Not Quite There Yet

Since I last ran the Lakefront Marathon on October 7th, I have done very little "good" and a lot of "bad."  I have not run much maybe 4-6 times, I have done considerable amounts of swimming (more than usual anyway), and very minimal biking.  Its a balancing act, really.  Balancing a healthy recovery with the ability to enjoy yourself.  On one hand you want to recooperate, loose a little fitness, and mentally recharge.  While on the other hand, you want to live a little, drink some beer, have a pizza, and steal some of your kids' Halloween candy and not feel guilty.  I have done a little of both.... ok, more on the side of "living a little."  I've had my fair share of beer, sweets, and not so healthy meal choices.  I've still been working out and trying to counteract my bad decisions.  So even though its technically my "offseason," I still try to do some races as they come about.  They are not considered an "A" race, but more of a workout then a competition.  With that being said, today was the YMCA's Freaky 5k in Appleton.  This is one of my favorite 5k's for a few reasons, one, it supports my ex-employer, two, I like the course, and 3, it always falls in my off season which means it never really effects my training schedule so I have no real good reason not to partake.  So here is my 2nd race report....

Training Plan
Like I said above, I haven't been following a specific training plan for this race.  To be honest I have been doing what ever I feel like, really.  Since the Marathon on October 7th, I have swam 5 times for 2.3 miles, biked 4 times for 2.5 hours, and ran 4 times for 20.3 miles.  I have also taken 7 total days off, which is ridiculous for me, considering the only time I actually take a day off is if I'm either injured or resting/recovering one day before and/or after a race.  My nutrition has been terrible at best on top of minimal "training."  I have been eating a ton of simple sugars and other foods I normally try to avoid when possible.  I have also been drinking more beer than usual.  Now, with that being said, yes, I do completely agree that there needs to be a portion of life in which you enjoy yourself and food that flat out tastes good.  But you also need to have the ability to know when to say "when."  That is the exact ability I have seemed to ignore the past 3 weeks.  I have been flat out gluttonous.  I have been simply eating to eat.  Eating for taste well after the point of being full is not a recommended habit.

On top of eating like crap, I was invited to a "beer olympics" style party.  This past Thursday myself along with 13 other guys from work went up to Crivitz, WI for a day long party consisting of a 2 man team competition with 6 yard games, including, Testicle Toss, Bean Bags Toss, Beersbie, Beer Pong, just to name a few.  It was a blast, and was glad I had the opportunity to go.  Plus taking 2nd place and winning some cash always helps.

I have an ultimate 5k goal of running a sub 18:00 5k.  Like I said this is my "ultimate" goal, not a goal necessarily for this specific race.  I go into all my 5k's with a 17:59 in the back of my mind.  However with this race I was just looking to hang around the front of the pack and see where that puts me as far as finish times go.

Day/Night Before the Race
Nothing much here.  In reality there's really no need for any drastic changes for prepping for a 5k, other than making regular healthy choices and getting a decent night's rest.  Sarah and I had originally planed to have a kid-less dinner date with our good friends Pat and Melissa, but their son had gotten sick and had to cancel.  So with having a babysitter already arranged Sarah and I decided to take advantage of it and go on a date with just the two of us.  We did a little shopping out at the Mall and then went to several restaurants near the Mall trying to find one with a minimal wait.  We ended up stopping at Chile's for dinner.  We did the 2 for $20 deal.  We ordered their chips with guacamole and salsa for an appetizer and each ordered chicken fajitas for dinner.  After picking up our daughters we were in bed before 10:00pm.

Getting to the Start Line
Unlike the Marathon or other longer races a prerace meal is not necessary.  I set my alarm for 6:00am and actually got out of bed after hitting snooze a couple times at 6:10am.  I got dressed and had my usual cup of coffee and started getting the girls up and ready for the day.  We were on the road at 7:00am.  The 5k started at 8:30am with a kids fun run that started at 8:00am.  We still needed to pick up our race bibs so I wanted to get there early with plenty of time to spare.  After getting our bibs, I meet up with Zill and hung out near our car for warmth.  At 8:20am I went out to complete a short warmup consisting of some light running, leg swings, walking lunges with a twist and another round of light running only this time I worked in some short pick-ups.  (Pick-ups are short bouts of running where you gradually increase your speed until you are running near 90-95% of a full sprint and back down to your light jog.)  After my warm-up I meet back up with Zill near the front of the start line.

Miles 0-3.1
With my goal of  a sub 18:00 5k, I went out hard.  With in the first half mile of the race there is a significant downhill.  I tried to not let that force me out at a too fast pace where I am left with no gas in the tank come the final half mile.  Just before you reach the 1 mile mark there is a significant uphill.  I guess it only makes since that when you go downhill, sooner or later you gotta go back uphill, right?  This was another reason I didn't want to go out too fast with the first downhill - I wanted to be able to push my pace up the hill, which I was able to do.  At the end of the first mile I was in 6th or 7th with the leader about 15-20 yards ahead of a pack of 3 and then I was in a pack of 2-3 other runners.  By the end of mile 2 I was in 5th place.  The leader was still in my sights but far enough ahead to know I was not going to catch him.  He was running alone about 20-25 yards ahead of that same pack of 3 runners.  I was about another 20-25 yards behind them running by myself.  I have now put a good amount of space between myself and the 6th place runner - enough that I knew I was pretty confident I was going to finish 5th overall.  I continued to push my pace and try to come in under 18 minutes.  I finished with an official time of 18:14, not a PR for me, but a PR in that race.  I ran last year's Freaky 5k in 18:22, so I still took 8 seconds off my time from last year.  I ended up placing 1st in my age group, which is always motivating.

Post Race
After the race I met up with Zill and grabbed some bagels (my post race favorite) and some warm coffee.  We hung out until Sarah and the girls finished walking the course with my parents.  We chatting for a bit I got my medal for placing in my age group and let Maya jump in the bounce house that was set up for the kids.

Other Notes
All I can think of, is if you are looking for a fun, well put together 5k in the Appleton area, I'd definitly recommend the Freaky 5k.

Lessons for Future Events
I really can not think of any specific lessons that I can take away from this race.  5k's have become a simple race that I enjoy in competing in because of their simplicity.  There is not real specific taper you need, they are cheap, and you really don't need to take time off afterward to recover.  I still have time goals for 5k's but I feel as though I know how to race them, due to the shear number of 5k's I have run.  If there were any lessons I learned as a result of this race it would be that I really don't need to eat any prerace meal prior to a 5k.  I think I am almost better off going into 5k's with an empty stomach.  This race also reiterates the fact that I need to loose some weight if I want to meet my running specific time goals.  Speed work will also be beneficial.

What's Next
I'm going to continue operating without a specific training plan and work on all three disciplines in the Triathlon (swimming, biking, running).  I am going to continue to incorporate strength training into my workouts.  I still need to continue to work on my nutrition and getting that to a level I am happy with.  But like I said, I am still in my off season and I'm going to try to enjoy it as, starting December 11th, my Ironman training officially kicks off, and I didn't spend $600 to do the Ironman to eat like a pig, I plan on racing the Ironman to finish with the best possible time I am capable of.  So with that being said the next race that's on my schedule is the Festival Foods Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day.  This is a 5 mile race, which to be honest is an odd distance to race.  There are very few 5 mile races.  Usually you'll see a 5k (3.1 miles) or a 10k (6.2 miles), but very rarely will you see a 5 mile race.

So until next time, stay safe, stay fit!