Notes
I can't believe I'm writing this RR...
... because I wasn't expecting to PR on such a hilly course. I ran 33:30 in my 8K yesterday.
Hello there, I don't post here often, but I thought I'd write a race report and brag a little and ask a question.
My day started at 5:30 a.m. when I was wondering why my alarm was going off so early on a Sunday morning. About 15 minutes later it finally clicked in that it was race morning! I finally left the house at around 7:15 to catch the bus and I few people had asked me if there was a race today. I take the bus (or walk) whenever possible to races because I find my car keys to be too bulky to carry during a race.
I arrived at the race start at around 7:50. It was great because the starting location was at a community centre adjacent to a high school track, so we could warm up on the track and also use the cc facilities. I probably my longest warmup ever, which I'm sure contributed to my PR since my body was already in high gear for once right from the start. I jogged 5 laps around the track, did some dynamic stretching, then I did a few strides. Oh yeah, and I went to the bathroom like a hundred times before and after this!
It was a small race - about 300 or so runners - so I was trying to figure out where to line up. I didn't want to get trampled by the sub-30 runners, but I also didn't want to waste time dodging the slower ones. I think I lined up a little too conservatively, because I was struggling through a crowd at the start. The course was 1K uphill, a 3k doubleloop, then 1k back downhill to the start. I ran the first uphill K in 4:03 which was way too fast, then 4:08, 3:57 downhill, then 4:07 on a longer uphill. This is when things began to hurt. I was getting a cramp somewhere in my midsection and I just thought my race was going to fall apart. I just told myself that it would just be less than 20 minutes more pain then I would be done. I managed 4:27 on the next flat, then 4:10 downhill, 4:23 kinda flat, then 4:12 up and then back down to the finish. Final time as previously mentioned, 33:30, a PR by almost 2:30! The funny thing at the finish was that the person to take off my timing chip was an ex's uncle. Small world.
This was also the first time that I ran with the same person the whole way through a race after finding my pace. I hung behind him pretty much the whole way, and he must have been wondering what all the heavy breathing was behind him, then I pulled ahead with about 2k to go and lost him on the last uphill. I wasn't trying to beat him or anything, but it was just fun to kinda compete with somebody.
Oh yeah, and another thing, the battery in the footpod for my Polar was dead, so I wasn't constantly looking at my watch to check my pace. I think this was a good thing because I probably would have put the breaks on if I looked down and saw a 4:00/km pace. My plan was to go out in about 4:20 - 4:25 then see how I felt, so I probably wouldn't have PRed. I think I'll leave the footpod at home for the shorter races from now on and just use the HRM and press the lap button at the splits.
I thought 5k was the only distance that I hated because it's so painful from the all-out effort, but now I also hate the 8k. Yesterday's performance just tells me that I wasn't giving it my all during my last 8k in March.
Okay, so if you've made it this far, I have a question. Am I ready to break the 20 minute barrier for the 5k? It seems like it will be tough, but I think I'll have a pretty good chance at my 5k in about 3 weeks as the course will be flat and it will be run in the evening when I feel like I run better. I guess the key will be to get a good warmup like yesterday so I don't have to start from cold. Actually I'm more interested in breaking 1:35 now for the half. My previous goal was sub-1:40, but now I think I will re-assess the goal for my key race in a month from now. After taking a break all summer and fall, I feel like I've come back even stronger and faster. I'm very surprised. Anyway, thanks for reading and I think you guys had a long weekend in the US so I hope it was a great one for everybody!