Time Travel 5K Race

I've been racing all summer but with mixed results. The weather has been much hotter this year in Indiana than the last 4 years so it's been a challenge. I did sign up for one race a month to get me out there and not be on the TM 24/7 and I think it's been a success.

Last weekend my ITB started hurting, along with my knee, not sure why since running didn't hurt it. I tried everything from my knee brace (since this has happened before with my operated knee every so often so I'm well prepared), and even Rock Tape but the pain was still there. I had no time for a massage therapist appointment since we had our regional gathering Wednesday and Thursday and I've been preparing for two upcoming trials, but finally managed to grab an appointment on Thursday afternoon with one of my massage therapist favorites and that helped. The pain was gone by the time I left his office.

Having said that, I've been exhausted all week. First, not having our normal two WFH days took its toll (I frankly don't know how we used to go to the office every day, I couldn't do it anymore!) and I didn't sleep well Friday nor Saturday nights. In fact, I slept maybe 2 hours last night. On top of that, my high BP has some sort of flareup and this morning I had it super high. Damn genes.

The last three 5Ks have been above 36 minutes and I thought months ago 35:XX was possible but between me getting nauseous during races and getting too hot during the race and walking a bit more, it hadn't happened. I thought I could finish in 35:59 today based on the weather but with all that exhaustion and lack of sleep (plus my asthma was low this week too), who knows.

But I woke up, got dressed and decided to race to the best of my ability. A gorgeous 57-59F and sunny day. My last race three weeks ago had a starting temp of 71F, so these temps were awesome.

When I got to the address provided, there were cars full of confused people but no race director or start line. After a few minutes, we all decided to drive the perimeter of the park to see if they were somewhere else. They were! The fog in the park didn't help with visibility and the race later sent someone to that area to warn people but next time plan better, RD.

Once there I finished my iced coffee (with caramel of course) and headed to do my warmup and then headed to the ONE and only porta potty. WTF. I never even used it because by that time it was 7:50am. Time to head to the start.

Oh, I brought my Bluetooth headphones only to have one ear not sound at all. That was fun...not.

After all this, the race organization was better. We started and there were water stations at each turnaround (the 5K was an out and back with the water station on the turnaround and from what they said, the 10K had the same). The half was just two 10K loops so pretty much well marked IMO.

I have been extending my run/walk intervals but I'm not where I want to be yet (fully running). It is what it is; after 4 injuries, menopause woes, etc., I'm happy with having great runs no matter if I'm running for only 1 minute or 10. I decided to try my current 2:30/0:30 run/walk and I would adjust down to 1/0:30 if I was close to crashing. The course is pretty flat overall and mostly shaded so I didn't get too hot as with the prior races. I was able to keep that 2:30/0:30 until 2.70 miles and then switched to 1/0:30 to finish. That didn't slow me down like normal, though. I was on fire today.

Mile 1: We head with the 10K and HM runners towards the first water station and our turnaround. I was doing well and even though we ran a good portion on the path, there was space to run/walk without bothering anyone. I felt good after the first mile so I decided to continue the RW ratio for one more mile. Pace: 11:23mm.

Mile 2: Mile 2 took us to the turnaround at Mile 1.55 and I grabbed a cup of water just as my walk break was coming and drank a bit. I was still doing a good time and in fact was running faster than Mile 1 still feeling good so I pushed on a bit harder. Pace: 11:07mm.

Mile 3: This is where most of the shade went away as we were running towards the sun but not completely unshaded. I was starting to breathe harder (I was breathing hard from the start but it was getting tougher). Just like Mile 3 should feel. At around 2.70 miles I was breathing too hard and decided to switch to 1/0:30 until the finish. I'd rather slow a bit than crash completely and boy that helped. With the 1 minute runs, I can run faster than the 2:30 and I started passing two of the girls I had been closed to passing the whole race. I knew I was among the first 10 women because I had counted on my way in and I was around 8th per my count (I ended up with 9th so I must have missed two women at some point). Looking at the number of women I thought there was a chance to place in my AG so that gave me a lot of push at the end. Pace: 10:52mm.

Mile 3.10: I walked a bit after Mile 3 as my walk break had sounded but only for like 15 seconds, then pushed to the end. Pace: 10:45mm.

I couldn't believe it. I thought I could do 35:59 but I finished 34:13!!!!!! And a negative split!

1st in my AG, 9th OA, 4th Master Female. Best placing in a decade!!!!