Saturday, July 10, 2010

Heat: Yes. Speed: No.

This morning I ran my first race since my marathon on May 15th: the Run of the Mill 5k, in Mill Creek, WA. How did it go? Ugh. 21:53 (my goal was 20:59). I'm going to blame the heat for my lack of speed (plus the heel injury and under-training). It hurt far more than it should have.

Splits: 7:06, 7:04, 6:54, [6:28]

Official results: 
Overall: 112/1711 (6%)
Age Group: 12/143 (8%)
Men: 103/707 (14%)

There was quite a bit of uphill the first half of the course. When I hit the downhills on the way back, I was too toasted to take advantage of them.

I ran a warmup mile before the race (7:48), which told me today wouldn't be my day. After post-race festivities, I ran 3.6 miles home and was starting to feel a little heat exhaustion, plus the heel was hurting (it felt fine during the race). Took an ice bath when I got home.

So...Ragnar is less than 2 weeks away. It could be rough. I'm running the lead-off leg, which starts at 4:00pm on July 23rd. All next week, I'm going to run during the hottest part of the day (even though it looks like a cooling trend is on the way). Still, that won't be enough time for heat acclimation. I'll just try to take the first leg (6.2 mi) slower than normal and save my energy for the final two legs.

I've never run well in the heat, and I'm not entirely sure why. For a guy built as slight as me, one would think it would be easier for my body to cool itself. Must be my Nordic heritage.

Here's how this week panned out:

Runs: 4 (6, including warmup and post-race run home)
Miles: 22.34
Time: 3:12:10
Avg. Pace: 8:36
Avg. HR: 130

3 comments:

  1. Looking good - even though your speed (I would take it) wasn't there it is a good step back. Good to hear the heel wasn't hurting during the race. Take care of it!

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  2. Hi Colin,
    That is a great picture:) Congrats on an awesome 5K finish! I think that you did so good....with hills and in the heat too! Nice work!

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  3. dang, closed the window before I typed in the word verification....

    I am a bit more optimistic about Ragnar that you are. As long as you set the pace expecations right I think you'll do great!

    Although, the blow-up race reports ARe the best to read, so I guess if all else fails you'll have some great material

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