5K Race Report: Quest for the perfect 5K continues...

You know the feeling the day after a race:  your legs are so freaking sore but you don't even care because you know you gave the race your all and the soreness is just a reminder of the great accomplishment you made the day before. Well, I didn't get to experience that awesome soreness after my 5K this weekend.  In fact, my muscles felt better the day after the race than they did the day before it.  I had a little flare up in my piriformis in the days preceding and the morning of the race, but the day after the race it seemed all better!  It is quite a frustrating feeling to not be the least bit sore the day after a race.  It means that for some reason or another, you did not or were not able to physically push yourself to your limits on race day. 

Bryan Station Defender Classic 5K race report: 

My support crew, braving the nasty weather to cheer me on!  Ernie, me, Tyler, Mom, and Dad. 

The forecast for race morning was cold, rain, and wind.  Not exactly 'getting you pumped to race' weather.  I had already paid for the race and the pancake breakfast afterwords, and I really wanted my parents to meet some of my running buddies who would be competing in or spectating the race, so there was no backing out of this one.  The forecast held true on race morning and I just dealt with it. 

I did an easy pace 1.4 mile warm up before the race.  I didn't use to warm up before 5K races, but recently  learned that warming up is especially important for persons with asthma, and it is a good idea in general to prevent injury and get your body ready to race. 

The start line of the race.

My plan was to (for once) not go out to fast my first mile, and hope to negative split each mile of the race. I took the first mile out very conservatively (7:16 pace).  Typically I run my first mile around 6:45 pace and then pay for it during the second mile. I held a very comfortable pace while dodging puddles of rain water and weaving in and out of kids who went out too fast and were already walking.

There were a few hills during mile 2. The hills weren't very long or steep, and due to the out-and-back nature of the course, whatever you went up, you got to go down, so that was nice.  At one point during mile 2 I had the thought that I should start picking up my pace, but my very next thought was "that might hurt, and I don't feel like hurting quite yet." That attitude earned me a slower (7:39 pace) split for mile 2 (not the negative split I was planning on).  Woops. Although my second mile was slower than my first, I was gaining on the two females in front of me during mile 2.

There were several out and back sections of the course, so it was easy to tell what place I was throughout the race: 3rd female.   Near the beginning of mile 3, I passed the female who was in second place at that time, and enjoyed that for all of about 15 strides.  She caught up with me shortly after I passed her, we exchanged a couple "good jobs" and then she took off to catch the lead female.  I never got close to that woman again, but did continue to gain on the other female in front of me (who happened to be one of my training buddies and good friends).  My plan was to catch and pass my friend in the second half of mile 3.  So, midway of mile 3, when I finally decided I was willing to put forth the hurt necessary to catch my friend, I picked up the pace.  Approximately 30 seconds after I picked up my pace, however, I started to gag. Yes, gag (the kind where your entire body convulses and there's a good chance you're about to puke) it's a common symptom of an asthma episode for me during hard exercise when my asthma isn't under control.  The harder I tried to push myself, the more I gagged.  I was forced to slow my pace and finish the best I could.  Mile 3 split was a 7:43.

I placed 3rd female overall, with a time of 23:00 (7:24 pace) which is 2 seconds slower than my 5K PR.  I'm frustrated.  I know, without a doubt that I am capable of running a sub-22 minute 5K at this time, and if I would have done that this weekend I would have won the race.  I would have loved to have won for the sheer fact that my parents were there.  They have always supported me so much (even driving up from North Carolina at least once a month during my collegiate swimming to cheer for me at meets) and I like doing well for them.  I'm sure they thought 3rd place was great and they are proud of me, but I would have liked to have done better for them. 

I haven't run too many 5K's, and I have yet to 'master' the 5K race distance.  My problem before has always been going out too fast and then bonking during mile two or three.  My problem this weekend was my breathing.  It may seem like that is an 'uncontrollable' factor, but I'm educated enough to know that a person with asthma should not experience symptoms if their asthma is properly managed.  While I did take my inhalers and warm up the morning of the race, I neglected to take allergy medication.  I have also suspected that I need to be on a higher dose of medication during allergy season, but I haven't made the effort to schedule a doctor appointment to make that happen.  Not only is it unsafe for a person with asthma to race or otherwise physically exert themselves without having their asthma under control, I cannot expect to reach my full potential if I cannot breathe! 

Another race, another lesson learned.  I'll succeed in my 'Quest for the perfect 5K' one of thees days!