Race #2 April 12, 2013
This was the first race of the series I was registered for. I had a good group of friends also running including Adam, my brother, Meghan and Chris, and others from DC Tri and DCCRC. I had no idea really what pace I would try to run, so I planned on running hard and beating my previous 5k time from Tri Mania - which was in fact pretty disappointing. I got caught up saying hi to Adam and some other fasties with my brother just minutes before the start. So...naturally I stayed at the front. This led to not so good things - which may have been exacerbated by the Bonk Breaker bar I ate on the way to the race. I hit the ground running and of course went out too fast as did almost everyone. Mile one came quickly but mile 2 seemed to take forever to get to. Between miles 1.5 and 2 I started having some severe stomach pains (this is what happens apparently when I eat peanut butter, almond butter and such before working out). Mile 2 finally passed and all I could think to myself was just don't walk you've only got about a mile left. I was being passed left and right and I knew my pace was falling off considerably. I was thankful to see Chris and Meghan during an out and back as I was on my way to the finish - it made me smile a bit. I couldn't have been more happy to be done with this painful race. I wasn't happy with my result and I was definitely not feeling well. Not cool Almond butter and honey bonk breaker! This was a good race to get reacquainted with the 5k and we had an awesome bro/sis and friend's dinner post race in Crystal City.
FINISH TIME: 23:56
Race #3 April, 19th, 2013
The sky and the the forecast for this evening weren't great. Severe storms were expected along with strong wind gusts. I caught a ride to the race start with Adam. Since you use the same bib every race it's relatively
back a bit in the starting field to try and control my pace for the first mile. My tactic worked a bit...I still went out too fast, but slower than the week before. This allowed me to not slow down as much at mile 2 and thanks to better and more conscious food choices I was home free with stomach discomfort. We started running mile 1 into a bit of a headwind - but this made for a great feeling mile 2 with a tail wind for almost the entire mile and as well as most of mile 3. As I neared mile 3 the sky was growing darker and the wind was picking up...just as I passed the beginning of the outback they began re-routing runners directly to the finish. I was happy that I did not get re routed but oi was it frustrating dodging through considerably slower runners for the final kick to the finish. I felt good finishing this race, I was passing people even up until the end and I felt as though I had pushed myself. After I finished I found Adam right away and after a brief thought of hanging around to say hi to friends we decided to escape the storm and head straight to the car as we had a big weekend ahead of us (putting on DC Tri Duathlon #2 and racing our first tri of the season on Sunday). As we headed out of the area a torrential downpour started, I'm glad I didn't run any slower!
FINISH TIME: 22:59
Race #4 April 26, 2013
This race was a pretty last minute decision for me. I knew I'd wanted to run it after the big improvement between my 1st and 2nd CC5k but I waited until Thursday night to actually register. As my friends were on vacation, my brother was out of town, and Adam didn't want to race I was off to this final CC5k on my lonesome. I was fairly confident I would see some friends there but didn't know who planned on racing. As it was the last race of the series and super nice out - this race was packed! I seeded myself a little bit farther back once again in an attempt to slow myself down at the start. Well all I have to say is epic fail - mile 1 was the fastest timed mile I've run in any recent year (perhaps since college soccer fitness days). With the significantly larger field of runners at this race I was unaware of my pace and not looking at my Garmin at all during the race. I was pushing myself but felt it wasn't going as well as the previous week. I continued to push on - grabbing a water cup at the aid station - and for the first time felt like I may drown, during a running race! As I tilted the cup up to take a sip someone ran right into my elbow - I inhaled water up the nose, mouth and oi - all I could think was don't slow down, just cough it up! As I neared the last 1/2 mile or so I could tell I was slowing but tried to push as hard as I could. I was definitely feeling it as I made the final U-turn and was nervous that I may not have improved from the previous weeks time. I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch. I took a few moments to settle down and then checked out my time -- it was a good day! I grabbed a cookie, ran into a couple friends who crushed the course and jumped back on the metro a sweaty, stinky mess - and somewhat sad there would be no more CC5k Friday's.FINISH TIME: 22:33
After the first one I thought I hated the 5k - I thought to myself give me a 10 miler any day, this 5k business just hurts too much. By the final race I was loving it and was reminded of how much I enjoy shorter, harder, efforts and seeing just how hard I can push. I also learned that when I pace or at least attempt to pace myself I perform better - though I still didn't get the hang of it and I managed to positive split every race of the series. Next year I may sign up for the series - even if I sit the first one out for Cherry Blossom it will still be the same cost or I could just run it easy. I may find some more 5ks and 10ks for the year but I am definitely looking forward to the Oly and Sprint Tri's I have on the schedule this year as well. The improvements in just the course of 3 weeks seems to be promising and motivating though I feel a bit addicted to running a 5k every Friday now.
You are so AWESOME< just love you!
ReplyDelete