Unlike last week, I will not be ranting or whining about this race … got the hint that it was less than stellar, huh? However, I’m not really emotional about it at all. Really. I got that out of my system in the race aftermath in an explicative-laced, email tirade to a teammate. 
MP thank you!
A quick aside to talk about the administration of the race: I was particularly interested in how the race was managed since it’s my first non-NYRR race. In the past, I’ve railed on NYRR for a number of issues, but by and large they do a great job, especially managing the insane volumes of participants with a principally volunteer-based staff. BRAVO 5k an annual fundraiser by the BRAVO Volunteer Ambulance Company, located in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I’ve been a big city boy since my early 20’s (read: long time ago) and at times I do miss that local community feel. Believe it or not, it was served up in doses by the good folks and racers at BRAVO. If it were on it’s own, I believe Brooklyn falls in the top 10 among US cities in terms of population (too lazy to research it). Nonetheless, this morning’s race could have been hosted in Battle Creek, MI or Ames, IA. Everyone was friendly, helpful and just flat-out glad to be out there … not that this isn’t the case with NYRR, but when you have <200 racers and a handful of volunteers, the vibe is just different. No podiums, or elite/VIP tents either. Just good folks, doing a good thing, trying to raise money and keep people healthy in the process. Hell, I even found a port-a-potty cleaner than most restaurant restrooms. I am a fan of BRAVO!
Ok. I’m not really going to comment on my pre-race routine, because I think it’s pretty solid at this point and certainly not the cause of the racing issue I had today. I was dripping with sweat when we started … partially caused by the warm-up, but the humidity contributed as well.
I set the Virtual Partner to 6:30 pace and wanted to see if I could maintain it for 3.1 miles. As Sarah mentioned, crowding was not the issue at a race like this … in fact, I probably could have used the extra bodies in front of me. Why? When I checked the Garmin at ~800m, I saw +0:20 … which means a 6:10 pace. Done. Dead. Race was over at 800m. I might have mumbled an explicative under my breath at this point. I literally tried to put on the breaks to slow down, but still ended mile 1 at 6:15 or 6:20. (Someone called out 6:15, but Garmin had 6:20 … unfortunately, I think BRAVO’s split is more accurate which means I was moving even faster than 6:10 during the first 800m. Crap.)
During mile 2, I went into triage / salvage mode. I knew I was probably in trouble, but did everything except physically stop running to slow what was going to be a really painful 2.1 miles. I had some measure of success in this regard because after the turnaround (it was an up and back course), I heard someone call out 13:15 for the 2nd split which is respectable and less dangerous (6:37 for 2 miles).
Then … the wheels not only came off, but it was a 40-car pile up. I noticed at the end of mile 2 my stride inexplicably started shortening … almost like running uphill … short and choppy. This is a sure sign that the brain is signaling to the body and telling me something is wrong. Then the legs felt like lead. Then the lungs seemingly filled up with fluid and it was hard to breath.
Now folks. I just raced 6.2 miles last Sunday on a crazy hilly course in CP without issue … slightly slow, but no signs of distress. On Thursday, I ran a solid 5-mile tempo without major issues. Today, I ran 2 miles and basically felt apart. Why? Lactic build up. Going out in such a reckless manner resulted in more lactic acid building up in my muscles than my system could normally process. The effect was a slow, horrific death. I knew this was a possibility after 800m and now I was faced with it. What do I do? I still had 1.1 miles to go Or was it 100.1 miles to go?
I stopped and walked for about 10 seconds in the feeble hope that my system would slow down and regulate such that I could finish the race. So many fellow runners encouraged me to keep going … it was very considerate. I figured, since I went out so hard, if I could just regather a bit, I might come close to my goal. So I ramped up again and felt strong for … 20 steps and then it happened again. Stop. Walk. Regather. Run. Stop. Walk. Regather. Rinse. Repeat. At this point, I knew what was happening, but powerless to stop it.
Somehow by the grace of God, I found the finish line. 22:16 / 7:10. The number is truly unimportant. I have been crushing soft PRs and lost sight of what really is critical … race execution. Which brings me back to the foolish rant from last week about my performance in the Healthy Kidney 10k. In hindsight, I ran a damn good race. Not stellar, because I whiffed on goal time and PR, but racing even 5k splits in CP is something to feel good about at my level. Also, the City Foundation 4-miler I ran last month was by far the best executed race of my life (and best pace too). It all came together. Toss out those two races and my execution has not been terrific. “Too quick at the start” has become the theme of the Spring … Coogan’s 5k, Scotland 10k, BRAVO 5k.
I said immediately after the race that I am happy to get these craptastic performances out of my system now. I guess that’s only helpful if I learn from a fundamental running error … being too amp’d up and going out too hard. All of the CPTC speedwork is great, but ultimately it comes down to me to harness it properly on race day. Lessons from today:
- I am faster than I give myself credit for … 6:15 or 6:20 thru 1 mile and 6:37 thru 2 miles is not terrible.
- That ability to start quick is a double-edged sword and must be ratcheted down considerably. I’ll take “too slow” to start like last weekend vs. “too quick” like today. Physically melting down is extremely unpleasant. Next time, I’m going out at 6:45-6:50 and see what happens.
- Crappy races are fine as long as there is some learning going on. I’m sure I’ll have more of them, but this execution must improve.
How to fix it? Keep racing these shorter distances, which leave zero room for error. Like all of you in your racing, I always want to do well, but I am keeping the big picture in mind. If I just roll through the Spring and Summer with no issues, I might not know how to recognize/deal with them in November. I’ve got a 5k in two weeks and a 3.5 miler immediately after that. In the meantime, I will continue a more intense training schedule, but incorporate more targeted pacing in the middle of daily runs to get use to setting a pace and keeping it. Today’s issue was not one of overtraining. It was overreaching at the jump. Lesson (hopefully, finally?) learned.