St. Patty's Day 5k - Race Report

I signed up for this short Saturday race on Wednesday.  It fit perfect with my schedule as I needed to do a 5k in preparation for my Ironman California 70.3 training.  Wednesday was 70 degrees and sunny, Thursday too.  But alas that fairy tale ended Friday.  That morning it started snowing and continued through the day.  In the afternoon it picked up steam, enough so that my 7 mile commute from work took an hour.  It continued on into the night and when all was said and done, we had about 12 inches of fresh pow pow on the ground.  Unfortunately I was running not skiing.  The website said we run no matter what the weather.  I read some and went to bed.

Saturday 3/20/2010

I woke up around 7:30 for the 9am race and saw the frozen tundra out my window.  The thermometer near the window said 20.  Yowch!  I decided to dress warm and wear heavier trail shoes.  2 goals for this little race, don't get sick and don't get hurt!  1 week out from an A race to kick off the tri-season = be cautious.  So I wore some underarmour compression gear and a fleece, hat and gloves.  Breakfast was a protein and berries shake, followed with some good coffee.

I drove over to the race and my car said 14 degrees, ugh.  Anyway I arrived around 8:40, parking was a breeze.  I ran up and grabbed my registration packet, fumbled to pin on my number and ran the bag back to the car.  Saw my buddy Scott in the midst of this, no real time or desire to chat in the cold.  It was FREEZING, so I jumped in the car and started it up again and warmed my hands.   I headed back to the race and waited for about 5 minutes for the gun.

Off we went.  My shoes felt heavy, the fleece felt heavier and it was cold to breather.  I sort of figured something below 22 minutes would be achievable.  Alas the whole race was on icy pavement and I decided to simply go conservative and enjoy the sunshine on my face.  I slipped twice but didn't fall or sprain anything and finished in 23:36 good enough for a PR (I don't run 5ks much, haha) and 23rd overall out of about 250 people, so it was acceptable for my purposes.  Saw Scott again afterward and did a quick cool down walk / run.  Then I made the executive decision to head home before I felt cold.  I figured once I felt cold I'd be sick.  Good race, I finished up the day with a time trial on the trainer bike and tried out my new wetsuit in the pool.

Happy Training