Sunday, April 6, 2008

Carlsbad 5000 race report..

My morning started off solid, as you read in my earlier post, I found parking no problem, got my bib and timing chip....warmed up a little bit and found my friend Erin and her husband Mike to chat with before the race. I was nervous. In fact, Erin and I were talking about "why" we get nervous, we don't know....it can be a 5K it can be an Ironman, i'm always nervous. Not quite to the same degree. Today was a "I want to go really fast" day and Ironman was a "will I finish this?" kind of day.

I was set to start in the 29 and under wave, which includes ironically enough, EVERYONE under the age of 29, even 10 year olds. I must admit, standing at the start my first thought was "if one of these kids trips me, i'm going to be really mad!" I just figured they were out there having fun. I was really really wrong! All of those kids in their pint size Asics, kicked my ass!

I might also add that my days are rapidly decreasing to compete in the 25-29 year old category. Yes, this year I turn 30 in October, so actually half of my races this year i'll be racing in the 25-29, the rest will be 30-34. Doesn't seem quite fair that I have to race as a 30-year-old in July when i'm not really 30. But, hey, I don't make the rules...

I had moved up close to the start because i'd rather be passed by people than have to push through pint sized children, who as it turns out, needed no "pushing aside," ..I was the "pushed-ee," as it turns out!

The gun went off and I just let it rip.....so hard in fact that within the first 500 meters, I thought I was going to throw up. My times definitely reflect my "too hard," of an effort. Why is this bad you ask? Well, it's essentially "blowing up"...in my race too early on..not something I wanted to do. I found myself actually having to slow myself down at some point, because my heart rate was way over where it should be and I knew I was hurting myself by going too fast.

If I could just add here, I know some people will disagree with me, but I do NOT think that the Carlsbad 5000 is "flat." The Silver Strand is flat, Fiesta Island is flat, downtown San Diego is flat...Carlsbad is NOT flat. Granted it isn't "rolling," or "Hilly" but they actually call the race "the fastest 5k in the world." So, i'm expecting, like flat as a pancake. It had some inclines, which obviously had some "declines," but I think the non-flatness of the race irritated me and definitely played with my head. Note to self for next time: just go with it, don't get so uptight!

Anyway, here are my minute/per mile splits for each 1000:
1. 6:26
2. 6:48
3. 7:14
4. 7:29
5. 7:13
Final time: 22:05

Here is the breakdown from the race website for my "stats"
Distance5K
Clock Time22:09
Chip Time22:05
Overall Place361 / 1210
Gender Place79 / 573
Division Place34 / 295
Age Grade67%
Pace7:07
Ttlrace1210
Ttldiv295
Ttlsex573


My theory is: by starting out too hard, I didn't have mojo to keep my times evenly paced. If I had averaged maybe around a 6:50 mile instead of starting too hard, maybe I would have kept the "throw up" feeling to a minimum and finished around the time I was aiming for.

I learned a lot today about pacing and it was a really gorgeous day, so I had fun out there...and to top it off, I got to wear my new light weight trainers....since Dave and I got new sneakers last weekend! Love new sneakers!
Here they are: my Mizuno Wave Precision shoe! Love it!


Hopefully more exciting Carlsbad 5000 pictures if they come out somewhat decently, I will post them =0.
Thanks for reading!


2 comments:

Lauren said...

Love the two posts this weekend!!! Congrats on another race well done!

Paul said...

Good job on the race. That 5K always has a huge turn out.