Lots of Training + Virginia RRCA State 5K Championships

My first triathlon of the year will be this Saturday. I can’t wait! So in honor of the upcoming triathlon season, here’s a throwback to my last swim-bike-run race where I almost projectile vomited on a volunteer.

Beautiful

What I’ve been up to….

Me: I want to do this competitive 5K race.

Coach: It doesn’t fit as well into the training schedule given that you will have fatigue in your legs from the increased biking, and the volume training for the  1/2 ironman distance – you will have heavy legs and less quick speed.

(Since I always make the very best decisions and always listen to my coach) I signed up for the Virginia RRCA State 5K Championships …

Leading up to the race, my coach was right. I was tired, my legs felt heavy and I didn’t have much speed. Here’s a little snapshot of some of the workouts I did the week of the race … and this isn’t to make excuses for my performance/time. I’m sure every top runner there was in the middle of training. I’m just pointing out how different triathlon training is from run specific training.

As you can see the majority of hours have been spent on her…

Here’s a close up of two workouts that really did me in…

Obviously 13 hours of training isn’t ideal heading into a competitive race. Yes, I said 13. And yes, I have a full time job (I’m an analyst for a wholesale distributor). And no, I’m not crazy. Why do I do it? I’m not entirely sure sometimes. It’s absolutely exhausting. I guess I do it because I CAN. I’m not married, no kids… it’s probably the only time in my life where I can be completely selfish and check a major goal off my bucket list. Will I be doing this forever? Heck no. But for now, it’s my life: work, train, throw in the occasional nights out with the girls and a date here and there. Oh and of course family vacations…those are vital! Speaking of which, I’m going to the Dominican Republic in two weeks…counting down the hours J

Now don’t get me wrong, I definitely have days where I’m like “that’s it..I’m done…no more.” But somehow I still find myself back at the pool or running on the trails. And when I’m done I think to myself “that was soooo worth it.” That might be the best part: how I feel after. Once the training is done and I’ve taken a hot shower, poured myself a glass of wine, cooked a delicious meal and I’m on the couch relaxing, I am at peace. It makes it all worth it. Never fails.

I digress. Back to the race..

Since this was a championship race and there was prize money it attracted a lot of talented runners in the area. Here’s the pre race article (http://www.vagazette.com/sports/va-vg-spt-rick-platt-0420-20160419-story.html)

If this was the only competition that showed up to the race I would have been A OK. 

In fact, after scoping out some of the names I figured top 5 would be reasonable. 

Umm yeah that is not at all what happened. Read on…

5,000 Meters

You’d think there wouldn’t be much to say about a 5K. I mean, it’s only 3.1 miles. But let me tell you, I can write a book on those 3.1 miles!! While it’s nothing like a marathon, I wouldn’t say it’s easier. From my experience, I’d say the marathon is more of a mental fight. You are out there for a long, long time. The pain doesn’t start setting in until you’ve run 16+ miles. And then it becomes this constant battle between mind and body. You start having all sorts of crazy thoughts …. like hiding out in a porta potty. It’s mentally and emotionally draining but oh so rewarding when you make it to the finish line.  It truly is a journey.

The 5K, on the other hand … the pain comes on FAST and it is EXTREME. It is not a journey. It is hell :-/ The last mile is torture. Lactic acid is building, your heart rate is out of control, and all you want to do is hurry up and get to the finish line so you can throw yourself on the grass and writhe around in misery…or maybe that’s just me. Remind me again why I do this to myself.

The Plan

Keeping in mind how I was feeling and where I was at in my training, my coach gave me a simple plan: “Build your pace through the 5km - start out at a reasonable and steady pace and see what you have in your legs. If you are feeling pretty good in the first km, then go hard and have fun! If the legs are feeling sluggish, it could take up to a couple of km to get the turnover back into your legs. Once you do, then go run hard and still have fun! Try not to set outcome expectations for this race. This is a training race to see what you can do on tired legs.”

“Try not to set outcome expectations” – Am I the only one that finds this difficult? The first thing I did when I signed up for this race was set two goals: sub-6 minute mile pace and top 3. Now I had to try to delete those thoughts from my mind.

The Race

As soon as I showed up I knew I was in for a battle. One of the first people I saw was the girl that held the course record. And then I saw another girl I actually follow on Instagram who is really fast! And then…I saw some of the William & Mary Cross Country team warming up! Oh.My.Goodness.

The start of the race was chaotic. There were over 1,100 participants. I got bumped around the first 100 meters. I was trying to fight for a good position but at the same time I didn’t want to take it out too hard and find myself in trouble early on in the race.

Side Note: It is a challenging course. There are hills/inclines within the first 2 miles, a couple of sharp turns, gravel and crushed shells at the end of the second mile, and the last 800 meters is a straightaway (so basically you are staring at the finish line for the last few agonizing minutes of the race).

I went through the first mile in 6:01 and was in ~11^th place (for the women). All I could do was pray that some of the girls ahead of me went out too fast and would fall back…and they did.  

I never got any faster. My turnover just wasn’t there. It was also very humid (something I struggle with and have been addressing with my coach). All I could do was focus on the women ahead of me and try to pick them off one by one. It was painful! Boy was it painful.

Try to embrace the pain as the intensely deep reflection of your will to reach your full potential. ~Coach

I ended up crossing the finish line in 19 minutes and 8 seconds. 5th woman overall (out of 612 women); 25th overall (out of 1,161 men and women). When I first crossed the finish line I was pretty happy with the time and place. Considering my training, the level of competition (the 4 women ahead of me were all former Division I long distance runners), the course, and the humidity, I'd say I did pretty well. But of course hours after the race I couldn't help but analyze and pick apart my performance. I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life. But I'm not training for a 5K and my performance reflected that.

Moving on... This Saturday I will be doing an Olympic Triathlon: 1500 meter swim, 40K bike, 10K run. I'm looking forward to knocking the cobwebs off! It will be a great indicator to see where my swim-bike-run fitness is at and what I will need to work on before my Half Ironman in June.

Marathon ---> Duathlon

Let me preface this post by noting that it isn't nearly as riveting and entertaining as the last. There was no glorious victory. No elite panel discussion or Instagram "takeover". It's just an update on my athletic life post marathon and transition into the triathlon season. Oh and to extend my 5 minutes of fame just a bit longer, let's revisit what happened three weeks ago... I still get giddy talking about it.

It sure was hard coming back to earth after this win. #OneCityMarathon

My Andy Dufresne/Shawshank Redemption moment. 

You know...when he escapes from prison LOL. I watched this movie Saturday night 

and all I could think was "Andy, I feel you brother".

While I am oh so proud of this race, I've had time to reflect on what I could have done differently, and yes, what I could have done better. I guess that's what keeps us coming back for more. We want to keep getting better, keep improving. Nothing wrong with that, right?

My frustrations
I was in shape to run faster! I trained to run faster! I was prepared to run faster! I KNOW I had it in me to run faster.

Where I went wrong
Now that I've had time to discuss and assess the race with my coach, we were able to pinpoint two key errors. I like that we are candid with one another.

  1.  I went out too fast by getting caught up in what others do. I had one simple task: "run my own race, stick to the plan." Looking back at my splits I really wasn't running THAT fast. Truth be told I feel like I can jog a 1:32 half marathon at this point. The problem is the effort I put in to run that time. I wasn't taking it easy, running relaxed and within myself. I was trying to chase people down and it took a lot out of me early on.

  2.  I missed a fluid station at mile 10, which eventually led to 4 miles in the humidity and heat with no hydration. I’m a sweater…not good! But it's my own fault (the course was well equipped).

Yep, that's me. Sweating. A LOT.

Ok so not to take anything away from my performance and the effort I gave, but knowing that there is a chance I could have shaved 30 seconds off my time - or who knows, possibly 3 minutes - is a hard pill to swallow! I know. Live and learn. But seriously, I could kick myself. Folks, stick to YOUR plan. Luckily I made some corrections as the race went on and mentally fought my way into first. All turned out well in the end.

"Prize" Possession

VaDu/Duathlon Regional Championships: Run – Bike – Run
After taking one week completely off – caught up with friends, drank margaritas, climbed in bed after midnight *gasp* – it was time to get back into the swing of things. Truth be told, I was having so much fun I began to think “I could ‘retire’, be done with racing, and be completely satisfied." Ha! Yeah that lasted about 6 hours give or take.

I started to get that itch...Coach began posting workouts, we solidified my spring/early summer race plans, and just like that I was back out there training again. But this time I had to shift my focus from the marathon to the triathlon (swim, bike, run).

Keep on, keepin on…

First on the agenda - a Duathlon, my first Duathlon (run, bike, run).

And just as with trying any new thing, we probably will not grow if we are too afraid to embarrass ourselves in the process.

Yeah that about sums it up. 3 weeks post marathon and not enough time in the saddle left me a little nervous. But there really weren’t any expectations. I would simply use it as a hard workout and a good transition into the triathlon season. I had simple instructions. Coach stressed the importance of using the first 5K as a warmup –  try not to get hung up on what the others are running (aka Sika, you fool, stick to the plan...my coach is too nice to put it like that but I got the point). Solid advice. There weren't a lot of competitors in the field, but there were a lot of quality racers (a few pro triathletes, including my friend Rachel...she's tough - just came in 5th at Ironman 70.3 Puerto Rico - and has a cool blog: http://teamjastrebsky.blogspot.com).

Race Day
That morning it was cold and very very windy and I was wishing I had just stayed my butt in bed. Instead, I did the next best thing. I got my race packet, racked my bike in transition then got back into my warm car and turned the heat on! A few minutes before the start time I jogged a mile, noticed how beautiful the course was and how unfortunately hilly the run would be. Oh joy.

5K Run: A few women went out fast. For once I wasn't even tempted to go. The run course was hilly and I didn't have much speed. My workouts haven't been faster than half marathon pace so there was no way I was about to go out and run a low 19 and expect to finish the rest of the race. I stayed super conservative and ran the first 5K in 20:58 (I cringe seeing that time now but I'm glad I didn't push myself to run any faster). I entered the transition area, grabbed my bike, and found myself in 4th place heading out for the ride.

Thank you Ryan for this pic!

I decided to leave the one of me complaining 

to you out of this post...although it was pretty funny.

23 Mile Bike: Let me preface this by explaining the conditions: 40 degrees with 17-30 mph winds. About as soon as I got on the bike I was ready to get off!! I was getting blown all over the freakin place. They were mostly crosswinds, which meant that as soon as we rode by open fields wind gusts would push you across the road. I must have looked pretty bad. Whenever I'd get passed by a man he would ask me if I was ok and how I was doing handling the wind. At first I thought it was sweet but then I thought what the heck, do I look that bad? Are they asking every female this or is it just ME? I must look ridiculous. 

I ended up averaging 16.75 mph. Shameful!! The only good part about the ride was the scenery. It was beautiful. The event took place in Surry, VA at Chippokes Plantation State Park. I know I shouldn't have been looking around and taking in the landscape but when you are slow and getting passed in droves you have to find something pleasant in the madness!

Beautiful scenery. This is me during the second run.

Thank you Brenda for capturing this gorgeous shot.

5K Run: As expected, my legs felt weird and wobbly the first mile. Typical this early in the season. It takes a few races before my legs are used to running fast after a hard bike ride. The second 5K was on the same loop as the first. I knew where the hills were and what to expect which was nice. I didn't end up running much faster than the first 5K (official time was 21:10...again, kind of cringeworthy, but it is what it is).

Thanks again Brenda for the awesome pics. 

The good: I won my division (1st F30-34). The bad/ugly: the pro women went off course and ended up riding ~20 or so extra miles! Awful.

My thoughts on athletes going off course: Usually race directors put the blame on athletes (that didn't necessarily happen at this race...I'm just saying in general). They typically say things like "it's your job to know the course, study the map, know where the turns are." Yes, that's true, somewhat. But come on. Let's be real. I've been in races where I'm pushing it so hard that I probably couldn't spell my name if you asked me. Unless you have a photographic memory or you are completely lucid (which in most cases I'm delirious when I'm flat out racing), turns need to be bright and bold, etc. There should never be a point when I question where I'm supposed to go. Just my two cents.

More racing...
My next race will be the RRCA 5K Championships (Run the D.O.G.) in 2 weeks. Unfortunately it will be in the middle of a really hard training block #NoExpectations. It will most likely be my last road race for awhile. My triathlon season starts in 3 weeks!! On April 30th I will be doing an Olympic distance triathlon (part of the Virginia Triathlon Series) and of course this season's focus is on Ironman 70.3 Eagleman in June.

Lastly...

Good luck to everyone racing Boston in a couple of weeks!!!!!