First 5K of 2008 - Lessons Learned

I meant to do this in my first post on the subject, but I kind of got off into warm and fuzzy land. That was nice, but it's not going to help me get better. So, here goes.

I tried to relax and go out slowly, but I got out of breath and had to walk only 2:54 into this event. That was very, very disappointing, since I have been working on increasing my distance and increasing my speed. I have routinely been running miles at a little over 12 minutes, both on the track and outside, and I have routinely been running a mile or more at that pace. So, why am I getting gassed a measly 3 minutes in? Back to this question in a minute or two.

The second thing I noticed was that when I did resume jogging, I seemed to be going at a quicker than training pace, but only kept it up for a minute or two. By the time I was into my third mile, in fact, I tried to count 100 sets of footsteps per jog, but I could only maintain sets of 25.

Finally, someplace in the middle of my third mile, I noticed that my quads were getting fried, and by the time I hit the track and my last quarter mile, the Bionic Women jogging me home could have carried me faster than I was moving.

Back to the heavy breathing and premature cessation - this it what my friends think: "It's all in my head!" I believe they are correct. For my first two triathlon seasons, I experienced something very similar during the swim. I was fine in practice, but every time I raced, I was out of breath in a single length, and had to drop back into the breast stroke and hang on the wall to catch it. But in this season's two races, no problem. Why? I've trained harder, I'm more confident, and consequently, I'm more relaxed, and I go out easy. And, if I do start to get out of breath, I know that rolling to my side and looking up at the ceiling will allow me to catch it.

My friend Bill pointed out how ironic it was that I beat 12 out of 28 men in the water in my last tri, a "weaker" event for me, but only 9 out of 28 on the bike, my "strongest" event. Something to be said for training and relaxation.

Yesterday I did 35 good minutes on the stationary bike and then went over to the track to run. I only planned to do two laps, just to run through that brick feeling in my legs. I grabbed my IPod, put on the headphones and listened to Ryan Adams sing, "Elizabeth You Were Born to Play that Part" from 29, a pretty mellow tune. I set off at an easy pace, listening to the music, and before I knew it, I was "in" the music, and very relaxed. I finished my two planned laps and felt so good that I kept going - for 5 more laps. And here's the kicker - I did the half in 5:39, an 11:18 per mile pace, faster than I ever go. That was a revelation - the trick was not rock, but relaxation.

Since Friday's Raider Classic 5K was sponsored by Colonie HS, I'll frame my lessons learned in the form of the famous "3R's":

Relax - especially at the start of these races.

Rhythm - find the right rhythm in the music in my IPod, or the music in my head, but find it.

Run, Run, Run - I'm getting stronger , I can feel it. I just have to continue the regular training to build up my endurance and stamina, and I will get there.

OK - next event is coming up in 3 weeks, another flat 5K. Let's see if I can master my lessons and earn a "A" on that exam.

See you out there.