. 
The Day Before: It rained for most of the day on Saturday. I did strength training for most of the morning. I collected some gear at Brainsport, and had lunch at Szechuan Kitchen. I had a small nap before I began my shift at 3:00 PM. Very low energy for the rest of the day (I blame the dreary weather), and some cramping (from the workout earlier) later in the evening. My carb-load for today was mostly made up of bread, rice noodles, and kvas (Ukrainian rocket fuel).
Wake Up/Breakfast: Up at 5:30, did some upper body exercises. Breakfast was a protein smoothie: 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 4 large strawberries, 1 measure Kaizen protein powder, 1 tsp Ruby Reds nutritional supplement, blended with 1 cup Kombucha tea. I skipped out on making coffee (wish I hadn't).
5 Kilometer Race Time: 8:30, beginning at PotashCorp Park. Rode bike there to spare myself the misery of finding parking. It rained heavily all morning. I was thoroughly drenched before the race even started.
Starting Position: In the first quarter of the front of the 5 km runners' pack.
Most Challenging Part of the Race: As with the last race, I was confined by the major crowd congestion at the beginning of the race. I did a lot of puddle-dodging to try to keep my sensor from being saturated with water. Being completely drenched from head to toe with rain meant that I was carrying probably an extra 3 kg of water on me. I honestly didn't think I drank that much, but it felt like I overdid it with hydration this time: carrying too much water internally as well. My last two kilometers were difficult with an overloaded bladder needing to desperately be emptied. My iPod wasn't working properly with all the extra moisture and my shirt sleeve slapping against its touchscreen was screwing up pause and start times, thus negatively affecting my data. It was hard to "boogie" without any tunes as well, since I turned them off to free up the working memory and save my dwindling power on the iTouch to allow it to process the run.
Things I'm most pleased about with my performance: Just happy to be able to scrounge up enough energy during these dreary and drippy couple days to allow myself to commit to this. I think I did actually better than I thought I would given the less than adequate racing conditions and weather. From my Nike + readout, I seem to have wasted less energy and distance passing people this time: making a conscious effort to minimize my lateral movement. I just found out the results; I'm happy that I just made it into the sub 24 minute category (the one with the readings in weird short format).
Final Results: Official results acquired from this Star Phoenix link.
- My Time: 23:56 (one of the 133 runners that I roughly counted that made it across the line within 24 minutes)
- My Average Pace: Calculated to be roughly 4' 47"/km
- My Ranking: No ranking breakdown provided. It is as yet uncalculated due to the complicated time listing format here. My rough reckoning is that I'm 132nd. Format note: times under 24 minutes are listed as mm:ss; times between 24 minutes and 60 minutes are listed as mm:ss:00; times 60 minutes and 1 second and over are listed as hh:mm:ss.
- No Age or Sex division statistics provided. I counted 2219 racers listed in the 5 km event.
- Overall, I finished within the top six percent.
After the Race: Collected my gear (from the very chaotic valet station) and had a slow and soggy bike ride home. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't find the rest of the fellow runners from my workplace afterward who took part in the event. I was scheduled to run an extra 23 kms as part of my training commitment. However, I already proved to myself that I can run in these adverse conditions, and seeing that I still needed to work this afternoon, I didn't think it wise to completely drain myself of energy. Plus, since I have no confirmation yet that my cohort at work will be able to trade tomorrow's night shift with me it would be foolish to press things too hard. I just wanted to shed off my smelly, drenched gear; then jump into a hot bathtub, to prevent any cramping. I did just that. I then made some coffee, started blogging this; while trying to regain some energy for work later this afternoon.
What I've Learned: Double check new supplements that I'm experimenting with for any possible diuretic side-effects. I think I hit on a sensible pattern for tapering down activity before a race. From being a little more relaxed during these past couple days, I see how badly I'm risking over training. Seeing that Nike + has totally botched up it's system, and completely trashed the automated coaching program, this is probably a good time to revamp the one I'm on now: finding one that provides a better outcome for necessary rest periods and sensible mileage goals.
My Reward(s): I went for a Super Bean Burrito at Taco Time. A kind of a stupid reward, I'm sure, but I welcomed the break from having to cook for myself. I only had enough time for fast food, and I haven't been at this franchise in 15 years (I forgot how much I liked their hot sauce). What I'd really like is enough quality time off to enjoy the stuff I already have (puzzles, literature, my dog's company, etc.) that's here that entertains me.
Grateful for: No grief from a sore knee like the last race; Sport Shield compound (no blisters or chafing, one less thing to irritate me); seasoning myself to more harsher racing conditions; that the amount of effort I put into this didn't completely drain my energy from me.
No comments:
Post a Comment