I you happened to read my race report that I posted on Sunday, you know I had planned on running the Packers 5k on the Saturday following the Ripon Medical Center Triathlon. I chose to run this race for a few reasons. First and foremost, with the race happening on Saturday night, I was simply able to with my work schedule. Secondly, we participated in the Packers 1K Kid's Fun Run last year and had a lot of fun. Lastly, I knew that this race drew a large crowd for a hometown 5k and wanted to put my abilities to the test against some of the best runners in the state. Plus, the final quarter mile of the race are run on Lambeau Field and any opportunity to a lap around Lambeau Field is one you can't turn down!
Training for This Race
I am not going to keep writing the same thing section, so to keep this short and simple, I haven't been specifically training for any race this year at all. But, coming off of the RMC Triathlon and heading straight to the Dells after the race for a few days, all I did this week were a few 5 mile runs. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, to be exact. Friday was a rest/recovery day and then Saturday was race day. Pretty simple.
Prerace
I have been working day shift this weeks rotation, which was been great for my personal life. It also allowed me to race in this race. I worked from 6:30-4:00pm on Saturday and I soon as I got home, I changed into my race clothes, and we loaded up the kids and hit the road. We honestly left too early, but personally, that's alright with me. I had no idea what to expect with parking for this event, but we were able to get a decent spot right in the stadium lot. We had tons of time to lounge around the stadium atrium for while before the start of the race. After sitting around the stadium for about an 45 minutes, I started my warm up. I got a great warm up in with dynamic stretches and strides. By the end of my 15 minute warm up I had a good sweat going and was feeling actually pretty good. The race start was extremely organized with 7 separate start corrals. I was in the first wave, which went off at 6:30. Sarah and the girls were in the "walkers with strollers" wave...wave 7. It turns out, I actually finished the race before she ever started. I found a good position on the start line and waited patiently for the race to start. It turns out they had three Green Bay Packers alumnus running the race as well. One of them was UW-La Crosse alumni, Bill Schroeder.
Nutrition Plan
Much like the "Training for This Race" section, I don't want to keep repeating myself from previous race reports. But, due to this being a short race, I have found that less is more. I last ate at work around 1:00pm and it wasn't anything too complex, just some yogurt, veggies, and a salad with salmon. On the way to the race, I sipped on a water bottle with one serving of
Hammer Nutrition HEED (100 cal). After that was gone I really didn't drink much of anything until the race. I did take a few sips of water after my warm up just due to the heat. It was going to be a hot race with temperatures right around 80*. An hour before the start, I took my dose of 2
Hammer Anti-Fatigue Caps and then
Hammer Energy Surge tablets as needed during the race.
Equipment
3.1 Mile Run (18:04)
When the race started I did my best to try and run a conservative first mile. I knew that with the level of competition in this race, the leaders would be out of my league. So, I didn't want to get caught up with the adrenaline of a race start and try to keep up with them. My first mile split was 5:25, one of the fastest miles, I have run to date, that I can recall anyway. I tried to gauge exactly how the rest of the race was going to go for me and how I was going to pace the final two miles. After making the second right hand turn (right around mile 1) onto Morris Av, I saw what no runner likes seeing...especially during a race...a long and steady hill. The hill wasn't anything challenging, but just enough to make it just that much more taxing on your lungs. In addition of the hill, there was a slight head wind heading west as well. I found a small group of runners that I could hang with and just tucked in behind them to try and break the wind. It seemed to work pretty well, but unfortunately it did absolutely nothing for the hill. My second mile was a slow 6:03. After crossing the mile 2 mark, I kept telling myself that there is only 1 mile left and tried to dig deep and put up a strong final mile. Most of the 3rd mile was down hill, but the best part of the final mile was the lap around the inside of Lambeau Field. We entered in through a back garage area and ended up coming through the same tunnel as Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews. Coming out that tunnel and seeing all the seats and hearing the loud music makes you forget all the struggles and pain you may be feeling at that point of the race. They had the scoreboard screens on and set up to show the runners as they pasted by the north endzone. It was neat to see yourself running on the screen. They also opened up sections of the stadium for fans to come in and watch the runners complete their lap around the stadium. I was surprised to see exactly how many people were in the stadium, it was a unique feeling. After coming out of the stadium, you could see the finish line. The finish line was also pretty cool as they had a large slab of artificial turf with a huge Packer's "G" on it. The atmosphere of the race in general was so cool, from start to finish. I was very impressed with the size of the crowds along the entire course. I'm used to seeing no one along the course of 5k's, but this one was different. There was an energy that came with this race. It had the feeling of a Packer's home game mixed with a 5k....very cool.
Post Race
I finished the race in 18:04, not a PR, but definitely not a time I'm ashamed of. I placed 4th out of 230 in my age group and 41st out of 5,159 runners overall. After crossing the finish line, I was slightly disappointing they didn't have any post race memento...nothing. How well...not like I don't have enough medals as it is. I took a minute or two to try and catch my breath and then started walking the course backwards to try and find Sarah and the girls. After walking the first half mile or so, I started to jog lightly as a cool down, of sorts. I ended up finding them just after the 1 mile mark. I walked the rest of the race with the girls. I took the opportunity to teach Maya and Delaney about running. We worked on running parts of the race which gave me a unique chance to run side by side with either Maya or Delaney. As they approached Lambeau Field, I went to the finish line to watch them finish. I was proud of both Maya and Delaney after the race. Maya walk/ran the entire race by herself and Delaney walked at least 75% of the race by herself. We decided that from now on, we are going to start registering Maya as a participant now that she can consistently finish a 5k by herself. After the race it was straight home to get three little girls to bed as they were just exhausted.
What's on Tap
On the drive home from the race Sarah and I started talking about how disappointed I was that I didn't place in my age group. We talked about where I was in my life, starting a new job, raising 3 kids, and trying to balance everything. I mentioned how, my training has been non-existent this season, how I have been basically just "winging it." She reminded me how that we talked about how this year was going to have to be a lax year with my training and racing. She mentioned how we talked about this when I took a the new job and that after this season, I'll be able to get back into a more consistent training regime. It made sense and in a way made me feel better about my finish. I was only 20 seconds off of a PR and my times haven't really slipped much from when I was training consistently. After my little reality check from Sarah, I was actually quite satisfied with my race. An 18:04 5k for a working father of 3, really aint to shabby.
As far as my goal of finishing a race in every month in 2015, I have completed a total of 9 races so far in the 8 months of 2015. Up next will either be the Waupaca Triathlon on August 15 or the Fox Cities Half Marathon on September 21st. Either way, I will be doing the half marathon as my September race. And yes, if you have been following along with my 2015 journey, that does mean that I am passing on racing for Team USA in the ITU World Championships in Chicago. Fact is, I just can not justify the financial commitment to compete in that event. It is just too much of a short notice on top of my lack of specific training. I would not want to go into that big of an event just to cross the finish line. I would have liked to commit a solid 3-6 months of dedicated training to the event to give it my all to see exactly how I stack up against the best in the world. I am relatively young yet and feel I still have great things ahead for me and my racing career. And, of course, I will never give up on my dream of qualifying for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
Thanks for reading! Keep on keepin' on!!!
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