I ran Striders 5K race this morning in Ogden. I liked the course, hated my time. It was all hills. I heard some people say that it separated the men from the boys. Well, those hills turned me into a little boy whimpering and whining all the way home.
The Race started with a beautiful overcast sky and very plesant temperatures for February. I felt fine for the first 400m until the adrenelin wore off. Then I remembered why I was a "casual runner" for so many years with no racing. Racing Hurts! I started out right where I wanted to be for the first 1/2 mile. Then there was an incline that seemed to get steeper with every step. There was a large pack in-front of me by 20 yards but I decided not to chase. I shouldv'e because they stayed the same distance in front of me for quite a while. I ended up by myself, which means I slowed down gradually without noticing. I hit the first mile (~100 foot gain) in 6:08. Too slow... I think I sort gave up mentally at that point and refused to push harder. My HR was around 184 with my pace between 7:00 and 8:00 miles going up the first hill. I just couldn't get the gas to speed up. We had a small break at 1.5 miles with a 7% grade downhill. My breathing was so anaerobic that it didn't help. My HR stayed at 184 and my pace dropped to 5:00 mile for the hill. The next up-hill was only 4% but it hurt. My HR climbed to 187 and I couldn't wait for it to end. Part way up the hill, I hit mile 2 in 6:22 (12:30). WAY-WAY to slow but what can you do?? Now for the downhill. It was a 10% grade that forced me to flail my arms and try and not face-dive into the asphalt at a 4:20 mile pace. I did finally catch someone at that point and pass him. He was my only position change for 2 miles. I dug as deep as I could from then on and pushed thru the 3-mile mark (5:45) and finished in 18:54 according to my watch.
I really wanted to post a good time today so I am dissapointed in that, but I know that I did about as good as I can hope for after a winter of base mileage and little Lactic Threshold and VO2MAX miles. I think I need more hill workouts too to get stronger.
Official Results Link:
Official Results: 18:53.1
18th Place Overall - 6th Place 25-29 age Group
Watch Time: 18:54 (6:06 mi)
I do feel good about the effort. After some thought and looking at Sasha's predictor I do feel better about the race. I found out many of my weaknesses during this race and I plan on addressing many of them this summer. I look forward to killing myself in the 10K.
I ran a mile warmup and ran the course backwards after for a cooldown.
PM Ran 3.45 miles in the late afternoon because I was bored and my legs had tightened up. Felt good. | 