Vatnsmýrarhlaupid - Run5k

After my warm up I did not really feel ready, I could really have used another run after my 17k run on Saturday. And the rain did not really help :( And there was a head wind, and I had to wear a cap to keep the rain out of my eyes, and there was a lot of water on the streets, and it was cold, and……….and.....…Hmmmm ok now the excuses are taken care of I can run.

My goal was to get a new PB (old one 19:10), I have been running a lot this year and I should be able to do it, I also wanted to go under 19 minutes. The only problem was that last year (where I got my 5k PB in this race) I ran a lot faster then I was actually able too. Believe it or not I actually did the first km in 3:35 last year :o. I did slow down a bit after that. So I knew I had to be fast, but I still had to pace this………..I so wished I would have another 5k this year, that way I could use this as a tester, but NO this was the only chance this year. Nothing to do but…….well…..RUN.

As we lined up I went into the first row, I like to be in the front :), and I stayed there :) !!!!! Right until the gun went off :(
Well there we were lined up and next me to is this guy, and all he has to cover his VERY white body is shorts and a sleeveless shirt, how was he keeping warm ???? I was in a long sleeved shirt + t-shirt and long pants and a cap. Maybe I should just ad here that it was actually raining, and had done so for the last couple of hours, it was only a light rain now but it was still coming down.
Ok, of we go, me straight into 2nd place for the first part (read a couple of meters), then the almost naked guy glide by me. So there I am right behind the front runners, I remember thinking, “where are all the good guys?” this was after 300-400 meters or so. Then we hit a little hill, not steep but fairly long. Can you guess what happens now ? Yes, half way up my breathing goes out of control. I was doing a 3-2 breathing rhythm, I had planed to keep that until 2k if possible, and if I could do that then I would have paced it well. Well we where only 500 meters into the run. I knew I had done it again, opened to fast….way to fast. Stupid, stupid, stupid. To make it even worse I saw that I had not started my watch. What I did see was a big 174 blinking up at me !!!!! Not even 2 minutes into the run, what had I done ?? Just one thing to do, slow down and try to find a pace that would bring me to the finish without dieing. The 2 front runners where gone, and the next pair went by me, and they where not hanging around, bye ,bye and gone they where. 1k since I did not start my watch at the start this is calculated from the unofficial finishing time, 3:30 :o. Well, on the run I had no idea of this so I just kept running. The next km was a long straight with a slight decline, and I was fighting to get my breathing under control, as the next 2 guys went by, I was not as much a runner as a steam engine, big, loud and slow. Well that is how I felt !
I was running alone and I did not even try to keep up with the people going past me, I had to find MY pace, and did I? Well NO, 2k 3:36, I did not believe it when I saw it, and all I could think of was, how fast the first km most have been. Just 3k to go. I was now running at a steady pace, but it was not comfortable, I was right on the limit. I knew that if I increased the speed even the slightest I would not make the finish without walking. 3k 3:47 I was trying to calculate in my head what my finish time would be, but I was using all my energy on running and breathing so I could simply not figure out how much time I had gained. I was trying to calculate from a 4:00 km (20 min 5k) pace, so that would be 24 seconds from the second km 13 from the last km and probably 20 or so from the first km. I just could not put these numbers together !!! All I could get out of it was that I should beat my PB, but that was it. 3-4k this was my slowest km last year, I remember that I only did a 4:05. Now I was afraid that it was going to happen again, fast opening and then dieing another humiliating beginner’s death. I sooooo wanted to try to run a little bit faster, I just couldn’t !!! All the warning lights in my head was blinking red, and there should have been a horn sounding the alarm warning me of a melt down, but all nonessential systems had been shot down and all the energy diverted to keeping the lungs online.

Just before 4k there was a little hill, it was very short but it felt like I slowed down to a crawl before I got over it. 4k 3:52. Finally the last km, just straight and then a down hill finish. I had about a 50 meter lead over the next guy and I wanted to keep that lead, I just did not know how ! All the red blinking lights in my head was now off ! Not because I was out the danger zone, there where simply no energy left to keep them on !!!! :(
Some how, not sure how, but suddenly I was on the finishing straight, and the slight down hill helped me increasing the speed over the last couple of hundred meters.
Last km 3:40 :o
Unofficial time……18:25 :o :o :o I could not believe it. I just knocked 45 seconds of my PB.

The really good news is that the guy who finished just behind me is actually one of the fastest tri runners :) And I managed to beat the president of the Tri club by almost minute, he did not like that :)

Not open up like a beginner.
Not have the last run before the race be a 17k long and slow run.

First thing I did was to rip of my heart rate monitor, it felt like it stopped my lungs from opening completely. The strap was actually hurting me :(

Then getting out of the rain, because that is what you do when it is raining. That is what my brain was telling me, but there was actually no reason to get out of the rain, I was completely soaked, also my shoes soaked and I could feel the water inside it every time I took a step. Well got my self some energy drink and a banana. Then I went for a slow jog, back to the car. Took a bit of a detour because I knew I had to loosen up my legs. Got back to the car and got some dry clothes on. Then I drove home, but not before seeing the “almost naked guy” (who actually won the race) doing sprints up and down the finishing straight :o





I messed it up opening like a true beginner.
Not enough 5k race experience.
Funny ! On the 5k I open to fast and on the 10k I open to slow. I guess I just need to run some more.

The rain was ok, but all the water on the streets was annoying.
Training (you can always use that)



It is a good race, I just messed it up completely.