I had a plan to run another 5K today, but we got snow and I did not think going sub 20 in these conditions would be possible. Good thing I did not preregister. Instead, I did something I had wanted to do for a long time. I ran the 5 mile race in Fresh Pond. This is a low key, free weekly race. I did not treat this as a race, mainly because I did not want to run a slow warm up. So I ended up running 5 miles @MP to the race site, went into the little visitor center to peel a layer or two (I love to be cold when I race), and looked around me. Everyone seemed so hard core. Everyone had zero body fat. There were only a couple of women, and they were both stretching in various cirque du soleil type movements. Oh, and I showed up with my ipod and water belt. Yes, noone else had any of those. Seriously. I felt so out of place.
At 10 am we all went outside. It was snowing pretty hard by that time. My plan was to run planned HM pace and not exceed 185 average HR. The course is a 2 loop around the pond. The course is short. I finished (per Garmin) in 31:23, which was only 4.65 per Garmin (not 5), 1 minute below HMP, 185 average HR. It was a good effort, negative split, lots of nausea during the last mile but somehow I managed to keep my breakfast in (this time I ate cereal and coffee about 2 hours before the race, so, yeah, well deserved!). Good effort, and I was not trashed like I am after races, which means I could have easily ran faster. Good. I was the 8th person overall and first woman (probably the other women did the 2.5 race), so 1 out of 1, very impressive, lol. Oh, and I ran the race entirely alone. There was a pack of young men who I only saw for a minute or so, and the people behind me were far away.
After the race I dragged myself home and ran 5 really slow miles not allowing myself to go over 160 heart rate. The icebath was the last thing I wanted to do, but my hamstrings have been tight lately and so I ended up going in. And the spinach and laughing cow cheese omelet with homemade bread never tasted this good. I love winter running. And I have a feeling the Fresh Pond races are going to become part of my Saturday run.
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9 comments:
I actually think it's super fun and cool to sandwich a race in the middle of a long run! Congrats on first... I don't care how many women were there... :)
Glad you kept your breakfast where it belonged!! congrats on another great race.
That's a wonderful way to speed up your long runs - nice one girl! and good on you for not getting sick - it's hard sometimes.
Isn't lunch after a hard run the best thing ever? Just love it.
sounds like a great run. This summer I ran 6 miles to a 10K, did the 10K and then ran home. I think I could have loved doing this if...it hadn't been 94 degrees with 90% humidity. I know what you mean about winter running!
Nice! Maybe you FELT out of place but who cares if you do 4.65 at 6:45ish, in snow, alone, after 5 at MP!! Awesome! You are gonna wipe out those goals sooner than later:) Great job!
I have done that race before. They post the results in the Herald every weekend so I'm sure you'll be in there. :)) Congrats!
Great of you to get out there for that race! Neat that you were the only brave woman. LOL!
awesome! i applaud you for going out to run on saturday - i couldnt bear to do my long run outside with the weather. blech! and way to get 1st ;)
Hello, nice to see another tri and running related blog. Keeps me inspired to know I'm not the only one out there pounding the trails. :o)
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