New Years Double 5K/5K
I haven't written a race report in a while. I've been lazy. But I know how much I enjoy looking back at past race reports, so I'll start again. This report is longer than any 5K race report should be, but it was 2 5K's, so I figure a get a little leeway.
I raced the New Years Double in Allen, TX, a suburb of Dallas north of Plano. When I learned of this race, I suggested that we go to Dallas for New Years weekend. We were long overdue for a family visit, so if we were going to go, why not go then? It was a one-of-a-kind event - two back to back days of races with a choice of distances - 5K, 1/2 marathon relay, 1/2 marathon, or full marathon. If you raced on New Years Eve (Saturday), any distance, you got a medal that was 1/2 of a semi-circle. If you raced on New Years Day (Sunday), any distance, you got the other half of the semi-circle. And if you raced on both days, you got a challenge plate that magnetically links the two halves together. I'm not usually impressed by medals. They're cool and all, but I end up throwing them in a drawer and forgetting about them. This one just seemed so unique that I wanted it badly.
I signed up to do a half marathon on Saturday and a 5K shuffle on Sunday to get the medal. A couple of weeks before race weekend a chronic injury to my left hip and lower back flared up. I decided to take the pressure off of myself and back down to 5K on both days. This was not a goal race, it was a fun race. I've got an Ironman coming! Now is the time for healing, not injury! The week before the race, Dr. Chris Olson suggested that since this has been an intermittent but chronic problem for over a year, and since my insurance deductible had been met for the year, it would be a good time for an MRI with dye contrast to see what was going on in my hip. That meant an injection into the hip joint. The only time I could get an appointment was Friday morning before leaving for Dallas. I knew better, but still consulted Google to see what I was in for. Will I never learn that the weeniest people live in Google? I read about people that hurt so bad that they couldn't get dressed afterwards, they couldn't lift their leg to get in their car, much less drive themselves home, they were sore for a week. I imagined not even wanting to race after getting the MRI and then sitting in the car for 3 hours to get to Dallas. But Chris assured me I'd be fine to get the MRI and to race the next day. I figured if it were terrible, I just wouldn't race.
Well, the injection was no big deal. Lots of numbing, a little needle stick, and it was over quickly. The time in the MRI tube was short, only 20 minutes. My hip maybe felt a little odd with the extra fluid in it. But maybe I just imagined it because I thought it was supposed to feel odd. No big deal at all.
New Years Eve:
Saturday morning I got up at the crack of 6am to get to the race early for packet pickup. The temperature was in the mid-40's, sunny, and clear. I wore compression capri tights, a long sleeve tech shirt (orange!) and a vest (also orange!). I took gloves, a hat, and a bondi-band to keep my ears warm. It took about 30 minutes to drive there. No line for Packet Pickup, got my short sleeve tech shirt, and went back to the warm car to wait. About 30 minutes before my start time, I headed out for a 10 minute warm up to assess if my hip was going to complain. I soon came to an unexpected bank of port-o-potties with almost no line, so I took advantage of that! Then I continued my warmup run and happened upon the end of the 5K course. I didn't follow it the whole way back to the finish line, but it was nice to get a preview of what was to come. Hip was feeling no pain. I ran to the next set of bathrooms, had a Gu while waiting in that line, and then went to the start line as the marathoners were taking off. Even though it was a small race, they still had 3 or 4 start corrals for each distance. As each corral started, they played Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO (I had to look it up). Catchy! Embedded in my brain forever now! I found my spot in corral "B" and realized that I was quite comfortable, temperature-wise, meaning that I was soon going to be too hot. The countdown began, the starting horn blew, and LMFAO sent us off.
The 5K was entirely in the park, mostly on sidewalk. They warned us of running no more than 2 abreast, to allow for passing and also for the part of the course that was out-and back. I didn't really have a strategy. Just run comfortably. As I settled in to a comfortable pace, I found myself running next to somebody so I introduced myself. Her name was Katie and she was a high-schooler. She was cute and I was having fun talking to her. Her whole family was participating in the various events of the weekend but she was running by herself. I didn't look at my watch at all. Just kept on running. After not too long the gloves and bondi-band had to go and I had to unzip the vest to not overheat. Katie was having a little trouble keeping up by mile 3 and I kept encouraging her. I left her behind in the last half-mile as I picked it up to finish strong. I got my Saturday 1/2 medal and waited for Katie to cheer her in, about 45 seconds later. We agreed to try to find each other on Sunday.
My official time - 26:44, an 8:34 pace.
My GPS lap times: 8:38, 9:01, 8:21, and 8:16 for the .1
Day 1 finish chute and my new friend Katie:
I checked the posted results onsite, and I showed as 4th in my Age Group! I was very happy, but no reason to stick around for awards. Time to get back to the family. When I checked the results online later, I mysteriously was now 3rd! Turned out the masters female came out of my age group, so everyone moved up a notch.
New Years Day:
I didn't go crazy on New Years Eve. The family went to the Dallas Stars hockey game that night. We were home by 10:30pm. We watched the ball drop in New York at 11pm, then watched the celebration in Dallas at midnight, and then went to bed. Up again at 6am the next morning and it felt like Groundhog day as I did the exact same things as the day before. I even wore the same thing (washed the day before). Today was supposed to be cooler than the day before, so I hoped I'd be dressed juuuuuuust right.
As I picked up my packet, I was able to pick up my award for the previous day - a champagne flute with the race logo no it. Very nice! And I was surprised to find that the shirt for that day was just like the day before, only long sleeved! Now I have one for any weather condition! Back to my car to wait in the warmth. I left the car at the same time as the day before and headed to the secret quiet port-o-potties, which turned out not to be so secret on day 2. I waited a little longer than the day before, so ended up cutting my warmup a little shorter. I found my spot in corral B again, and easily found Katie! She introduced me to her mom, who I suppose was relieved that I was neither imaginary nor a child-stalking pervert.
Again LMFAO kicked us off. It's playing in my head right now. Can you hear it too? I had looked up my previous 5K PR, and yesterday's race was 30 seconds under. To PR I'd have to run 10 seconds per mile faster? That seemed all but impossible, as I worked pretty hard yesterday!
At mile 1 I checked my watch and knew it was pretty close to yesterday's mile 1 time. Katie complained that today felt harder to her. At the two mile mark I was amazed to see a pace of 8:09! Close to a minute faster than yesterday! Uhoh, game on! I could PR if I could keep it up! I left Katie behind right around the turnaround point and pushed hard. Maybe a little too hard. I started considering that I might puke so I took it down a notch. Puking could only slow me down. The course was very flat and the weather was good. I finished strong, surged to pass one woman in the chute, and checked my watch - PR!!!
My official time - 25:27 - 46 second PR from the 2006 Jingle Bell 5K!
My GPS lap times: 8:28, 8:10, 8:06, and 7:10 for the .1
I waited to cheer Katie in, and then we went together to get our challenge plates. Totally worth waiting for! It is truly the coolest medal I have ever gotten. They never did post the results on the side of the truck, they just started giving out awards. We realized this when we heard Katie's name called for winning 3rd in her age group (under 19). On both days they gave awards for 10 year increments, as it was a small race. And on this day too, I earned 3rd place and got a matching champagne flute to yesterday's! Interesting that my time on Sunday would have earned me 1st place on Saturday! Competition was a lot stiffer that day! Also interesting that the top 3 winners in my age group were the same 3 people in the same order both days.
New Years Eve:
New Years Day:
I couldn't be more pleased. My hip felt fine. I earned 3rd place in both races, and I blew my previous PR away by 46 seconds!
This race was so well run, from registration to race day. They used a Facebook page plus a website to communicate every last detail clearly. If you signed up early enough, you got your name and twitter handle printed on your race bib. Short sleeve, gender specific, short sleeved tech shirts were given on Saturday, and long sleeved on Sunday. I was easily able to switch distances from 1/2 marathon to 5K, but they also made it clear that they had to control it or they wouldn't have enough medals for everyone. I may want to do this race every year! Oh my!
