Our club had our first judged race in 3 years, so I rearranged my training schedule to be able to do it; I'll do my scheduled 30K walk tomorrow instead.
It was cold (33F, 0.5C) but calm and fair at the 8 am start. My warm-up was short (just 1k) as I got to the race a bit late because I had to bring my husband (he was timing) and kids (Calvin took video, and Michelle just watched). I took off as fast as I could while keeping good technique, but I wasn't as fast as I wanted to be. I was hoping for perhaps a 5:20 pace, but my splits were 5:23, 5:27, and 5:33. Sigh...no fast twitch muscles right now, which is what happens when you are training for a 50K. I was working it really hard and there was just nothing there.
Still, it's a 23-second PR, so I can't be too unhappy with it, but I admit I was a bit disappointed. My coach said he was thinking I'd do low 16s...I thought that 16:30 was more likely, honestly, but I was hoping the coach was right. I was closer to the truth. Jim says my fast twitch muscles are just not properly activated, and that if I did another 3K soon it would be lots better.
When I finished I had a serious coughing fit. My exercise-induced asthma hates the cold. I've got to start remembering to bring my inhaler with me on the cold days. My face was also really cold and numb-ish. I noticed I had a bit of trouble talking just after I finished - the muscles around my mouth didn't work quite right! Funny, because it wasn't THAT cold, but I guess I'm not used to it after the nice warm summer and fall. Bummer...
The weather is supposed to be a bit warmer (41F, 4C) for my 30K tomorrow, for which I'm grateful. Now to figure out a convenient route near home.
Side note about the 500m splits: the watch automatically did the splits at 500m, 1.5k, and 2.5k; they were close but not exact - the 1k, 2k and finish splits I did manually at the marked splits, which were measured with a measuring wheel.
Garmin connect data here.
1 comment:
Nice race!
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