I had decided that I was going to use April and perhaps part of May as speed work months before / as I begin my first distance build up during my base build up for Chicago marathon training. I figured a fun and easy way to do that would be racing my way into shape… I put about 8 5K & 10K races on the calendar, not expecting to be able to do half of them with my busy work schedule. Since I’m not in serious training at the moment, running is fun and not interfering with my life. This means I’m not doing many hard miles, no real tempo or interval workouts, and, well, I have a life…
I managed to roll out of bed Saturday morning at 5:30 after about 3 hours of sleep as I’d been out in downtown Miami the night before. A good set up for a successful race… I got to the race site and registered by 6:15. Then dozed in the car for about half an hour – 40 min until the 7:30 race start. I did a short walk and then a mile and a half jog to shake off the sleepiness and try to get warmed up. After making it back to the car, getting my number on and changing into my flats I was about 5 min until race time. Looking at the crowd I almost felt silly doing any kind of striders or build ups – so I didn’t.
The gun went off right at 7:30, already indicating a well put together race. I took the lead from the onset, learning from the Karhu race, but for the first half mile I could see a shadow nipping at my heals and hear breathing down my neck – maybe there would be some competition today. Then again, maybe not; the breathing quickly turned ragged and the shadow slowly dropped from my peripheral view. It was just me with the lead bike showing the way.
Despite not waiting for someone to come with me, I went out much slower than I thought – the lack of striders and build ups coming back to haunt me as my legs weren’t ready to go out at a decent pace. I went through the first mile at 5:31, way slow. I tried to start picking it up, but the haze in my head from no sleep and onlookers telling me there was no one behind me quickly drained my will power as I dropped to 5:40 miles. I was just sitting back enjoying the run, a loop around the golf course, well marked with volunteers at every turn making sure there was no confusion on the simple course.
I tried to tell myself several times I was pushing for time, but I just didn’t have the will power to push into the discomfort zone. I did manage to find a higher gear and a little will power as I hit the final half mile. I had told myself before the race where I would start my closing kick – there would be no shuffle in like the Karhu. Pushing hard I almost choked with less than a quarter mile to go when a biker on my left started yelling at me – it was Veronica pushing me into the finish. Now racing her on the bike I gave what little I had left and crossed the line with a less than awe inspiring 17:27, but managed push through the last half mile at sub 5 min pace – the GPS reading 4:40 for the last tenth of a mile. Not too shabby for having no speed work up to this point.
It was another disappointing race, but I shouldn’t be too surprised when I look at how slow my training has been. I did finish about 4 minutes ahead of second place, but I have so far to go to get back into “good” race shape. I will have to continue the hunt for those mid 16 minute times (I don’t expect to ever be back in the low 16 - 15 minute times from HS XC).
On a different note though, the Run the Stop MS hosted in Coral Gables was very well put together local race. Not much of a crowd, but the course was great and everything went off without a hitch. Perhaps something I don’t typically pay attention to, except that it would be a stark contrast to the race the next day.
I also need to note, because it comes into play in the double header, that I went on to do another 5.5 miles as cool down / completing the day’s workout. My legs felt good and loose, but in retrospect, not the best of ideas if I had been serious about going after the 5K the following day.
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