29:53
I started out way too fast (around 7:30 pace) but caught myself quickly and gradually slowed down to a 10 minute pace and then felt that I was able to speed up to about 9:30-9:45 while still staying in the 160 bpm range for an average pace of 9:34 in mile 1. In mile 2, my hr had gone up to about 165-170 so I slowed a bit to 10 min pace for about 30 seconds to let my hr come down a bit – I had to do this twice but maintained a 9:47 pace for mile 2 and an avg hr of 168. In mile 3, my avg hr had gone up to 174 and peaked at 184 so I was pretty close to my max towards the end of the race. With about 0.4 miles left I wasn’t sure whether I could hold on but did with a 9:38 pace in mile 3 and a 7:51 pace for the last tenth-mile, finishing at my max hr at 189. It was a hard race to be at threshold for the whole 5k but was happy to be able to really race it! Turns out the endurance training did translate to a faster speed potential over a shorter distance and all the training with a hr monitor taught me how to manage my hr during a short and intense race!
The determined face of a man going sub-30 for the first time in a 5k.