4 phases of a 5k - Turkey Trot 5k race report

First off - file under only in Boulder

Before I get to the 4 stages of racing a 5k - I just shake my head at the caliber of athletes in Boulder.   I can pretty much guarantee that at any given race - there WILL BE several Olympians, Worlds Champions, professional athletes and other assorted running luminaries (actually this is  the case in any race in any sport in Boulder, not just running).    If you are just an average Joe Blow - make sure you check your ego at the door!

A few numbers (and this is a 5500ft elevation - according to this website, Colleen's winning time is equivalent to a 17:37 at Sea Level)

• 17:58 - time of the Overall female winner 47 year old Colleen DeRueck.   (Olympian)
•  Collen beat out last year's overall womens winner Amanda Scott - Amanda qualified/ran the 2012 Olympic Marathon trials all while she was working on her PhD in Chemical Engineering  (another typical Boulder over achiever)
• 20:03  -winning time for 50-59 Womens AG. My Age Group.  Seriously, are you f'ing kidding me?? 
• 18:58 - winning time for 30-39 Womens AG  (Colleen was top dog in 40-49 AG)
• 18:29 - winning time for 20-29 Womens AG
• 19:35 - winning time for 14-19 Womens AG
• 90(!) was the number of participants in my 50 - 59 Age Group - this makes me SO happy.  Is it like that in other parts of the country?
• 11th was my placement in my AG.  I'm happy my placement - not so happy w/my time. 26:11 - 8:29 min mile pace.   I was hoping for a PR of at least 25:30 , but even a PR wouldn't have changed my placement.  I would have had to run a full minute faster to get to 10th place.   However, if I had been 6 seconds slower - I would have finished 14th.  I'm pretty stoked that my AG is so competitive.   Old ladies rock!
• 19:06 was good enough for 8th place in the Men's 30-39 age.  Acquaintance Ryan D. was disappointed he didn't place higher in his AG.   I'm thinking there were several Olympic trials qualifiers and professional triathletes  in his AG 30-39.

Ok...enough digression - onto the 4 phases

Racing a 5k is LOT like racing short track on my mtn bike(painful) and like racing my singlespeed against girls on geared bikes. (changing mind set) 

Phase 1 - 'oh this isn't so bad'

I don't try to go out too fast at a 5k - but invariably I do.   The reason being is because the first 3 or 4 minutes don't seem to hurt that bad.
 
I went out and saw I was holding a 8 min mile and for the first few minutes it was feeling easy and I thought I would be able to maintain.
 
Note happy smiling face - I'm still in Phase 1.   Mile 1 clicked by at 8:01 - by the end of mile 1 I wasn't feeling so comfortable. 

 Phase 2 - 'yeah this hurts - whose *great* idea was this to line up??'

 At this point in time I am starting to  feel bad. I'm hurting and an annoying headwind kicked up - I tried to draft a tall guy and held on for about 30 seconds and then he  dropped me.

Able to crack a smile for the camera - but it's really starting to hurt

Lady in blue passed me and she looked good (she's behind me in the above picture)  - she had slim, muscular runners legs and the slim, trim physique of a long time runner.    Her hair was a mix of blonde and gray and I was thinking she might be in my age group, tho sometimes it's hard to tell.   Several times I've seen ladies I thought were in my AG only to find out they were in the 40-49 AG.   The Colorado sun can be harsh on peoples skin.

After this picture was taken, I wondered to myself "WHY did you sign up?  This is painful".  Motivation lagged and I dropped off the pace during mile 2 to a 8:38.  yowza...that was bad.  

Phase 3 - 'nevermind - i don't even care how i finish - I just want to be DONE'
    
Somewhere in the between the halfway point and mile 2.5, I just didn't care anymore. I watched lady in blue running strong and putting a gap on me.  buh-bye

Phase 4 - 'crap - i need to hold my position and go all out -damn that hurts!!!'

Invariably, my competitive juices started going again.  Lady in blue was ahead but not pulling away and out of curiousity upped my pace a bit to see what would happen.  I slowed gained on her.   As I reached her, I said "you look really strong and steady".  She said "thanks, but I fighting a side stitch right now".   We ran side-by-side for a while and I told her to "hang tough".   Gradually, I was able to put a very small gap - maybe 2 strides at the most and then all of sudden I began to care again.  

getting a tiny gap - happy to see my form is holding up.  Based by the look on my face - I'm definitely working hard.

Lady in blue kept me motivated!

Mile 3 clicked by at 8:28 (glad mile 3 was faster than mile 2)  

The race finished up at CU's Pott Field on the track.    I didn't look back and didn't let up as I crossed the finish line in 26:11.    Lady in blue's official time was a mere 6 seconds after my time - whew that was close. 

Working hard at the end

Thanks to Dave for taking the pictures.  He had shin splints and didn't race.   It was a fun race, but until I do some actual speed work - I think the 5ks are on hold.  :)