than the downtown core, where most of the race will be run. The course is "out and back" so I will plan on a very strong last km. The first km should be a bit slow because of the climbing.

Weather calls for a chilly (-4C) but sunny morning. It's also supposed to be windy (25km/h). Hopefully, by 10:15 it will be a bit warmer. There are not a lot of building around the start area, so my Garmin should be ok for the first km or so. That's good, 'cause that will help me set my early pace. I want to run the first km in about 4:40 and then try to push up to 4:24 for the next 3 km. The last km starts with a short climb but then it's downhill from there so I'm hoping for a very strong finish.

I'm not going to run today. I might go for a swim this afternoon instead and do some drills. Nothing taxing.

Goal times:

Ultimate Goal: 22 minutes
Realistic Goal: sub-23 minutes
Ok goal: new PR (sub-23:44)

We'll see tomorrow!