SUP & Run 5k, 2019

This race was not the race I wanted, but it was kind of the race I expected.

While I wouldn't say I didn't train for this race, I will say that I wasn't nearly as invested as I have been in the past. Hot weather came on suddenly this month, and for some reason I just couldn't get myself to run more than twice a week leading up to race day. I did a few track workouts but my regular easy runs felt tough all month. I've been happy with my running, but my heart wasn't in the race.

May's training log. Spoiler alert for this race's outcome.

Still, we like to do this race yearly. Matt likes changing it up with the SUP and run, and it gives us an excuse to go visit our parents over the long weekend.

I knew from the start this was going to be a not-good (I don't want to say bad) race. This year, the race doubled in size, but the route (which is narrow and bottlenecked) didn't change. The race organizers actually set up starting zones based on paces, but most of the runners clearly had no idea what the giant numbered signs were for, because although I lined up between the 8 and 9, I was stuck behind people barely keeping an 11-minute pace.

The crowd at the start.

The worst of the narrow path opens up a bit about a mile in. I wasted a lot of energy getting around slower runners and some groups running three-across with their friends. By the time I hit the half-mile mark, I knew all the stop-and-go was going to cost me in energy and time.

Besides that, the route was (as always) completely shadeless and in full sun. This race starts at 8am, which is too damn late for a Florida 5k in the summer, but last year we got lucky with a cloudy sky. This year, not so much. In fact, after finishing, I checked the temperatures and saw it was nearing 100F. (It hit 100 while awards were being announced.) I am simply not built to run in that kind of heat and full sun exposure. My heart rate was way too high and I just couldn't catch my breath.

Yikes.

So, I walked at mile 2. I felt myself totally give up. I knew a decent time was out of the question so it felt like...why even bother? The truth is, I'm more disappointed in how I handled my attitude during the race than anything else. But like I said, my heart wasn't in it, I didn't feel invested, and it's really hard to finish a race you don't even want to be doing when the weather's against you, too.

Around mile 2, when I resigned myself to walk, I considered just not finishing. That's how bleak my mood was; I've NEVER DNF'd before.

I had to take a second walk break kind of near the end (around 2.8). As we came around the penultimate turn - a fairly sharp right - some guy elbowed me and completely threw me off my final dig. I'm sure it was an accident, but I was already in such a pissy mood and thoroughly not enjoying myself...I basically snarled at him. At that point, I didn't even want to try for a final sprint. I just wanted it to be over.

Here's an incredibly blurry screenshot from the finishing video:

I was surprised to see Matt's dad and stepmom at the finish line. They both commented they thought they had missed me because it took me longer than expected. I had to go grab the Cannon to get some pictures of Matt's paddle, so I didn't have time to hang out with them, or to process my finish at all.

It's frustrating to see that if I had managed to hold off walking, I may have  managed to scrape a sub-30.

Matt did really well. He placed first in his age group for the combo category, finishing 8th overall. I caught some good pictures of him from the bridge.

When I finally was able to find my official results, I was unsurprised to see that I'd run one of my slowest 5k in years. I finished 12th in my age group out of 29.

I know we all have days like this, and I know one mediocre 5k doesn't define me as a runner or really mean anything for my future races. It was an off day mentally and physically, and I have to take it in stride.

Not a cloud in the freaking sky!

Still, it kind of stinks that a race I usually really enjoy is now going to be tainted with this memory. It is what it is...but I'm still coming to terms with what it is. This will be a good lesson someday, and it's important to me that I document the bad along with the good; right now, I am really trying to reflect on what went wrong and what I can do better next time.

ABK

5k Prep

It looks like this blog may become a race-report blog, and considering how rarely I'm racing these days, I guess we can look forward to quarterly updates.

Last I wrote, I ran the Fast & the Furriest on very little training and shocked myself with my performance. Today I'm writing under similar circumstances.

When I ran F&F, I was already signed up for the Sup & Run 5k, but having over six weeks to prepare, I wasn't feeling a sense of urgency in training. As usual, April/May have been hard to run through. We're getting summer weather, complete with rainstorms, high heat and humidity, and tons of pollen. Add in end-of-year exhaustion and it's a perfect storm for waylaid training.

Still, I've done alright. My fellow CRTs and I have taken on a May challenge where we do 25 each of squats, pushups, and core exercises every day in our office around lunchtime. It's not much, but it's been a good influence to have them focused on this with me, it's broken up my days nicely, and it's keeping all of us motivated to eat a little healthier throughout the day.

I've managed to keep a fairly light schedule of two runs a week and have been easy on myself as far as heat acclimation goes. I've gotten at least one rainy run in, which reminded me that my legs actually can be fast when the weather cooperates, and just yesterday I tackled an interval workout (quarter mile repeats) that went really well.

I love creating workouts for my watch now that I have my new Garmin. Setting a goal pace for my intervals has been incredibly rewarding; I tend to sprint my first few repeats much too fast and burn out by the end. Using the workout function on my Vivoactive kept me within pace and allowed me to complete the full workout at peak performance. (I set my intervals between 8:50-9:00, not going for anything too gutsy, and ran them around 8:45, so it was a success!)

Anyway, all this is to say that I haven't been working incredibly hard for this race, but I haven't been slacking entirely. I'm not running well in the heat yet, so I'm planning to run conservatively, but based on my past 5ks I feel like I'll probably surprise and please myself.

There are a couple weeks to go until race day. Until then, I plan to just keep on keeping on.

ABK

Fast & the Furriest 5k, 2019

When I say I went into this race undertrained, I'm not exaggerating. Since A1A, I've only run roughly one to two times a week. At first this was due to recovery. Then it was because of track season. Those few runs building up to this race were generally under 3 miles and fairly slow, although I did a few 3-milers closer to race day and sprinkled a little bit of speed work in.

That's right, I did a total of just 6 runs in the month before race day.

Basically, I mean it when I say I was thinking this race was going to be a disaster. That I'd struggle the entire time. I didn't anticipate having a good race, but I thought maybe I could have a good run.

I met Michelle and Shelagh at Hammond Stadium (the Twins spring training stadium) around 7am. The race was scheduled for 7:30, which left us plenty of time to get our packets, use the bathroom, and take a few pictures.

My plan for the race was just to keep it low-key. I wanted to run at a slow-and-steady pace, assuming I'd be able to complete the race without walking if I stuck to a 10-minute mile. My paces have been slower than that lately, so I wasn't sure I'd be able to. My usual goal of running sub-30 minutes felt like a stretch, and while of course I wanted to reach that goal, I honestly didn't think I had it in me. I also was kind of resolved not to really try.

For the first time in years, sub-30 felt like a pipe dream, and I didn't want to risk injury by pushing myself past what I was capable of with so little training.

Anyway, we lined up at the start. Shelagh had a very specific time goal based on her race last year. She also wanted to win her age group. Michelle and I started behind her, since we weren't aiming for a competitive race.

In the first half mile or so, I was running too fast and having trouble modulating my pace. When I tried too hard to slow down, my shins hurt. But eventually I settled into a pace that felt pretty good, around the 9:40s, and my first mile ended up averaging 9:15.

With some major cushion on the time now, I settled in and just tried to run steady. I didn't have to play any mind games with myself because I was so entirely goal-less, and in a way this was one of the easiest 5ks I've ever run. (Don't get me wrong - it was hot and I was working hard, but it felt mentally easy.)

Around mile 1.5, I started giving myself little pep talks. Halfway there. C'mon girl, nice and steady. This isn't so bad. It's only three miles. At some points I slowed down, and at others I really picked up the speed; I was ignoring my watch so I really just let my legs do whatever they wanted.

Bumpy.

In 5ks, I tend to hit the wall around mile 2.6, and this time was no different. I recognized the spot where I'd walked last year as I came up on it this year. But knowing I'd generally kept a slower pace, I convinced myself to just slow down my run and not walk at all. Again, the lack of pressure of a goal-free race really worked in my favor mentally.

The clock at the finish line was all zeroes when I crossed, so I wasn't sure of my exact time until I saw the printed results. My time was literally the same as last year's!

I did move up from 9th to 6th, though!

Honestly, I was surprised to see the time. I wasn't keeping a close eye on my watch; I knew from the first mile that I'd likely run better than I expected to and that I might even squeak in under 30 minutes, but I absolutely did not expect to run anything like I did last year.

2019

(Shelagh pointed out later that last year this was my first real race back and I had trained for it. Who knows how I'd have run it if I'd put in some training?!)

I found Shelagh, who had absolutely destroyed her time goal (and did it without a watch!), then waited for Michelle to finish.

After Michelle crossed, we hung out a bit until, finally, we saw them printing results and went to look. Shelagh had placed first in her AG (6th woman overall!), so we knew we had to stay for awards.

She was very embarrassed and didn't want her picture taken, so of course I had to share it on the blog.

Afterward, we went our separate ways. I felt really good. I posted a couple weeks ago on Instagram that a perk of being a "veteran" runner is that you can slack off quite a bit and still pick up where you left off fairly easily. I think this race was a good example of that; in the past, I never could have gone into a 5k so poorly trained. Now, though, my basic level of fitness seems to rest a little higher, which is nice.

That said, it's really time for the slacking to stop. I have one more week of track (including the championships) and then I can devote more time to my own running again. I can't wait. It's time!

ABK