Race Report: Plaque Busters 5K

[caption id="attachment_1254" align="alignright" width="224"] 3rd Place in Age Group[/caption]

This was my first running race since March and I really wasn't expecting much. It was more of a "fun run" to determine where I'm currently at in my running. This race was in John's Creek, GA so I knew there would be hills and yes there were plenty of hills. The short ones didn't really seem that big of a deal but it was the long ones that proved to be too much for me to handle. First 2 miles, I ran the best I ever had but that third mile with the 1/2 mile steep up hill that got the best of me.

Still, with this being a 1st annual race and not knowing if my slow time would stand, I decided to stick around for awards anyway because as I've learned these smaller, low key races, you just never know who will show up and who won't. I got lucky and the fast runners didn't show up and I ended up surprisingly placing 3rd in my age group. It may not of been my best race by a long shot but a top 3 age group finish is still a top 3 age group finish, right? Well, I at least think so!

Fall Racing Schedule

Vacation is over, Labor Day has came and gone and now it's time to plan out my fall/winter racing schedule and come up with new goals. This summer was not a pleasant summer. The heat and humidity along with my idiopathic hypersomnia just got the best of me and training ended up being a second thought more than a priority and I ended up only participating in 1 out of the 4 triathlons I had planned to do. Now with temps hopefully getting cooler, it's time to get out there and moving again.

Goals:

Sub 30 min 5K - I'm finding this goal so difficult to achieve but I've came close so many times. This is my ultimate goal and I have plenty of chances with a 5K pretty much every other weekend.

Workout every day - My goal is to run 3-4 times per week and do at least 30 mins of cross-training on my off days such as swimming, cycling or yoga. I'm hoping by working out everyday, I can create some sort of consistency and if I miss a day, no big deal as long as I can get back on schedule the very next day.

Racing Schedule:

September 15 - Plaque Busters 5K - This is a race near where my parent's live in Georiga. I decided to start with a fun run/walk just to get an idea of where I'm at. It's my base race to determine what my training paces need to be.

September 29 - Wadsworth Trail 5K - It's on a paved trail but this race is only 1-1/2 miles from my house so I'll be jogging to the race as my warm up and jogging/walking back home as my cool down.

October 13 - iRecycle 5K - One of my favorite 5Ks in Spartanburg although they moved the course from the YMCA to the high school where there is now a huge hill so I doubt it will remain in my favorite races list. It's partly on the Cottonwood trail and partly on neighborhood roads so I really don't know what to expect.

October 27  - Spinx 5K - My "A" race of the fall! Hoping to smash my 5K PR and finally break that sub 30 min barrier. Going to have to start closer to the start line this year so I don't waste precious energy weaving myself through slower runners like I have in year's past.

November 22 - Spartanburg Turkey Day 8K - A fun run that I use as a training run. It's free and allows me to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner guilt free.

December 15 - Jingle Bell 5K Trail Race - It's a trail race and it's a lot of fun and usually my last race of the year.

Race Report: 2012 Middle Tyger Y Triathlon

Pre-Race

I slept surprisingly well once I fell asleep and probably got a full 6.5 hours of sleep. I left the house right at 5:45 am and arrived at the race site shortly after 6 am. Once I got out of my car, I quickly realized it was a bit chilly (in the upper 50s)  but I figured once the sun came up, it would warm up quickly so I never really gave it a second thought.

Swim (400 meters)

I have been swimming 30 minutes on my lunch break twice a week fairly regularly at the new Thomas Hannah YMCA. Their 25 yard pool is around 78-79 degrees which is about the same as Middle Tyger. That is a good thing because I usually have an issue with "cold shock" when jumping in chilly water. This time, it wasn't bad at all and the water actually felt pretty good. I ended up swimming the entire 400 meters non-stop in about 9:40. Add in a 20 sec run to transition timing map and my swim split ended up being 10 mins even.

Transition 1

As as soon as I exited the pool area, I realized it hadn't warmed up much at all. Probably only in the low 60s and being soaking wet, it was downright chilly. Of course my adrenaline was going so I didn't really have time to dwell on it for very long. Managed to get on my socks, cycling shoes, sunglasses, helmet, and number belt, grabbed my bike off the rack and off I went.

Bike (14 miles)



Now I started thinking about how cold it was. I was downright freezing cold the first 3 miles or so as the bike course starts downhill. Once I hit the first uphill, I started generating body heat which helped me warm up some. While I love cycling, I'm not a fast cyclist. I absolutely hate the bike leg in a triathlon because I feel so slow compared to everyone else. Even averaging around 14 mph, riders were passing me like I was sitting still. I definitely need to ride more than twice a week and really work on getting faster on the bike before Furman. The final 2 miles were brutal as it's mostly uphill and I really had a hard time getting up it even though I train on much longer and steeper hills.

 

Transition 2

Went extremely well. It  had to be super fast as all I had to do was rack my bike, swap my cycling shoes for my running shoes and remove my helmet and grab my hat.

 

 

 

 

 

Run (5K)

At first I felt pretty good but then about a quarter mile in, my legs were screaming and I feared my calves were going to cramp up so I started walking and taking longer strides to help stretch them but it only made it worse so I started running again. At times I felt great and other times I felt like my calves were going to seize up at anytime so I had to stop and walk a lot more times than I would of liked. At the 2 mile mark I was at 24 mins so I was averaging a 12 min pace. The 3rd mile was tough but I used the 45 strides / 30 sec walk break technique to get me through it. The run was a slow 37:31 mins but it was a huge improvement over last year and I have only been running twice a week for the past 6 weeks so I can't really complain that much . I wanted to finish the run in under 35 mins but that didn't happen with the uphill finish. That's one thing about Middle Tyger...it's hilly and you have an uphill finish on both the bike and run course.

 

 

Overall Time and Final Thoughts


My official time was 1:50:52 and a new PR. I beat last year's time by 5 minutes which coming into this race, I really doubted that I would do better than last year considering my training has been a little "off".

The past 6 weeks haven't been easy as I've been dealing with my dog's declining  health. Kelsey scared us when her auto-immune disorder came back and she needed a blood transfusion to survive and it wasn't 2 weeks later, Kato's heart got worse. Both are doing okay for now but we know it's only a matter of time.

And just like last year, the volunteer's and spectators were great. Lots of encouragement at every intersection and turn.

Swim Time (400 meters) - 10:00
Transition #1 - 1:18
Bike (14 miles) - 1:01:18
Transition #2 - 0:47
Run (5K) - 37:31
Total Time - 1:50:52

Compared to last year, the swim was a 31 sec improvement, T1 exactly the same, bike was 4 secs slower, T2 was 2 secs faster, and the run was nearly 5 mins faster.