5K Summer Series, #2

I reverted to some old habits during this race:  a fast first mile, a decent second mile and a dreadful third mile.
Old habits die hard.
When I stood on the start line next to Daniel, he asked, "6:18 pace?"
I agreed.
But then I found myself running sub-6.  And although I knew I was running too fast, it felt manageable.
Maybe on another day it would have been manageable.

Let me back-track to Monday.

Monday started off as a normal day.  I went running before work, had a productive day and went grocery shopping to raid the clearance section of meats and veggies that expire at midnight.
When I was driving home from the grocery store, absolute exhaustion hit me like ton of bricks.
I just needed to lie down.

Once I lied down, I did not get back up.
My 75% discounted, but needed to be ate immediately, meats and veggies did not get cooked.  I sent David out for fast food instead.  This is a never-seen occurrence.  Not so much the fast food, but letting food go to waste!

Around 10pm, I was suddenly awakened by throbbing, aching arms.
I woke up David, who told me I had anemia and needed a juicy steak.
I called my mom, who said it sounded like the flu.

My mom brought be both a steak and Tamiflu the following morning (and chicken noodle soup).  Although nothing made me instantly recover, I felt mildly better.  I slept the entire day.
I slept most of the day on Wednesday but by Thursday, I was able to watch TV in between naps and check my Facebook.  All my Facebook friends were alive.

Some people have asked me what I did with my kids during my 4-day hibernation.  As always, I utilized my help.  But, they also did a good job entertaining themselves.
It doesn't really take much to entertain them, a simple office chair in the kitchen will do the trick:

Hayden played with cars:

And Brenna huddled in blankets, just like her mother, and watched him.

such a good girl!



My mom warned me not to run over the weekend.
She said, "You don't want to relapse!  Take it easy!"
Even though she is always right, my brain convinces me that I need to do the opposite.
Like I said, old habits die hard, right?

A bunch of other things then proceeded to go wrong in the next day:  insomnia, bloating, lower back pain and a new blister.  I don't know how you get a blister from being bed-ridden.

This 5K is my favorite one of the series because it is a trail run.  It's not technical nor difficult, but a trail is a trail and it's always better than a road or sidewalk.   I decided that I was okay not winning this race and formulated two reasonable goals.  The A goal was sub 6:20.  The B goal was sub 6:30.

So you see now why it really made no sense for me to run the first mile in 6 minutes flat.
I will say what I always say, it just felt good.
That first mile always feels good.

The second mile felt okay too.  There were some tight turns and mellow dips that naturally slowed me down for a 6:12 mile.

The third mile is where my race spiraled out of control.  I started the mile with fatigue so I transitioned to my A goal.  I focused on keeping my breathing smooth and solid.  But as the mile progressed, my physical state withered.  I lost control of my breathing and found myself gasping.  My chest hurt, my heart rate was too high and my arms were tumultuously tight.  In between moments of telling myself, "I can't" and reminding myself, "I can", I focused on shaking out the arms and taking deep breathes as I transitioned to my B goal.

I think a well-performed 5K should hurt.
But I don't think it should hurt like that.

I got passed in the last mile which did help me achieve my B goal (6:29).

I finished second overall but only because the course was short - it ended at 3 miles exactly.  Had there been a .1 sprint, I would have come in third - this runner and I had an identical chip times, I only beat her with the gun time.  And, unlike me, she didn't look like she was meeting death when she passed the finish.

When they called me up for my award, I promptly grabbed my medal and went over to a bush to puke.
I would have felt sorry for myself, but it was poor pacing on my part.  You have to race according to your capabilities for the day, not your capabilities in general.

When I returned, the kids were excited to see me back in my running shoes that had collected dust on the floor next to the door all week.  They got in the stroller and sat in it for quite awhile.
I love that my kids love to run.
But they will have to wait until next week.