St. Patrick's Day 10K Road Race Report
Got up at 0530, pooped, started getting my gear out for the race. Just before my neurostim run (
@gianmarco), I pooped again. That took some of the pressure off, both mentally and physically.
Neurotstim run was good, just did a quick 3K (which also counts as my 3K warmup, per my marathon training plan). Got back home, and lounged around for a bit. Stared at that bottle of beet juice (
@Juxtatarot) sitting on the counter, just goading me. I debated skipping it but if you BMFs can drink it, so can I. First half of the pint was tolerable but as I got through more, it got thicker and grosser. Could barely get the last few mouthfuls down. And then the belching after was extra-special. Brushed my teeth, washed my mouth out with mouthwash but nothing would stop that putrid taste from coming back up with each successive belch. Ugh.
Packed the rest of my bag and went to pick up my friend. We got to the race an hour early and didn't have much to do so we sat around. About 30 minutes before start, I grabbed a can of Coke (
@SFBayDuck) for my sugar/caffeine hit. My friend said, "Have you ever run with pop in your stomach before, not everyone can do it. Often it comes back." I shrugged my shoulders and drank it anyway, figuring my BMF e-friends wouldn't lead me astray, right?
15 minutes before gun time I start to feel gut movement again. WTF?! I already pooped twice? Anyways, I figure I should play it safe and head to the bathroom. The race was using a high school gym as a gathering point, and it's been 30 years since I've been in a high school gym bathroom. Ugh.
Anyways time was getting tight so I finished-up, got back to my gear, and the panic starts. Five minutes to race time and I can't find my sunglasses. I look through my gear, my clothes, bag, etc. Nothing. Agh. I had them just 30 minutes ago. Running out of time, I just resign to running without them and head for the start line. Only 2 minutes to start. Don't have my music set up yet. My bluetooth headphones are off. One minute to start. I'm fumbling around trying to get everything set and then the race starts. Trying to move with the crowd toward the start line while messing with my running belt trying to get my phone into it. Can't do it. So I move off to the side and stop to get things right, not wanting to cross the start line until I was ready.
30 seconds later, things are a go. I cross the start line, but I'm at the back of the pack. Everyone in front of me is running slower than me. But I have to run fast, right? I'm trying to PR! RUN FAST, ZASADA! So I run "fast" just randomly. Almost a sprint. I'm passing folks all over the place trying to get some room. The first 500m is just crazy as I'm panicked that I'm not in a zone and running logically. Why didn't I get better prepared?! This is going to be a disaster!
I finally get a second to look down at my watch. OMG I'M RUNNING AT A 4:00/km (6:26/mi) PACE. YOU IDIOT. So I try to slow down. And just like all of my other (aka "two") races, "slowing down" is relative. My plan was 4:45/km (7:39/mi) for the whole race (if I could), which would give me a PR (just barely). But because I'm a neanderthal, here I am, once again, rolling off KMs at a 4:25-4:35 (7:06-7:22/mi) pace.
Finally when I get to 7K things get really rough. My 8th KM clocks-in at 4:56 (7:57/mi). Then my 9th is even worse at 5:15 (8:27/mi). Both were a slight uphill, and I was fighting a stitch. And this beet juice & Coke combo sloshing around my stomach is making me want to barf. I normally run on an entirely empty stomach and this isn't feeling good. Maybe the two are powering my muscles but they could shortly be powering some bush fertilization if I can't get things to settle down.
The last KM is a dream. I want to kiss whoever set up this course. 300m of it was normal, but then you turn the corner for the homestretch and it's a slight downhill and I can see the finish line from 700m away. Now that I can see the finish and the slight downhill is giving some life back to me, I muster what I can and run the last 500m at 4:30/km (7:15/mi).
As I'm crossing the finish line I see 47:10ish on the clock and know that I PR'd (prior Strava estimated PR was 47:58). Especially since I didn't cross the start anywhere near gun time. My gut is about to explode and rather than barf all over the poor girl who's trying to give me a medal and bottle of water, I rudely blast right by her to find any patch of grass. One big heave and nothing. Good. HR is slowing. Keep it down, Zasada. A little heave. Nothing. HR slows some more. Then the gut settles. Phew.
Once I gain some composure, I fire up my watch again and head out for my 3K cooldown (as prescribed by my marathon plan), but it was a nice run given that the hard work was done and I had a PR under my belt.
Finally when I get back to the gym and looked at Strava, I see I had (estimated) PRs for:
- 10K (46:41)
- 5K (22:37)
- 2 mile (14:17)
- 1 mile (7:05)
- 1K (4:15)
- 1/2 mile (3:25)
All of them from the very begining of the race. I'm such a moron.
Official chip time 46:43.93, which is 66/293 overall, 14/53 in my age group, and 51/150 among men. The website shows only my gun time (47:13.60) so I'm not sure if the website is ranking me by gun time or chip time. Either way, a satisfying race, even if ran galactically stupid. Again.
Epilogue
It is an absolutely gorgeous spring day here in Calgary so even though the legs were a little tired, my mind was energized and the trails were calling to me. So I decided to treat myself with a short hike in a nature preserve near the city. Got some great views and enjoyed my first hike with only a tshirt on in six or seven months. I took things easy, and plus tomorrow is a day off so no worries about over-stressing the legs. A great day.