On top of the race being free, Du Tri Run also has what is called "The 5 Star Series." Basically, you race in 5 races and add up the total of your age group finishing place and whoever has the fewest points at the end of the season, places 1st, and so on. Then, at the end of the year, Du Tri Run hosts a banquet to honor the previous year. In my previous 5 races, I have placed 1st in all but one, which I placed 3rd. So I really wanted to change that 3 to a 1, which was another reason for wanting to race the Noodleini.
After having a successful (by my terms) race at the Turkey Trot just days before the Noodleini, I decided to enjoy myself Saturday night and just see what happens on Sunday. If I drank too much and stayed up too late, and ended up feeling like shit Sunday morning, I'd skip it...I mean it was a free race, that I never really intended on racing in. Or, if I woke up and felt "blah," I'd just suck it up buttercup, and just see what I could do with a hangover...I mean really...what's the worst that could happen....
Training for This Race
On Friday after the Turkey Trot I was back in the pool for a mile swim. It was nothing too difficult, but it wasn't a sluff-off session either. Saturday, I was honestly too busy to workout even if I wanted to. We were up early to get up north with my entire family for our annual tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree. Then after getting back home, it was right over to my in-laws for the Thanksgiving dinner that I mention above.Prerace
The night before the race was fun. We wanted to change things up a bit from the traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey and gravy with mashed potatoes and corn, etc, etc, etc. So we planned a Mexican themed dinner with everything from fresh made guacamole, authentic Mexican stew, Tacos al Pastor, enchiladas...literally the whole nine yards. I was in charged of the Tacos al Pastor, and if you know me, I don't half ass shit. The tacos were a huge production. It took me a few hours just to cook the meat at my in-laws house. I started cooking around 4pm and it was no coincidence that was also the time I popped the top off of a cold Dos Equis lager. It was so good...I knew I wasn't just having a couple.I kept myself in check though. The dinner and evening was a lot of fun and the food was great. We made it home after 10pm and was in bed shortly after midnight. I set my alarm for 6am and really questioned what the hell I was thinking. But, I actually woke up and got my ass out of bed around 6:30 and was out the door with my much need mug of coffee around 6:50. The race started at 8am at De Pere West High School, which is only about a 20 minute drive from my house. I got there with plenty of time to get my race bib and start warming up. The weather was pretty much perfect, with temperatures in the upper 20's with just about no wind. They also host a 15k race which starts prior to the 5k, with the 5k started about 5 minutes after the 15k start. I was feeling pretty good, all things considered. I definitely was not hung over and really at most was just a little tired.
Nutrition Plan
My nutrition plan was to just make it through the race. I didn't eat anything prior and had no intentions of eating anything during. I did take my usual 2 capsules of Hammer Anti-Fatigue Caps an hour prior to the race.Equipment
Road ID Elite3.1 Mile Run
The race got started to a rather shitty start, honestly, and there really wasn't anything I could (politely) do about it. The entire front of the race start was littered with kids and slow runners who just wanted to be at the front for the start. Nothing annoys me more, than people who want to be at the start line just to sprint the first quarter mile just to pull off to the side so they can walk and catch their breath. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled they are out there, trying to better themselves. But, when they effect others, it just pisses me off. But, like I said, there is really nothing I can do about it, other than physically push them off the start line to make room for myself, but I wasn't about to do that. So I just sucked it up and tried to remain in control of what I could control.
Truthfully speaking, it really doesn't effect the race start that much, just enough to be a thorn in my side. But once the gun went off, I did my best to get into my rhythm and dodge the kids and slower runners that I knew would just fade after the first couple hundred meters or so. Once the wannabe's were behind me, there was about 4 or 5 guys in front of me. I really thought a couple of them would fade putting me in the top 3, but knew I had plenty of time ahead of me to pick them off. I just kept plugging away. I was feeling surprisingly good....hell I was feeling great. My cadence was damn near perfect, and I felt relaxed. I couldn't believe it. I was going on less than 6 hours of sleep and coming off a night of sucking down cervesas and tacos.
After the first couple miles, I hadn't passed any of the guys ahead of me. I decided to take a chance and crank up my effort and try to catch up to at least one of the guys. I really don't remember how many I passed, but I ended up finishing in 4th place overall and 1st in my age group. I finished in 17:50!
Post Race
After finishing the race, I was so surprised with my finishing time. It was by far my fastest 5k of the year. I was only 9 seconds off of my 5k personal record! I hadn't run a sub 18 minute 5k in a long time. And now, here I was, after a night of no-no's I run my best race of the year??? If I had gone into this race with the attitude of I have to do everything right, and ate right, drank water, and got a good night sleep, who knows what would have happened? Would I have run a PR? Would I have run yet another 18+ minute 5k? Who knows. All I know, is I ran a great race and far passed my expectations.
I eventually made my way back into the high school for the age group awards. The race is sponsored by Noodles and Company...hence the NOODLEini (duh). Everyone got some free Noodle's mac and cheese along with a Rice Krispie treat. I stuck around until I received my trophy for placing 1st in my age group, at which time I headed out to get back home and get ready to go to yet another (and last) family Thanksgiving meal.
What's on Tap
At the start of this post, I touched on the 5 Start Series. I had thought I had all but wrapped up the Male 30-34 age group. I jumped online to see if I could get some information about the banquet and the rankings. As I jumped on the Du Tri Run website, I read a section on the 5 Star Series I don't recall ever seeing. It was written in plan English...New in 2015
To qualify for the 2015 Aurora BayCare Series you must complete a swim and a bike event. Relays will be counted as one of the 5 events, but you will not get a score.
Yup....You must complete in a swim and bike event...i.e. a triathlon. I only completed a duathon this past year....no triathlons. I was slightly disappointed. It's not like I intentionally avoided doing a triathlon and it's not like I probably would have placed 1st in my age group. I honestly couldn't race in any of the scheduled triathlons through Du Tri Run due to my work schedule. I literally had to work on each and every scheduled triathlon. Oh well, I guess. There ain't much of anything I can do, other than just be proud of how my year of racing has gone for me.
On tap, I have one and only one more race to complete to accomplish my goal of completing a race in each month of the year. So far, through 11 months, I have completed in 13 (14 if you count the Santa Scamper). I am eyeing up a New Year's Eve race in Fond du Lac. Most likely, that will be the race I, literally and figuratively, close out the year with. But, until then, thanks for reading!
Cheers!
