Oh, yay, it's a 5K!
Feb. 26th, 2012 08:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ilanarama(The subject line is probably more entertaining when considered along with my previous post.)
That old race-day magic came through, because I ran 21:44, a PR by exactly 30 seconds. I came in second woman overall (about 2 minutes behind the first woman, but that's okay because she is a local pro triathlete and 14 years younger than me), but there were no prizes - it was a fundraiser and very low-key - and I didn't even win a random draw prize.
I ran 1.5 miles to the rec center to register, but the race was not for an hour after registration "closed" according to the flyer (it didn't really close, though, and I should have just shown up later) so I did a rather long warm-up, totaling just under 5 miles before the race. It was a lovely day and I stripped down to a singlet and my "crazy shorts" (the ones I wore at the Winter Sun), and lined up just behind the fast kids.
There were some obvious slowpokes right on the line, but fortunately they were mostly on one side; I squeezed between the others quickly enough and settled in behind a guy I know is a bit faster than me, letting him slowly pull away (he finished in under 20 minutes). I could see I was the third woman right from the start; I passed #2 (a middle school girl) a bit more than a mile in, and at the turn-around I could see that I was now #2 and the next women were far behind. After the turn-around the line was pretty strung out. I managed to pass a couple of guys bit by bit, and a couple different ones passed me.
The splits are ugly. Obviously I don't know how to race 5Ks, although I can blame part of it on the course. The first mile drops about 50 feet, the second drops 20 then climbs 20, and the third retraces back up. By my Garmin I ran 6:42, 7:09, 7:22, and 7:19 for the last fraction. My HR pegged right at 167/87% WHR and stayed there the whole time, which is kind of weird because that's supposedly 10K pace (that is, too low). It didn't spike at the end or anything. On the other hand, my other 5Ks, other than my first (where I set my max) have been similar in terms of HR pattern, and I wonder if that's due to the altitude - that a true 5K effort at 6600 ft doesn't allow my HR to climb as much, now that I'm relatively fit. (Whereas the first one I did, I wasn't as fit, and maybe that let it spike more?) I certainly felt on the edge of puking in the last mile and a quarter or so, and after I crossed the line I curled up in a ball on the woodchip mulch and just breathed for a while.
Here is my HR (and elevation and pace) plot, for kicks. Um, the weird exaggeration makes it look like I fell off a cliff and had to claw my way back up, but I assure you it wasn't that bad.
After the race I jogged around a little, and then ran home the long way to make a total of a little under 12 miles for the day.
PS: I understand that there have been problems commenting here with OpenID - I've been having the same problems on your blogs, too! I answer the Captcha and it just keeps refreshing. You can comment here anonymously if you like, just be sure to include your name so I know who you are.
That old race-day magic came through, because I ran 21:44, a PR by exactly 30 seconds. I came in second woman overall (about 2 minutes behind the first woman, but that's okay because she is a local pro triathlete and 14 years younger than me), but there were no prizes - it was a fundraiser and very low-key - and I didn't even win a random draw prize.
I ran 1.5 miles to the rec center to register, but the race was not for an hour after registration "closed" according to the flyer (it didn't really close, though, and I should have just shown up later) so I did a rather long warm-up, totaling just under 5 miles before the race. It was a lovely day and I stripped down to a singlet and my "crazy shorts" (the ones I wore at the Winter Sun), and lined up just behind the fast kids.
There were some obvious slowpokes right on the line, but fortunately they were mostly on one side; I squeezed between the others quickly enough and settled in behind a guy I know is a bit faster than me, letting him slowly pull away (he finished in under 20 minutes). I could see I was the third woman right from the start; I passed #2 (a middle school girl) a bit more than a mile in, and at the turn-around I could see that I was now #2 and the next women were far behind. After the turn-around the line was pretty strung out. I managed to pass a couple of guys bit by bit, and a couple different ones passed me.
The splits are ugly. Obviously I don't know how to race 5Ks, although I can blame part of it on the course. The first mile drops about 50 feet, the second drops 20 then climbs 20, and the third retraces back up. By my Garmin I ran 6:42, 7:09, 7:22, and 7:19 for the last fraction. My HR pegged right at 167/87% WHR and stayed there the whole time, which is kind of weird because that's supposedly 10K pace (that is, too low). It didn't spike at the end or anything. On the other hand, my other 5Ks, other than my first (where I set my max) have been similar in terms of HR pattern, and I wonder if that's due to the altitude - that a true 5K effort at 6600 ft doesn't allow my HR to climb as much, now that I'm relatively fit. (Whereas the first one I did, I wasn't as fit, and maybe that let it spike more?) I certainly felt on the edge of puking in the last mile and a quarter or so, and after I crossed the line I curled up in a ball on the woodchip mulch and just breathed for a while.
Here is my HR (and elevation and pace) plot, for kicks. Um, the weird exaggeration makes it look like I fell off a cliff and had to claw my way back up, but I assure you it wasn't that bad.
After the race I jogged around a little, and then ran home the long way to make a total of a little under 12 miles for the day.
PS: I understand that there have been problems commenting here with OpenID - I've been having the same problems on your blogs, too! I answer the Captcha and it just keeps refreshing. You can comment here anonymously if you like, just be sure to include your name so I know who you are.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-26 04:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-26 10:49 pm (UTC)It was actually funny at the end because I was lying on the ground among three college guys who had finished right around me, and we were all groaning and generally looking like we'd just chugged too much Everclear.
From Greenlee
Date: 2012-02-26 07:00 pm (UTC)Re: From Greenlee
Date: 2012-02-26 10:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-26 07:22 pm (UTC)[Ferret]
(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-26 10:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-27 06:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-27 06:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-27 03:12 pm (UTC)Anyway, yeah, other people have said that they don't get any better results by holding back early - you just have to go from the start. Certainly I wasn't being passed in the last mile - I think I passed one guy and that was it as we were all just holding position.
The thing is, this race was supposed to give me a new HR max! The only way I can get my HR up (or at least, I used to) was by racing a short race - but this got me nowhere near what I consider my max (180 is the highest I've seen, so I use 183). I'm kind of disappointed it didn't spike up at the end but that hasn't happened in the last few years for any 5K or 10K. All my best races in the last few years have fairly flat HR profiles.
On the other hand, I can correlate the numbers with by-feel pretty easily; I know that 140 feels easy, that 160 feels hard, and 167 is working really hard. Or at least, that's true at this elevation. It seems like I can handle higher HRs lower, just by looking at my different races. My HR in my HM PR (2500 ft lower) was about the same as during this race - and there is no way I could have hung on at this level for another 10 miles!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-27 12:08 pm (UTC)<3 Rebecca
(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-27 02:42 pm (UTC)Thank you much! I still have a ways to go to get as fast as you, though... :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-27 05:45 pm (UTC)Your data are fascinating, thank you for posting them as part of the race report :-) I started wearing a HRM for the first time ever 2 weeks ago, and it's turning me into a total hypochondriac. I am convinced that despite all my training, I am suddenly in horrible shape.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-27 06:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-28 01:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-28 03:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-28 09:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-29 09:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-29 05:06 pm (UTC)Congrats on PR, you are awesome!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-29 09:42 pm (UTC)