5K PR-Puked-Disappointed (Read 864 times)

Slaptear, I LOVE your avatar! He looks suspiciously like me... How is the job hunt going? Any luck yet?

the place to find the 3 seconds is in the beginning when you were under 10 minute pace. if you didnt even notice you were doing it, it should be a fine pace for you.me, personally, i run much faster when i force myself to go beyond my comfort zone. theres only so much faster you can run the second half, but if you learn to get out hard AND finish hard, the times will plummit. example, my pr in the 800 used to be 2:09, and that was absolutly all out, the best i could muster. but at one point toward the beginning of that half mile race i told myself to relax and i coasted through 400 meters at 62 seconds, pretty quick, and i kicked hard and ran a 67 last .25. my coach liked that performance and put me on the 4x800 team for indoor states, and he told all of us to get out harder than wed ever done before. that combined with the adrenaline from the scope of the race led me to go out in 58.8 seconds for the first 400, 1 TENTH OF A SECOND OFF MY 400 PR! i was exhausted, but i realized if i suck it up and just fight the pain, i can do amazing. turns out my second 400 was 65, an even faster finish than the week before. i ran 2:03.7, 5.3 seconds off of a race that lasts just over 2 minutes is unheard of. proportionally, thats like 32 seconds off a 5k pr at one time. point is, you dont know what you can do until one time you go out there and start at a pace that you're 99% sure you can't maintain the entire race, and do it anyways and test you're limits. GOOD LUCK!

Then came the last 20 yards. The dry heaves started. I have had this happen before and was able to hold on through the finish and not puke. Well, today I made it through the finish, but the clock said 37:02. And then I bent over and puked. I hear the ewws from the crowd, but at that point what can you do.

WOW --- I'm so proud of you. I have come across the finish line in pretty bad shape a few time, but I have never puked......your one up on me (I'm so jealous)..... I definitely understand what you mean about the 3 seconds - last September I trained specifically for a 5k race and expected to bust 27:00 (and even thought a 26:00 could happen)......but at that time I had never broken 27:00 in the 5K. To make a long story short, I ended up with a time of 27:00 FLAT ----- my goal was to break 27:00 and I still cant believe that I couldn't find one lousy second out there somewhere in a 5K course.....I have great compassion for your 3 second disappointment... Hey --- You still crushed your old PR -- now you have a clear goal to find those 3 seconds next race and more....(there is no doubt in my mind that you can do it next time around). Your doing GREAT so don't be disappointed.............and you puked........that's so cool....

I'll second John's advice above. Somone once told me when I was starting to run to never take 2 days off in a row. You start to lose the conditioning you worked so hard for on your previous run after about 48 hours. Not sure how much it's true, but I sure feel sluggish if I take more than a day off from running. Even very easy 1-2 miles of walking is better than a complete day off.

Debbie -- i was just glancing it your running log and if you can add a couple more days of running, but only run 1 to 1.5 miles on those extra days ---- slow easy pace --- nothing exciting......I'll bet it would make a noticeable difference in your times... Do what you are doing and add two more easy days (if you can work them in) and you will get your 3 seconds (and probably more)....

Hey John, Thanks for the input. I was up to four days of running prior to my half in Feb. Then the last 7 weeks I cut back my mileage and days because I added in some pretty serious weight lifting. I was just trying it out to see how my body responded. Well, it responded with wanting 2 hour naps in the afternoon, dreading workouts and not enjoying my running as much. Its funny you mention adding the extra days in because I have just decided to go back to 4 days and lay off the weights. I figure I will stick with what I am enjoying for now, so that I actually stick with it! In addition to my 4th running day I am also going to be doing a 3 mile hike every few weeks. So that will add a 5th day in some times, though I probably won't count it towards my mileage. Anyway, thanks for the words of encouragement! I love this place!

Great job debbie! I had the same experience in my last 5k. I ran 27:04... A PR for me...(4 or 5 yrs ago i cud not even run 1/4 mile) But man just 4 seconds. On the bright side i will hopefully get to break 27 soon... Puking is fun... Did that one a few times on solo runs!