I'll chalk this one up to rust/inexperience. I did not reach my goal, and I'm kind of pissed off about it. The weather was perfect and I had a good nights sleep as well.
Mile 1 7:53
Mile 2 9:06
Mile 3 9:02
Finish 27:27
Place: 90 out of 189
Started out too fast (7:30 pace) for the first half mile. I slowed down for the next half mile to end up at 7:53. The problem was the 2nd half mile was all downhill and mile 2 was straight up hill. I had zero momentum going into the hills and was gassed on the last mile. (I did managed to hold off some 12 year old punk by 3 seconds...small victories) I felt totally lost as I didn't know the route. I also didn't have the energy I thought I'd have.
The chart below shows my HR, Altitude and Speed for the run. HR was a bit high.
What I learned:
- Control your start.
When running road races, starting hard can kill you. This is counter to most of my running experience at shorter distances where starting slow will put you out of the race. Next time, I plan to start slower and build momentum. - Find someone/anyone to run with.
I ran the race with 190 people but by myself. I couldn't find anyone at a pace I was looking for. Probably due to bad luck and not knowing what pace to run at. - Know the route.
Run, or at least walk, the harder parts of the route in advance. Fear of the unknown and not knowing where the end is (of the hill, street, race, whatever) can be a drag on your psyche. - Eat something before the race.
For fear of intestinal issues, and it being only 5k, I did not have anything to eat prior to the race. Dumb. I'll have to start experimenting with some of the energy bars before my runs in the morning. - Run some hills.
Only my 10K route has a hill. Need to find some more undulating routes. Calves and hamstrings are all sore today, but thankfully, nothing feels "injured."
4 comments:
This is all good advice. Sorry if I missed it in an earlier post, but what was the goal for this run?
It definitely seems like it was a good running lesson yesterday.
There is no substitute for logging mileage, that's for sure and working hills into the mix are nice. One good thing about running right now is that you can just sort of shift back and work on the base now and wait for the next Road race opportunity. Way to get out there, and your time is totally respectable. Finding the happy medium between those 7:30s and 9:30s is a good goal. and something to work towards.
Goal was to run under 26 minutes. I figured I could run 8:20 pace based on my shorter training runs. I did not factor in being an idiot on the first mile and the hills. I ended up at 8:50 pace.
Running is a progression for sure. Good for you for finding the learning in what sounds like a frustrating experience. What wasn't lost on me was the fact that you finished better than half the field on a tough day of running.
Congratulations! I call this a victory.
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