I ran the 4 mile Geezer Pleezer Race today, put on by the Carolina Godiva track club. They are a local running club and put on some nice casual races. Just show up on race day with $5 and you’re in!
The race started at 10 am and was held at a local school. The 4 mile course is pretty much flat. It was 50 degrees and very windy, so I was wearing warm up pants and a long sleeved technical shirt. I downed one Gu in the car one the way there. I arrived at about 9:35 and registered. Then I jogged back to my car and shed the pants. I ran around the parking lot and then around the track. It was about 9:50. I downed a second Gu. Then I ran back to my car and ditched the shirt. I had warmed up enough to know I wouldn’t need it.
The way this race works is really neat. They give each runner a handicapped start time based on age and gender. A little after 10am, they announced they were ready to start the race. The first runner off was a 75 year old guy with a handicap of 11:45. The next runner was a woman with a handicap time of 6:30. A couple more runners went off before my time of 5:15.
I started out going a little too fast and got out of breath quickly. I looked at my HR and it was 175, so I slowed down until it went below 170. I know from my treadmill workouts that my breathing gets out of control at 171 and I can’t hold it for long. I hit the one mile mark at 8:13. The first person passed me at about the 1 mile mark.
Then I turned the corner and was going straight into a really strong wind. It felt really hard running into that wind. Several people passed me on this stretch. One guy was not going too much faster than me, so I tried to duck in behind him to benefit from his draft. It didn’t really seem to help, so I let him go and just tried to keep my own pace.
I finished the 2nd mile in 9:05. The road turned again so I was no longer running directly into the wind. I was carrying a third Gu with me, planning to take it half way through the race. I was also carrying a palm holder water bottle to sip on. (These small races have no aid stations). I decided to skip the last Gu, becuase I was going too hard to bear to swallow anything but tiny sips of water. I felt good energy levels, so I don’t think I needed it.
I tried to pick up my pace to make up for lost time. I was a bit successful and did the 3rd mile in 8:51. I tried going as fast as possible during the last mile in hopes of making 34 minute overall time. I was definitely working harder with an average HR of 172. My pace for that last mile was 9:04.
During the final quarter mile around the school track, I was really pushing it, and breathing hard. There was a guy running behind me, and he said something to me – twice. All I could hear was my own huffing and puffing, so I could not make out his words. About half way around the lap, I slowed just enough to get my breathing back under control. When my breathing gets that hard, I feel a sense of panic and can’t hold on. The guy behind me spoke to me once again, and this time I heard him say “stay to the inside of the curve”. Oh, duh, that makes sense. I was staying on the right to allow him to pass, and he was telling me I didn’t need to. He never did pass me, tho I expected him to especially after I slowed my pace. After going around the final turn, I picked up my pace again and ran all out to the end. After the finish line, I turned into the grassy field off track, and collapsed to the ground. I was really beat.
Overall, my time was 35:15, pace of 8:48. I had wanted to do this race at a pace of 8, but I’m just not there – yet. Also, I am dismayed that my pace was slower than the 5 mile new year’s day run, that was alot hillier, and also slower than the 5 mile flat Turkey Trot I did. I don’t understand that, I should be getting better…sigh. I do know I was working as hard as I could the entire time, and really pushed hard the last 1/4 mile.
You effort was there, so feel good about that. It seems you have been pushing yourself pretty hard this winter. Give yourself sometime to recoup from your hard workouts.
Bob