Today was the Freeze Your Gizzard Cross Country 5k. It was a great morning for it, cold at 36 degrees but virtually no wind which was a real treat. After yesterday's gusty run, I was a bit worried about what today would bring.
The route was pretty hilly today. The "cross country" part was no joke. I ran the entire thing looking down at my feet worried about twisting an ankle. I like the cross country races though, the terrain takes your mind off of how far you've been and how far you still have to go!
Early on, I'd say about 1.5 miles in, I found myself directly behind two boys that couldn't have been a day over 15. They were all arms and legs. Long thin limbs flying around. They had creaky voices and were talking non-stop about video games. As much as I'd love to hear about the newest advances in X-Box, I decided to pass. I was cruising along quite well, my legs felt great, I was having no problems with my breathing and I felt fast. There were a lot of runners though and the course was pretty tight so it was hard to get by people. As I was nearing the finish line, I looked up ahead of me, I'd say about 100 yards, and spotted to young kids. I'm talking 7 or 8 years old. Just trotting along having a great time and here I was, behind them, breathing pretty heavy by now and thinking to myself 'I signed up for a half marathon and 2 8-year-olds are kicking my ass in a 5k?!' So I dug deep and found some more gas and managed to pass them just before the finish line. My husband caught the proud moment as you can see (I'm the dot wearing black pants and a blue top with white sleeves, the little shits are behind me in blue and red).
It wasn't until after the race that I found out there was a 1-mile 'Fun Run' for the kids and they were running in that one! Kind of a relief, I have to admit.
I didn't know he and the kids were there though. I crossed the finish line, found a seat to take off my chip timer and heard my name. I turned around and there were my peeps! Red noses and all!! The boys made cute signs for me: Q's had a picture of a cake because pretty much all he thinks about is cake and C's had a family of turkeys. They were a wonderful site, my hair, not so much.
All in all, it was a fun race. Good weather, challenging course. I finished 5th in my age group, 20th over all in a pack of 219 women. Time: 24:40.
3 comments:
When I was the last guy in on a race, I never worried about who was ahead of me (everybody) or behind me (nobody). It was a good place to me. Now, I can gt down when the mom with the double stroller passes me like I was standing still.
Found you on the Complete Running Network.
Nice job on the 5K. Sub 8:00 pace after 3 days in a row (including 8 on Thu) is a nice accomplishment.
In an earlier post you mentioned the need to build leg strength. I think the best, running-specific way to do this is through hill work. This early in your training, you can run a hill workout every other week. Basically find a hill that is about 200 meters in length with a moderate slope (grass is best since it makes your lower legs work harder due to the softer surface). Run up at a controlled pace (not fast enough to start accumulating lactate, ie., 'the burn') and walk back down. Repeat this for 4 reps at first and try to build to 10. When you reach 10 you can go to once every week (starting at 4 reps in the 'new' week and building up as before) until your taper phase. Concentrate on good form: quick stride turnover, head up, hips forward. That last tip is very important since bending at the waist on an uphill causes you to limit the range of motion in your legs and to execute too much of your stride in front of your body. This will cause your quads to feel the burn much sooner than if you keep your hips forward and allow your stride to carry under your body and back.
There is nothing like hill work to build strength and optimize your form.
Good luck in your training!
Paul - Thanks so much for the hill advice! This is the kind of stuff I need - good advice! I'm going to give it a try!
Post a Comment