New Year's Day Resolution Run
So, I didn't plan on running a race until the weather was much nicer here in Upstate NY, but when a heard that a couple of training buddies were going to run the local New Year's Day Resolution race I figured, why not? After all, with about 3 weeks of running back in my legs after a two month break why not go ahead and jump into a race? What could go wrong?
I don't like running or racing in the cold. I'm a wimp. I've got asthma and the transition between cold and warm can be a pretty bad trigger for me. I used to think that toughing it out when below freezing was a good way to toughen myself up, but I've had a couple experiences in the past that changed my mind. Back in 2012/2013 during my first winter running I dressed wrong for the conditions and wound up with hypothermia. I almost didn't make it home. When I did get home it took hours before my double vision went away. A few years later after running a race in the winter I stepped into a warm building and had an asthma attack that was so bad I almost walked over to the ambulance that was on site and asked for help. After those experiences I learned to embrace the treadmill and really it has probably made me soft. It takes very little for me to stick with the comfortable heated environment of the YMCA and just crank out the miles.
So anyway, back to the point of this post. There was a race. Some friends were doing the race. I give into peer pressure too easily. I signed up and did the race. Race report done. OK?
Well maybe there was a little bit more to it. The race was 7.5 miles long. The temperature wasn't too bad. It was a couple of degrees above freezing, but there was a wicked hard wind that just chilled you to the core and icy patches still on the road. I got there early after way too much partying the night before and waited in a nice warm comfy truck until I had to brave the elements. My friends and I ran over to the starting line where I did some strides to get ready and just tried to stay warm. The race is in a pretty hilly location. The start line has us go downhill at the beginning and then it all gets worse from there.
I knew I had some pretty good residual fitness leftover from last season but with only ~3 weeks of training on my legs I had no expectations. When they told us 'go', I took off and enjoyed bombing down the hill. I enjoyed it too much. That hill was like good whiskey. Fun right up until it isn't. Garmin has me starting out at 4:36 pace. Dumbass. It was a downhill, but I wasn't on skis! After the sprinting start I managed to hold the lead overall for most of the first mile, but I was relieved when I got passed by a pack of runners. From there to the end of the race I barely looked at my watch. I just ran hard. I ran with my heart. I could feel myself maxing out miles before getting to the finish line but it didn't matter. I started in the worst way possible so now all I could do was push through to the finish and hold it together the best I could. Other than the first pack of folks, I only got passed by one other runner around mile 2. This left me running most of the race without anyone around me, but that was OK. I'd rather be lonely while suffering than have a stream of people blasting by me helping me relive my mistake of going out way too hard. I got through to the finish and was 2nd in my age group and 7th place overall. I'll take it!
One nice highlight of the race is that despite the cold and the hills my legs felt like they had more to give. The circumstances were such that my legs should have felt much worse than they did. I just didn't have the cardiovascular fitness to finish any faster. I think all of the weight lifting and physical therapy is paying off.
The stats:
That average heart rate of 180 blows my mind. That isn't normal for me. For a 5k I might be able to hold something like that but for a 7.5 mile race? That was a surprise. It has been 4+ years since I have run a longer race that hard and I don't really know what to make of it. I hope it means that the strength training is helping me push harder and I just need time to catch up on the actual cardio side, but I guess it will take a while to find out. I don't have another race planned until a 5 miler in mid March.
One other side note from the race that made me feel pretty special was the cool down. I was out running slowly and a pack of the local running royalty caught up to me. I said, "hello" and they all immediately started congratulating me for he fast race in Chicago. Now, it isn't completely out of the blue. I did sit next to one of them on the plane ride to Chicago and he took my race bib number to check my results, but I really didn't expect a bunch of people that I barely know to start congratulating me on a race from 2 months ago. Watch out world, my ego got a little bigger with that one ;-)
The official results can be found here
I don't like running or racing in the cold. I'm a wimp. I've got asthma and the transition between cold and warm can be a pretty bad trigger for me. I used to think that toughing it out when below freezing was a good way to toughen myself up, but I've had a couple experiences in the past that changed my mind. Back in 2012/2013 during my first winter running I dressed wrong for the conditions and wound up with hypothermia. I almost didn't make it home. When I did get home it took hours before my double vision went away. A few years later after running a race in the winter I stepped into a warm building and had an asthma attack that was so bad I almost walked over to the ambulance that was on site and asked for help. After those experiences I learned to embrace the treadmill and really it has probably made me soft. It takes very little for me to stick with the comfortable heated environment of the YMCA and just crank out the miles.
So anyway, back to the point of this post. There was a race. Some friends were doing the race. I give into peer pressure too easily. I signed up and did the race. Race report done. OK?
Well maybe there was a little bit more to it. The race was 7.5 miles long. The temperature wasn't too bad. It was a couple of degrees above freezing, but there was a wicked hard wind that just chilled you to the core and icy patches still on the road. I got there early after way too much partying the night before and waited in a nice warm comfy truck until I had to brave the elements. My friends and I ran over to the starting line where I did some strides to get ready and just tried to stay warm. The race is in a pretty hilly location. The start line has us go downhill at the beginning and then it all gets worse from there.
One nice highlight of the race is that despite the cold and the hills my legs felt like they had more to give. The circumstances were such that my legs should have felt much worse than they did. I just didn't have the cardiovascular fitness to finish any faster. I think all of the weight lifting and physical therapy is paying off.
The stats:
That average heart rate of 180 blows my mind. That isn't normal for me. For a 5k I might be able to hold something like that but for a 7.5 mile race? That was a surprise. It has been 4+ years since I have run a longer race that hard and I don't really know what to make of it. I hope it means that the strength training is helping me push harder and I just need time to catch up on the actual cardio side, but I guess it will take a while to find out. I don't have another race planned until a 5 miler in mid March.
One other side note from the race that made me feel pretty special was the cool down. I was out running slowly and a pack of the local running royalty caught up to me. I said, "hello" and they all immediately started congratulating me for he fast race in Chicago. Now, it isn't completely out of the blue. I did sit next to one of them on the plane ride to Chicago and he took my race bib number to check my results, but I really didn't expect a bunch of people that I barely know to start congratulating me on a race from 2 months ago. Watch out world, my ego got a little bigger with that one ;-)
The official results can be found here
