login
The Hot Chocolate 15K
-
No new posts
The Hot Chocolate 15K - Run15k
View Member's Race Log View other race reports
 Run
Comments: I did better this time with hydration and fueling, eating a fig newton right before the start and getting a couple of swallows of electrolyte drink just over halfway through. No walking-- not even in the zoos that were water stations! My left leg didn't bother me much at all, but by the end the area under the ball of my right foot felt like it was on fire-- strange, since I was wearing brand-new shoes with lots of cushioning. Managed to persuade my legs to kick at the end by promising I'd stop running when we got there, really, honest, no kidding. What would you do differently?: In all honesty, I would've signed up and done the 5K, particularly as the last of three races done on back-to-back-to-back weekends. I'm glad I did this one, overall, in that finishing it was a real confidence boost for my endurance, but I don't think I'd linger around in the cold for it again. (I'm just not THAT fond of chocolate, and didn't hang around after to get any anyway!)  Post race
Warm down: Started walking IMMEDIATELY to the El-- no stopping for chocolate of any kind downtown-- so I wouldn't start turning into a dangerous popsicle. Rode the El home (not nearly as much stiffening and cramping as after last week's half mary), then jumped into a hot Epsom Salts bath. Bliss. TOO funny, though-- when I checked the final results later that day, I was puzzled not to see my name listed in my AG...I looked again, and realized that for some reason they'd got me down as being 15 years old! Made me burst out laughing, not only because there's NO WAY I could've run this at all when I was 15, but also because I'm so VERY glad not to be a teenager! :) What limited your ability to perform faster: Tiredness from repeated racing, mostly. But I have to say I was pleased with my mental effort-- staying in that cold opening area took a fair amount of HTFU, and then once I got going I felt a lot better until I had to HTFU again near the end. Not once did I seriously feel like stopping, though. Event comments: They TRIPLED the race in size this year, so the start area seemed like utter chaos as 30 000 people milled around and few of them seemed to know where they were supposed to be going. The 15K start was at least 20 minutes later than they'd planned, I think. It all evened out eventually, though. I don't know what the famed chocolate-fest afterwards was like, as I was in no mood to get dangerously chilly to find out. The course was fine-- pretty, even-- but the combination of crowds and cold had me outta there ASAP. Last updated: 2010-09-01 12:00 AM
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
{postbutton}
 2010-11-07 4:43 PM |
Expert  683   |  Subject: The Hot Chocolate 15K |
| General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
{postbutton}
|
|
|
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK
United States
RAM racing
32F / 0C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 7655/12368
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Got up early and did my usual few yoga stretches. My left leg felt a bit grumpy (it's been grumpy all week-- nothing major, just a few twinges here and there), so I wondered idly if it was worth doing the race at all. That wondering was intensified when I put on my various layers and headed out the door in sub-freezing temperatures. The walk to the El was OK, though, and I even did a quick stride or two to make the train that had just pulled into the station-- no problems there, so I thought I'd at least start and see what happened.
"Warmup" is an amusing term in this case...for it was colder downtown than it had been where I started, and I ended up standing around outside for over an hour while chaos seemed to ensue. 30 000 runners for this event: half for the 5K (which started first), the other half for the 15K. I got colder and colder as I jogged from foot to foot in a vain attempt to stay warm-- I wasn't shivering (quite), but d@mn, I was cold! 'Twas only the "DFL>DNF>DNS" equation that ultimately kept me standing there and eventually moving into the start corrals. I started way back, near the back of the 11 min/mile section, because I wasn't at all sure how my body would be after the cold-- by the time we finally started shuffling forward, my feet were numb, my legs sore, and my lower back complaining. Yippee...