Well sorry to take so long to get this written. After the race I ran quite abit and it was my little boys sixth birthday so we spent the rest of the day celebrating that. Anyway, I woke up at 5:20 and started going through my normally race day routine. I felt a lot of jitters just because I hadn’t done a lot of races recently and I didn’t expect to meet my expectations. My right knee has been bugging a lot lately with a little bit of cartilage rub. It kind of came on spending some much time on the concrete up in Washington. I have been really hitting the Fish Oil, Glucosamine and Chondroitin hard lately and the extra weight from body building doesn’t seem to help it.
I took my stomach meds (prilosec) did some stretching took my Advair inhaler for my asthma, along with some pseudoephedrine and caffeine in the form of 5 hour energy and lastly took a little Afrin for my allergies. This is also my first race with no N.O. Explode in awhile but I am cycling that and I am off for a couple more weeks. I know that sounds like a lot. I did this all while eating a Powerbar and drinking some Gatorade.
At 6:00 I went out and ran 1 mile around the house slow and fast warming up all the different fibers. I woke Suzanne up and drank another bottle of water and then took one Imodium after another potty break. About 6:30 we headed down to the race. More potty breaks, water, and stretching ran another mile +. Meet up with some friends and 2 minutes before the race headed over to the start and made it one row from the start. I know it seems rude but heading offer at the last minute seems to be a lot better than getting there early and getting pushed back.
The race started and as planned I pushed it early only one or two slow pokes to hustle by. Passed about 40 people in the first 500 meters and then started to settle in. At this point the race is a very gradual uphill believe me I ran it over 50 times this last year. At about a half mile Michelle passed me a few second later Allie and few seconds after that my third chick. Cam came by a little bit after that his breathing is familiar enough I didn’t need to turn to see him. Got chicked two more times along with about a dozen other men. I knew starting fast would cost me a little but with no idea what to expect it had been a year since my last 5K I am still glad I started fast if I was doing it again next week I would run it differently. Hit the mile mark at 6:02
My watch wasn’t working but Camdog verified this for me later. I Got chicked for the last time about a hundred meters later. 3 more gents passed me and I was starting to find my grove. I kept wondering if S. T. would come up alongside and pass me her this is where she got me last year. The second mile is the fastest on the course all downhill even if it is just 1 to 2 %. Stopped getting passed and held my own. My second split was sub 6 but I don’t know how much. 3rd mile I did fine starting to feel some home turf advantage and finding my oats. With the watch not working I am still just hoping to do better than my 20:29 last year and I was starting to feel confident that would happen. About 700 meters out we turn the last corner and start the steepest incline of the short distance. As we crested the top at about 500 meters from the finish I started to think about pushing it. I had wondered early on if I would have the gas to use my sprinter speed at about 450 meters I started to hit it.
About 330 meters out there is a sharp right down hill 40 yards a sharp left 130 yards an uphill turn to the left and then about 140 meters of straightaway. Not the ideal finish especially for strong finishers but still I managed to close the gap about 70 meters picked up one chick and four guys and ended 4 yards behind my last chick. 19:45 total time 44 second improvement and I felt good considering the heat and the injuries this last year and the additional weight. It definitely got my juices flowing to try to get in some races again soon.
Post race I felt a lot more nauseous then usually probably because I just haven’t done any V02 work recently. I saw S. T. come in about 45 seconds later I know she has had some injuries lately but to be honest I was just really glad she didn’t pass me again. Suzanne came in at 27:11 59 secs faster than last year. I need to convince her to register for the Athena category. I watched a few more friends come, changed my shoes and then I found Cam. We ran the course again it was a lot of fun talking I think the second time around we did it in about 26. As we came they said and Now for men in the 35-39 category. Matthew Mackey. I was rather surprised and gave a yell. My 1st AG 1st in a long time. Also my first sub 20 5K in Utah since June 10th 2006. Of course I have only run one in that time but still it made my day for some silly reason I am sure I told 2 dozen people. Both Cam and I turned in our registrations a little on the late side and the guy recognized and he got 2nd in his Age group which is much more competitive at this distance then mine. Notably, Sasha and a few other runners in my AG were missing. Ran the course one more time and a tad more then I head to the TH to run 10.5 more to give me 22 Miles for the day. | 