Pace: 6:19 min./per mile
Weather: Light Snow, 24°F, 62% Humidity, Wind: From W @ 13 mph, gusting up to 23 mph; feels like 12°F.Course: Jingle Bell 5k Course
Pre-Run Observations: The goal I had in mind when signing up for this race a few weeks ago was finally breaking through the nineteen minute point for the 5k distance. This would require three consecutive (or some sort of variation) of 6:06 min/mile, which would result in a time of :18:58. Given the very cold chill in the air, the achiness of my left ankle and the apparent early onset of the flu, I’m not sure this is a reasonable goal today, but I’m going to give it a go—albeit with slightly tempered expectations.On the very bright side, my son is going to accompany me to the race his morning, though he’ll need to wear about four sweatshirts and jackets as it is cold, and he (like many kids) would just as soon wear a t-shirt, hoodie and shorts regardless of the weather conditions.
Post-Race Reflections: Gosh was it cold out today! Fortunately, my wife was able to find Jack's winter jacket in the closet and I had a pair of gloves he could wear. The set-up of both the start/finish and race was conducive to viewing, primarily because once the race began there was a school cafeteria that he could retreat to until the run was completed. I was glad to see, as I was coming down the finish, that Jack did find his way back outside. It's always great when he can come to a race with me. Hopefully in the future I can begin to sign him up to compete in a few, too.
The race conditions were very harsh, with about an inch of soft snow on the roads and some fairly brisk winds. Just as I had at the Turkey Trot, I wore only a t-shirt. While I did freeze my a** off, the loss of feeling in my arms and hands did motivate me to go even faster, as the warm cafeteria awaited at the end.
While I failed in my attempt to break nineteen minutes, I did feel great about my performance. I placed in the top twenty overall and second in my age group for a fairly successful start to th winter road racing season.
Embrassez votre été invincible!
2 comments:
I'm curious.
You speak of your goal go go under 19 but have you ever bothered to do speedwork? Or even a tempo or fartlek? I've followed your blog for quite sometime. Once you (a universal, not just you personally) hit your mid-late 30s the learning curve is a bit steeper, especially once you've been running for a couple years...you (again, universal) will only improve so much without structured training. Not saying this to be a naysayer, just being realistic. After all, you seemed to follow a 50k program FAIRLY closely and did respectably. So do you want to be a marathoner? Or run faster at shorter distances? Make a plan and follow it.
Also, nutrition DOES play a role (like it or not) in training. If you actually TRAINED and ate properly, you'd likely be closer to the low 18 minute mark. Focus on one goal at a time...not just "how about a marathon...oh wait, now I want to run X time..." If you incorporated some structure you'd likely be much faster, though it might take away from your apparent goal to be as poetic as possible about every single experience, including eating like crap. (!!!)Jumping in every road race may be fun, but its not necessarily the best way to train.
Hope this helps.
guilty as charged and thanks for the suggestions! ;)
cheers!
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