running disappointment put into perspective
It's been over 8 weeks since I've raced my first race. I've been itching to give a 5k another go to see I have gotten any faster.
The original plan was to race the Colder Boulder on Dec. 3rd - however the Wednesday before(Nov 30th) I strained my LCL playing tennis. I attempted to run on the 2nd and I couldn't even get 20ft. I rested for 5 more days then ran 5 miles on the treadmill on Tuesday even cranking out a couple of 8 minute miles. My leg felt good - so on to plan b - I signed up for the Denver Jingle Bell run on Dec. 10th.
It probably wasn't the best idea as I had a intense week of exercise leading up to Saturday. Not wanting to give up any strength gains I've made I went to the 3 Alpine Training Center workouts last week. I also attended my weekly Power Max cycling class at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and last week we did a time trial. Then another 5 mile run on Friday @ an avg 9:07 pace. Needless to say I was going into the weekend slightly fatigued - my TSS was a negative 8.8. (I used WKO+ software for my Breck Epic training and after I started running I was thrilled to find out it calculates a TSS score from my garmin run files!! I'm in data geek heaven!)
The Race
I did a 20 minute warmup and legs weren't feeling very peppy - I was hoping they'd perk up during the race.
I was happy to be on the start line and wasn't nervous at all - I was just ready to throw down and go visit the hurt locker.
Mile 1 felt pretty good - I was working hard and looked at my garmin - I thought my pace was too fast so I tried to back it off. Still i started off with too fast of a pace as the first mile clicked by in 7:52.(my goal was to try to avg 8:10s) Then it all unraveled. Every little incline my legs felt sluggish. I focused on keeping my head up and trying to keep my turnover high. I couldn't seem to really push into my red zone - typically I can maintain a 175 HR for a short effort like this but my HR seemed to be hovering around 168/169. Mile 2 clicked by at a disappointing 8:27...ughh...Since I couldn't red line my HR I decided to spend the 3rd mile just focusing on a lady in a bright blue shirt. She had passed me at the beginning of the race and was staying the same distance ahead. So I tried to maintain my running form and pass her. It was nice to have something to focus on other than my negative thoughts - I did eventually pass her and she never passed me back. I did slow down a bit more during the 3rd mile it clicked by at 8:37. According to my Garmin the course was 3.18 long and the last .18 took me 1:20.
Final official time 26:23 - a disappointing 33 seconds slower than the Eerie Erie. I'm thinking my Garmin might be a bit off because my speed average based on my garmin is a little bit faster than the official 8:31 pace.
The results were posted fairly quickly (that is SO different than mtn bike races where it may be DAYS later before they post results) and I saw I had finished 3rd in my age group.
meh...I was disappointed I was so far off from my target pace and was moping.
Then everything changed
30 minutes after the race i received a text - a very dear friend who had been battling some tough health issues wasn't doing well. Dave and I immediately booked it down to Pueblo - with me still stinky, sweaty and slathered in sunscreen. We visited with our friend at the hospital who was very weak but he seemed to rally - even enjoying the entertaining Broncos football game that night. Full of hope he would bounce after the energy he was displaying back we drove back home late the evening.
Monday morning we received word that he had taken a turn for the worse and probably wouldn't last the day. Dave and I dropped everything and drove back to Pueblo and were with him and his family as he left this world.
My heart has been heavy since the loss of my friend. He was a wonderful person and he will be greatly missed by many people. It seems really silly to be disappointed in the race - losing Rocky really put everything into perspective. I'm still trying to process Rocky's death...I wasn't ready for it...
The original plan was to race the Colder Boulder on Dec. 3rd - however the Wednesday before(Nov 30th) I strained my LCL playing tennis. I attempted to run on the 2nd and I couldn't even get 20ft. I rested for 5 more days then ran 5 miles on the treadmill on Tuesday even cranking out a couple of 8 minute miles. My leg felt good - so on to plan b - I signed up for the Denver Jingle Bell run on Dec. 10th.
It probably wasn't the best idea as I had a intense week of exercise leading up to Saturday. Not wanting to give up any strength gains I've made I went to the 3 Alpine Training Center workouts last week. I also attended my weekly Power Max cycling class at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and last week we did a time trial. Then another 5 mile run on Friday @ an avg 9:07 pace. Needless to say I was going into the weekend slightly fatigued - my TSS was a negative 8.8. (I used WKO+ software for my Breck Epic training and after I started running I was thrilled to find out it calculates a TSS score from my garmin run files!! I'm in data geek heaven!)
The Race
I did a 20 minute warmup and legs weren't feeling very peppy - I was hoping they'd perk up during the race.
I was happy to be on the start line and wasn't nervous at all - I was just ready to throw down and go visit the hurt locker.
Mile 1 felt pretty good - I was working hard and looked at my garmin - I thought my pace was too fast so I tried to back it off. Still i started off with too fast of a pace as the first mile clicked by in 7:52.(my goal was to try to avg 8:10s) Then it all unraveled. Every little incline my legs felt sluggish. I focused on keeping my head up and trying to keep my turnover high. I couldn't seem to really push into my red zone - typically I can maintain a 175 HR for a short effort like this but my HR seemed to be hovering around 168/169. Mile 2 clicked by at a disappointing 8:27...ughh...Since I couldn't red line my HR I decided to spend the 3rd mile just focusing on a lady in a bright blue shirt. She had passed me at the beginning of the race and was staying the same distance ahead. So I tried to maintain my running form and pass her. It was nice to have something to focus on other than my negative thoughts - I did eventually pass her and she never passed me back. I did slow down a bit more during the 3rd mile it clicked by at 8:37. According to my Garmin the course was 3.18 long and the last .18 took me 1:20.
Final official time 26:23 - a disappointing 33 seconds slower than the Eerie Erie. I'm thinking my Garmin might be a bit off because my speed average based on my garmin is a little bit faster than the official 8:31 pace.
meh...I was disappointed I was so far off from my target pace and was moping.
Then everything changed
30 minutes after the race i received a text - a very dear friend who had been battling some tough health issues wasn't doing well. Dave and I immediately booked it down to Pueblo - with me still stinky, sweaty and slathered in sunscreen. We visited with our friend at the hospital who was very weak but he seemed to rally - even enjoying the entertaining Broncos football game that night. Full of hope he would bounce after the energy he was displaying back we drove back home late the evening.
Monday morning we received word that he had taken a turn for the worse and probably wouldn't last the day. Dave and I dropped everything and drove back to Pueblo and were with him and his family as he left this world.
My heart has been heavy since the loss of my friend. He was a wonderful person and he will be greatly missed by many people. It seems really silly to be disappointed in the race - losing Rocky really put everything into perspective. I'm still trying to process Rocky's death...I wasn't ready for it...
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