Racing Improves the Breed

Last night, and due largely to the urging of my running buddy, "Fast" Pat Gross, I ran the Longest Day 5K out at the University of British Columbia Thunderbird Stadium.  It was perfect night for a run and the 5K got off at 7:45.  The sun had actually made a rare appearance and it had been a lovely summerly afternoon, not too hot, but the rays of the sun had real heat for the first time in weeks.  And then as our own little solar system star began to set, it cooled off appreciably.

This week I went out reasonably hard on Tuesday - 8K (39:51), Wednesday - 10K (50:52), Thursday - mile repeats (7:00 miles), and Friday - 5K (23:18).

In every instance I had no trouble revving my heart rate to near stratospheric levels. And my times were not that bad for the start of a marathon clinic.  More importantly, if I recalculated them taking my recently blossomed waist into consideration, the numbers were really not that bad.  Dropping 10-12% body fat does amazing things for race performance!  Take 10-12% off all my times this week and I'd be ecstatic.

Once again, the benefits of being able to look at old workouts and old numbers helped immeasurably in taking stock of my current condition.

I had not run a race since the Portland Marathon last October and it was great to pin on a race bib and feel the familiar fluttering of butterflies before the start.  I ran the first mile - which in all honestly is significantly downhill, in 6:10 and then wheezed across the Finish Line to an average time of 7:33.  Any race course that goes down must of course go up!

The Longest Day Race has a barbeque and a beer garden attached and usually attracts a great crowd. There were seven of us who ran the event and it is always great to swap after race horror stories and "you-should-have-seen-the-size-of-the-one-that-got-away" yarns.

I ran until I was gutted and treated the 5K like a real race, finish time to the contrary. Perhaps I erred in not taking the time to properly cool down, but I went straight from the Finish Line to the BBQ line-up and within ten minutes of finishing the race I was scarfing down a hamburger and a plate of veggies and fruit.  I did try to be sensible. And I was feeling light-headed because it was after 8:15 PM and I hadn't eaten since a salad at lunch and all I'd had for breakfast on Friday was two slices of multigrain toast. Food finished, most of us were getting pretty chilled from sitting in the shade of the setting sun in sweat-soaked technical race gear, so we nixed the idea of the outside beer garden in favor of a warm and cozy pub.

Whatever the reason, my stomach was none too thrilled.  I went home for a quick shower and intended to join my friends, but once home I quickly lost my dinner.  And I was utterly knackered.  I collapsed on the couch and could hardly move I was so fatigued.  I am sure there is a lesson in there somewhere...

I am definitely taking Saturday off...