The Endurance Pig: Jailbreak 5k

This was the 2nd straight year I will have done this race. Not only by choice, but I also kind of had to do this race again this year. Last year I was fortunate enough to have off this weekend to do the race with Sarah and the girls. This year, I was not so lucky. The race was right in the middle of my rotation. The race is put on by the Waushara County Crime Stoppers and all proceeds go towards their program. Waushara county is the direct neighbor to the West of Winnebago County. It is run in Wautoma which is where the Waushara County Sheriff's Office is housed. Along with a 5k they also host a half marathon, full marathon, and a kids fun run. As part of the 5k they also do what's called the Bloodhound Challenge. This is considered a "race within a race," as they call it. This is a separate race for any law enforcement officer, either as patrol or corrections. As part of this separate category, they offer a traveling plaque. I was fortunate enough to win this award in 2012 with a time of 18:07. The trophy has been displayed for the past year right outside the Sergeant's Office at our department. After winning the award last year, it pretty much meant I had to do this race this year, no matter what to defend the title. The race is hosted in a small rural city in central Wisconsin. All the routes from the 5k up to the full marathon are on back country roads. It's definitely unique. The post race spread is one of the best for a 5k. They not only offer the usual bagels, bananas, oranges, apples, and water, but they also offer a full meal consisting of hot beef or turkey sandwiches, potato salad, muffins for dessert and a choice of soda. Above all, the race organizers and volunteers are some of the best around. There is definitely a small town feel to the race that you really don't get at other races. I would recommend adding this race to your schedule in 2014.

Training Plan

I probably sound like a broken record when I say this, but I have not had any specific training to peak for this race. The ideology behind it, is the fact that I am in the thick of training for the Green Bay Marathon in a few weeks, not to mention a full Ironman triathlon in September. In the grand scheme of things, a 5k is just another opportunity to get a high intensity workout done, instead of doing intervals or a tempo run at home by myself. Even as I say that, I must admit, I did make minor adjustment to my training plan leading up to the race. The race was run on a Saturday morning and with using this race as another workout, there is no taper or rest considerations when structuring my training plan. The 4-5 days leading up to the race included a few intense and long workouts due to my off days falling in the middle of the week leading up to the race. Tuesday I was stuck at court literally all day which forced me to do an intense 40 mile bike ride late into the evening concluding right before sunset. The very next morning, I did my longest run of my training schedule of 22 miles. Not only was it a 22 mile long run, but the final 12 miles were done at my goal pace which made the run very demanding. On Thursday, I had a long swim followed by a 20 mile bike. I had little time to fully recover from the 40 mile bike and 22 mile long run, so on Friday (the day before the race) I did my 20 mile bike ride in my basement on the trainer. I also did this because of the forecast of light rain in the morning. So instead of riding 20 miles outside in the cool rain, I did a steady ride for an hour on the trainer at a light to moderate resistance. On Sunday, the day after the race I have a 4 mile run followed by a strength session on the schedule. The run will be a light recovery run, with no intentions of running hard. I also adjusted my original plan and moved my Monday afternoon bike to Sunday afternoon for child care reasons. There is also a good chance of rain throughout the day on Monday, so it just happened to workout and fit into our family's schedule. My hope is that I am not too sore from the 5k that the soreness compounds itself on top of my run and strength session on Sunday, that my 15 mile easy bike ride is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Day/Night Before the Race

As I mentioned before, I was scheduled to work the night before the race. I actually had to work both Thursday and Friday night before the race. The 5k race didn't start until 9:00am which is kind of late, but it worked out since I worked until 6:00 and it's a 45 minute drive from my work. I knew it would be a LONG day with the race not starting until 9 and then waiting for the awards ceremony after and then needing to drive back home which is at least an hour drive back to my home. I was planning on being up until at least noon on Saturday. To help prepare for this odd schedule, I stayed up late on Friday morning after working Thursday night. I went to bed shortly after 11am on Friday morning and slept until 7pm. I worked a normal schedule of 10pm-6am and then changed right at work. I ate my regular snack at 4:30am of a yogurt with berries, Lara Bar, and a baked sweet potato. I eat that same combination every morning to top off my glycogen stores before my usual morning workout. My buddy from work was also running the 5k with me so I had to swing up by his house to pick him up and we were on the road shortly after 7am. We got to the race venue shortly before 8am and picked up our race packets, which included a nice long sleeve technical t-shirt and a nice water bottle. I had a water bottle with sport drink that I sipped on throughout the drive to the race. At 8am, 1 hour prior to the race, I had a 170 calorie Luna Bar, just to finally top off my fuel stores.

Getting to the Start Line

At 8:30am I started my warm up. I ran a portion of the course at an easy pace. Honestly, it was tough to get moving after sitting in a car for almost an hour and half and I was starting to get pretty tired and part of me wished I was in bed. But, either way, I started my warm up and slowly woke up and started feeling good. After the first mile, I stopped to do some dynamic stretching (leg swings and lunges), after my dynamic stretching I finished my warm up with some easy jogging with some short sprint pick ups mixed in. My warm up ended up lasting just over 2 miles. After my warm up I headed to the start line and I immediately got an adrenaline boost and I was no longer tired, but excited and ready to race.

Miles 0-3.1

As I was standing around waiting for the race to start I was looking around for any potential competition. I knew right were the other law enforcement racers were and knew right were the one of the guy was who took second place in the Bloodhound Challenge last year. My other observation was I didn't immediately pick out anybody who APPEARED to be a threat. Now, don't get me wrong, appearances can be deceiving. But, I thought maybe, just maybe I would have a chance to win this race outright, or at least place in the top 3 overall. As soon as the gun went off, I was out at a good pace. I was running stride for stride with another female, who I must say, surprised me and had me questioning if she would win the race and beat me. She was ahead of me by a step and I stayed right on her heels for the first tenth of a mile before her initial pace fell back and I continued strong with my initial pace. The route was more or less a large square. There was a slight Southwest wind, but since the route was pretty circular, the wind was not a huge issue other than being a mental struggle. After passing the girl who started out ahead of me, I was in the lead and immediately made it my goal to not give it up. I continued to push my pace and not allow myself to fade. There is one section of the race where you run Southwest for about a third of a mile and turn around to head back to the finish line. It was at this point where I was first able to see exactly what type of lead I had over 2nd place. I had a lead I guessed of 20-30 seconds over 2nd place. In 2nd place was a corrections officer from Waushara County. He was the guy that won the Bloodhound Challenge in 2011 and took 2nd in the race for the title in 2012. Seeing him on my tail, really made me push in the final mile. I was able to dig deep and really push down the home stretch. According to my Garmin watch, I was running at a sub 5:00/mile pace during the final tenth of a mile. I crossed the finish line in 17:49, a new PR (Personal Record). My previous PR was 18:00, which means I took 11 seconds off my previous PR, or about 4 seconds per mile faster. It has been a goal of mine for the past couple years to run a sub 18 minute 5k. I was ecstatic not only to place 1st overall for the first time ever in any race but to also crush my previous 5k PR. Below is a link to my GPS Watch Data.

Jailbreak 5k by brewcrew0031 at Garmin Connect - Details

Post Race

After the race I was able to hang out near the finish line and wait for Bob to come across the finish line. He came across 4th overall. We hung around and snacked on the post race goodies, including the post race meal. We were both absolutely exhausted from working the night before, but stuck around for the awards ceremony. They did not separate the overall race winners from the age group winner, so I walked away from the race with 3 awards. I took home a 1st Male Overall Plaque, 1st Place 20-29 Age Group, and the Bloodhound Challenge Winner. Bob placed 1st in the 30-39 Age Group as well.

Bob and I with our awards.

Other Notes

It was a great morning and had beautiful weather for a change. I believe this was the 5th anniversary of this race and in the previous 4 years of the race they have not had good weather, or so I've been told. I know last year it was cold with sleet and rain. The weather just leading up to race day was not so cooperative either. It has been a cold, wet, and just generally miserable spring. So when I first saw the forecast for the weekend showing temperatures in the 60's with sun, it made me both happy and excited to race in nice weather. Race time temperatures were near 60* with a light breeze. It was so nice to race in shorts and a t-shirt and be able to hang out in the same clothes without freezing.

Lessons for Future Events

I don't know what I will exactly take away from this race to be honest, other than the fact that I now know I can run a sub 18 minute 5k. I realize that I probably won't go out and place 1st overall in many other races, but it did give me a new level of confidence knowing I do have the ability to. I again did a longer than normal warm up. I did not run the full 5k course as I did in my last 5k, but probably would have had I not be tired from working the entire night before.

Looking Forward

I guess I can consider this to be my official start to my race season. Next week I have my first multi-sport event with the Paper Discovery Duathlon on Sunday, May 5th. After that race, my taper immediately begin following that race. Then the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon is 2 weeks later on Sunday, May 19th. But, as for now the rest of the week following the Jailbreak 5k I have a couple of key workouts. First, I have my final Yasso 800 repeats (Article about Yasso 800's). I have a 10 mile run consisting of 10, half mile repeats. Then on my off days I have a 50 mile bike and a 12 mile run. Yet again, its right back to the grind after the race!