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.