Race Recap - July 2nd - The Sparkler 5k

My post-5k breakfast of yoghurt and raspberries! My fitness and times are improving. Now - time to recover and enjoy the beautiful weather! My apologies to the non-raspberry fans. I could not resist getting these yesterday!

A post shared by Runningwithallergies (@runningwithallergies) on Jul 2, 2017 at 8:37am PDT

Hey All!

I completed the Sparkler 5k on Sunday, July 2nd, and finished 4th in my age group and beat my March time.  I finished in 31:08.8.  This is roughly 40 seconds or so faster than my previous 5k and I went in with less training but a better warm up and pre-race prep.

So - let's take it back to Tuesday night, when I heard about it and discussed goals with my coach.  I pushed hard and thought, hmm, maybe I can handle a race.  I did not commit.

Wendesday - I took a Spin class at the YMCA and again pushed myself as best I could.  At the end, I was tired, covered in sweat, but I was smiling.  I came home and registered for the Sparkler 5k.

Training on Thursday - Saturday went well and I took it nice and easy all day Saturday.  Around 7-8 pm on Saturday, I was battling a headache and my stomach was not in the best of shape.  I decided to just push through, hydrate, and see how things felt on Sunday.  The firecrackers late into Saturday night did not help and my "can't sleep the night before a race" hit.

Goals for the race (A-C):

A - Run a sub 31 minute 5k
B - Run a 31:30 minute 5k
C - Beat March Time (~31:50)

Sunday:

The headache was mostly gone, but I still did not feel great.  I ate a Picky Bar, had quite a bit of water, and prepared my post race tart cherry juice bottle and filled a water bottle.  I got to the race and completed a 5-8 minute warm-up with a bit of a stride.  I finally felt decent.  I knew A was out-of-the question, but I figured C was doable.  B would be a stretch, but why not give it a try and follow the guidelines of making each mile a bit faster.

Mile 1 ~10:08 (I had my garmin on, but I did not look at it until I finished the race.) - a fellow announced the mile spilt and I think the 3/4 mile split.  I knew at the 3/4 split my time was pretty good, but I also was prepared to slow a bit, if I was sub 10 at mile 1.

Mile 2 ~10:07 - I have no clue when I passed it, but definitely began pushing a bit this mile.

Mile 3 ~10:07 - I started booking it at turn-around and hit a full-out sprint when I saw the mile 3 sign.

~0.1 Mile - I think I finished this in under a minute or close to it.

Takeaways:

• My stomach cooperated (yay) and I got my cool down complete, before handling the upset stomach.
• I should have been packing a water bottle all day on Saturday and I will not make that mistake on future weekends or evenings.  Thankfully - the day was pretty cool or I would have struggled.
• 5ks are still not my favorite distance, but going in trained makes them bearable.  I am starting to think of them as "tempo runs" instead of races.
• Distracting yourself, especially when the weather is tough, makes a huge difference.  I began counting - in my head - the number of people I passed and compared it to the numbers of those who passed me.  If you count stroller runners as a single person, then I passed more people than those who passed me.
• Only one person passed me between miles 1-2.  I hoped to not have anyone pass me, but I will take it!

Happy Monday!  I did a 2.19 mi run and myrtl today, which helped workout the crankiness from yesterday's run.

Enjoy July 4th!

P.S.  My coach found this, because, being me, I forgot to look!