Shades of 2004
In my previous life of a constantly struggling runner (prior to April 2005) I would seriously underperform at races. I'd train well, be rested, get a good nights sleep, warm up properly, stretch, hydrate, etc., only to go out and lay an egg on raceday. This was becoming common in 2004 and early 2005, until my doctor told me I was anemic and I got that corrected.
Now I'm wondering if that problem is coming back. I'm taking my usual iron supplement and eating plenty of red meat but Saturday morning at the Spectacle Spectacular it felt like some of the races I used to have. Everything felt great before the race started. It was a little warmer than I wanted, but we had a nice overcast morning - my favorite for running. I felt fine warming up, got stretched, did some sprints and we were off. First few miles went fine. I hit 3 miles in 18:24 but knew I wasn't going to be able to maintain it. Somewhere between mile 3 and mile 4 we turned on to a long straightaway that had us facing directly into a 10 to 20 mile an hour wind. Given that I knew I wasn't going to be able to maintain my pace anyway, the wind was an excuse to really throttle back. Truth is I just didn't have it in me to keep going at the 6:10 or so pace I'd been running. Heck, even the 6:50 pace that I dropped into was a struggle. Now you might say, "well, clearly you started too fast". Maybe, but my official PR is 38:26 (6:12 pace) and just last Saturday I did the 38:16 in training. So, trying to maintain a 6:10 pace was not an unrealistic goal. And when I go out too fast I just have to cut back a tiny bit in order to get my breath back. I don't completely die like I did Saturday morning, except in my previous life. My official finishing time was 40:28.
Not sure what the answer is. I know one thing that I try to do the week before a race that I didn't do last week, is get in a couple of morning runs. Since I'm not a morning runner by nature, this is a good primer for a morning race. But that shouldn't have made that big of a difference.
I went out Saturday night for an easy recovery run. 4.4 miles, no watch.
And no running yesterday, though I planned to do a long-run. I had a very busy weekend and just never was able to carve out the time for it. Plus I was sleepy all day Sunday because of my 2 and a 1/2 year old blond-haired alarm clock getting me up at the crack of dawn Sunday morning!
Now I'm wondering if that problem is coming back. I'm taking my usual iron supplement and eating plenty of red meat but Saturday morning at the Spectacle Spectacular it felt like some of the races I used to have. Everything felt great before the race started. It was a little warmer than I wanted, but we had a nice overcast morning - my favorite for running. I felt fine warming up, got stretched, did some sprints and we were off. First few miles went fine. I hit 3 miles in 18:24 but knew I wasn't going to be able to maintain it. Somewhere between mile 3 and mile 4 we turned on to a long straightaway that had us facing directly into a 10 to 20 mile an hour wind. Given that I knew I wasn't going to be able to maintain my pace anyway, the wind was an excuse to really throttle back. Truth is I just didn't have it in me to keep going at the 6:10 or so pace I'd been running. Heck, even the 6:50 pace that I dropped into was a struggle. Now you might say, "well, clearly you started too fast". Maybe, but my official PR is 38:26 (6:12 pace) and just last Saturday I did the 38:16 in training. So, trying to maintain a 6:10 pace was not an unrealistic goal. And when I go out too fast I just have to cut back a tiny bit in order to get my breath back. I don't completely die like I did Saturday morning, except in my previous life. My official finishing time was 40:28.
Not sure what the answer is. I know one thing that I try to do the week before a race that I didn't do last week, is get in a couple of morning runs. Since I'm not a morning runner by nature, this is a good primer for a morning race. But that shouldn't have made that big of a difference.
I went out Saturday night for an easy recovery run. 4.4 miles, no watch.
And no running yesterday, though I planned to do a long-run. I had a very busy weekend and just never was able to carve out the time for it. Plus I was sleepy all day Sunday because of my 2 and a 1/2 year old blond-haired alarm clock getting me up at the crack of dawn Sunday morning!
posted by Lance Collins at 1:31 PM
3 Comments:
I can't wait until my bad runs are 40:28 10Ks.
It was fun Saturday, even if you don't feel good about your effort.
You need to head back this way in April for the Gator Gallop. There's a one-mile race and then a kid's race and then a 5K. I ran both the one-miler and 5K last year.
My doctor told me I was borderline anemic as well, but I have been taking vitamins w/ iron + red meat. I wish there was a home iron test on the market to better monitor your iron levels. (sounds like a marketing opportunity)
I understand about those alarm clocks, I have 3 of them, although the 8 year old clock is wearing out now!
It may just be that you had a bad day. :)
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