Sunday, March 14, 2010

Race Report: St. Patty’s 5k

Pre-race:

The day before the race I pounded water, ate no refined sugars and stretched out a ton.

My coach gave me the game plan: first half a comfortable tempo, the second half concentrate on passing people left and right.

The start wasn’t until 9am and it was only a few minutes away so I had a nice leisurely morning. I was Out of English muffins (which is so unlike me since I’m very anal about my food intake when it comes to my workouts/races) so I substituted a piece of whole grain bread and I didn’t get my panties in a bunch like I normally would have. Surprisingly, I was feeling super cool calm and collected considering how much importance this race was going to be, starting out the race season and all.

I knew the start was going to be an absolute cluster*uck because of the ingress/egress situation so the plan was for my husband to park at the turnaround area (or what I thought was the turnaround) and I would warm up by jogging to the start and then cool down by jogging back to the truck afterwards thus steering clear from the crowds.

I jogged an easy pace to the start, working in some plyos and strides to warm my legs up.

Warm up – 1.99 miles – legs felt solid (notice 2 mile warm up not the 1.5 it should have been if I judged the turnaround correctly. dumbass.)

The Race:

So I totally underestimated the pack. 5k’s are such a mixed bag and I never know where to start. Usually I shoot for the middle-back of the pack, but this time I just jumped in at the back and that was a total mistake. I lit

erally spent the first 800 meters dodging, sprinting around, dodging, jumping curbs, accelerating, slowing down….you get it. So many walkers and slower joggers.

I wanted to go out at 8:45 – 8:50 pace, but after I was able to find a spot in the crowd where I wasn’t vying for position I looked down and saw 8:30. I felt good so I held it there wondering if this was going to bite me in the ass 10 minutes later.

At the turnaround I was disappointed to see that I totally misjudged it and my poor husband was no where in sight because I told him where to be. FAIL. I felt horrible because I knew how horrible he was going to feel. That lasted for about six seconds and then I laid down the hammer. I started passing people left and right. It was awesome. My pace only dropped down to 8:24 but I was running hard. I had my iPod, but I wasn’t even listening to it. I was in a zone. It was awesome.

I had about 1000 meters to go when my legs were trying to crap out on me. I had to do some serious gut checking to keep them moving. About 600 meters from the finish there was an incline that toasted my legs even more, but I was banking on the downhill to charge into the chute. Unfortunately there was a headwind on the downhill so while it wasn’t totally negligible I didn’t get to fully reap the benefits of the up hill. The chute was right there and I really wanted to engage my final kick but I couldn’t do it. Until I was passed by female blur of green. That inspired my kick and I sprinted past her into the chute.

3.12/26:09 /8:23 average pace

Post – race:

I took a 10 minute rest. Chatted, hydrated then started the trot back to the truck. It was a good day!

Total for the day: 6.99 miles

Questions and reflections -

  • If I had a kick at the end, does that mean I didn’t run hard enough?
  • This gives me major confidence going into my next 5k in two weeks. One, I’ll hopefully have no hills and two, I’m reminded of what my body is capable of.
  • Next 5k is going to be Sub 26 FOR SURE! All balls to the wall!
  • I should have indulged in an ice bath. My legs are hurting today.

 

22 comments:

Amy - the gazelle said...

what a great race! You have gotten so speedy - so inspirational.

Running and living said...

Congrats on the race! I always have a kick at the end, no matter how tired or how hard I worked the race. I think when we see the finish line, the brain gives us the green light to go all out. This is why I hate races where you can't clearly see the finish line. Yes, sun 26 for sure next time!

Tara said...

Awesome race girl! I'm so happy for you! Fist Pump. :)

Glad you like your new bike shorts.

Jamie said...

Contests on a great race! Way to find a little left in ya to kick it at the end!

Jocelyn said...

Great speed great race. And you got faster? impressive!

Emily said...

Great race report! Way to run a smart 5k...sounds like you are going to kick some serious bootay in two weeks!

Anne said...

Wow! That's an amazing race!...you are heading straight for sub-26 :)

Molly said...

Thank you my friend, for your comment on my last post. Life defintely has a way of keeping things interesting.

Contrats on meeting Goal B!!! I'm in awe of your speed.

I think I'm done with the video game like dodging around people in 5k's. That happened to me in my shamrock run and it drove me bonkers.

Niki said...

Way to rock it girl! You've got that sub 26 for sure on the next one!

KK said...

Nice job girl-way to stick to the plan. You smoked it-blazing fast!

This gives you a lot of momentum heading into the rest of your season-yay!

Erin said...

Nice job!!!

I've found that in 5Ks you really should start at the very, very front even if you know you aren't going to run 4 minute miles. Just stay off to the side and you won't get run over.

JBM said...

Like a Kenyan baby! Nice job!

joyRuN said...

Nicely done! I like the coach's game plan - first half a comfortable tempo, the second half concentrate on passing people left and right - I'll keep that in mind for next time :)

Anonymous said...

Great race! I always wonder the same thing.....if I have more kick at the end, should I have picked up my pace during the race?

jen said...

Congrats! Great job. 5ks are so hard to pace- I think you nailed it.

Pining for Pinterest said...

Way to go speedy!!!

Anonymous said...

GREAT effort...awesome race!!!

Aron said...

AWESOME job girl!! you ran a great race, and kick at the end is a good thing :) i always seem to find it too, i think its seeing the finish line. cant wait to see you go sub 26 in 2 weeks!

Alisa said...

Nice job. Definitely means that my "starting in the back excuse" was just that--an excuse =).

Marathon Maritza said...

Speeeeeeeeedy! Great job on the race!

C.G. the Foodie said...

Wow I love the description of your race. WTG!

Amy said...

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!! That's soooo exciting. You nailed it, sista! (Funny post too, I was cracking up at multiple sentences.)