Did my first race since junior year in highschool yesterday. It's been 23 years and it was my first ever BF. Been training to debut with a 5k but this came up a few days ago, it was free, on home turf and sounded like a really cool race. I learned shortly before that it was actually 6.69 miles with well over 600ft of ascent.
It was mostly on trails except for last two some miles that were on gravel road and pavement. This was the only downhill bit and I worried that I was taking a toll on my legs. I ran most of the race with a dude that used to do 32min 10K's and was still a damn good runner. He shadowed me most of the race which was great for keeping up the pressure then at the end he started to flag but I insisted we finish together.
We came in fourth place out of a field of 34 with a time of 48:37. 7:16min/miles which I was really happy about, especially considering the climbing we did.
My stomach started cramping right after the race and Mike had to drink the beer I ordered. Suzanne was wiser than me and just drank water. I learned a new word: haematuria, after going home and peeing blood. A frantic Google search showed me that it was not an uncommon phenomenon in dehydrated runners. Jimmy if you are reading this, I'm sure you are laughing. Strangely enough though, I hydrated a bunch before the race and pee'd twice in the 20 minutes prior to starting. What I learned online though is that I shouldn't have pee'd right before. On an empty bladder, the bladder walls bang together that creates a little hemorrhaging that comes out in the urine. Although I was sufficiently hydrated, the act of peeing just before the race as well as the high temps (80's) took all the water out of me.
What a blast to race though. I woke up today marveling at the fact that my legs don't even feel like they ran yesterday. My feet are a little tender but not too much for a short run. We have another race on Saturday which should be really fun. Happy summer everyone!
ps this is a cc of a post in "Let's see your PR's!"
It was mostly on trails except for last two some miles that were on gravel road and pavement. This was the only downhill bit and I worried that I was taking a toll on my legs. I ran most of the race with a dude that used to do 32min 10K's and was still a damn good runner. He shadowed me most of the race which was great for keeping up the pressure then at the end he started to flag but I insisted we finish together.
We came in fourth place out of a field of 34 with a time of 48:37. 7:16min/miles which I was really happy about, especially considering the climbing we did.
My stomach started cramping right after the race and Mike had to drink the beer I ordered. Suzanne was wiser than me and just drank water. I learned a new word: haematuria, after going home and peeing blood. A frantic Google search showed me that it was not an uncommon phenomenon in dehydrated runners. Jimmy if you are reading this, I'm sure you are laughing. Strangely enough though, I hydrated a bunch before the race and pee'd twice in the 20 minutes prior to starting. What I learned online though is that I shouldn't have pee'd right before. On an empty bladder, the bladder walls bang together that creates a little hemorrhaging that comes out in the urine. Although I was sufficiently hydrated, the act of peeing just before the race as well as the high temps (80's) took all the water out of me.
What a blast to race though. I woke up today marveling at the fact that my legs don't even feel like they ran yesterday. My feet are a little tender but not too much for a short run. We have another race on Saturday which should be really fun. Happy summer everyone!
ps this is a cc of a post in "Let's see your PR's!"
