In the last 6 years I tapered for the this race since was in training for the OC100 races. This year I am also training for the OC100 trail race BUT since I caught the Tri bug I had not focused running long or trails. Unfortunately I would have to work this race into the training schedule and see what happens.
Going into the race i had run 60 miles the week before and had 35 miles in the week leading up to the race, so I did not feel fresh at all but did feel good and strong. Leading up to the race I made sure to take all of my doses of Hammer Nutrition Race Day Boost and Hammer Nutrition Tissue Rejuvenator to ensure I had the best possible chance to do well.
I got to the race an hour early and got my bib etc and started to jog around to get loose and get the blood flowing. I was feeling great and energy was high but definitely could feel the training load in my legs. As the race time neared I turned on my MP3 player and started to get my mind ready for the race. With about 10 till the start I made my way to the starting line and the timer asked me if I thought I would win today, I paused looked around and said..... Sure why not....we both laughed a bit and I said, I am going to try. As the race director started giving instructions I started looking around to see who all showed up, I did see a lot of familiar faces, exchanged a few nods etc. I also noticed a large handful of new faces most younger than me. With about a 2 minutes to go a friend of mine walked up to me and said good luck and I think you are going to with this again. I just said thanks, now I was starting to feel some pressure that I had not had all morning.
As the timer counted down 3....2...Horn blows! about 8-10 people really pushed the pace from the start, I figured it would be a fast race but holy cow it had only just started. After the first turn ( about 200 yards) it was down to about 5 of us and the pace started to settle in but then this guy got out front and took off. I didnt go with him because I was sure he could not hold that pace. After 1 mile I had moved to 2nd and a decent gap back to 3rd but 1st was a ways out. Not long after I hit the 1 mile mark I could see the leader turn and see where I was, I assumed he was getting tired so I planned to keep my pace till the 2 mile mark and see what happens.
At 2 miles I closed the gap to about 50 ft or so his foot turn over was slowing and I could tell he was tired, but the down side was so was I. As we hit about the 2.5 mile point I was less than 10 feet behind him. I noticed he was messing with his MP3 player and all of a sudden he picked up his pace just a bit I did not have any more to give at that point though. He slowly pulled away from me and as I hit the final turn I could see him crossing the finish line. In the end I lost by 20 seconds.
I got some water and found the guy who won, we exchanged high fives and I asked him what the heck song he put on his MP3 player. He laughed, told me the song ( I cant remember now) and said I know you were going to catch me so i turned that song on which was 4 min long... he said he told himself that he could out run me for the 4 minutes or blow up trying. lol
Sadly I likely had enough to push a bit harder and maybe could have blown him up and won but hind sight is 20/20. But hey I took 2nd and was nearly 2 minutes faster than 3rd place. This is far from a fast 5k but it was warm and lots of wind, it seems everyone was slow on this day. After awards I went out and ran 6 more miles and did 22 miles on the trails the next day! Hammer on!
#howihammer
Gear:
Suunto 9 GPS watch
Hammer Running Kit
Hoka One One Gaviota
Fuel:
Hammer Whey Protein Bar for breakfast
Hammer Tissue rejuvenator - post race
Hammer Recoverite - Post race
Hammer CBD Balm later in the day.
Hammer Race PR Kit - 4 days prior and up the night before the race.
No comments:
Post a Comment