Haddonfield Road Race 2X5k (20:48, 19:20)

Last weekend I ran a local 5k near my house.  The race day started before the race.  On my schedule, I had a workout of 2x5k.  I could have done the workout by myself at home but what’s the fun in that?  I knew a lot of friends running the race, plus my husband wanted to run…so why not?

The day before, we went flying.  The plane ride was extremely turbulent, and I ended up getting sick and puking midflight.  Luckily, I puked directly into a Nalgene and didn’t make a mess.  Apparently running hard the day after getting sick is not optimal.  When I woke up on Saturday morning, my throat hurt and I didn’t feel right.

I told myself several times; I had a hard few weeks of running plus getting sick is not optimal before a race.  It was time to check my pride and ego right at the front door.  To be honest, that’s always hard to do but I’m coming to terms with not every race can be my fastest.

My workout for the day was:
Warmup: 3 miles
2x5k
Cooldown: 3 miles

During my warmup, I knew I didn’t feel good.  I knew it would be a race with a surprise or magical PR.

After my warmup, I went into my personal 5k.  It’s hard to run a workout by yourself, especially knowing you’re going to race in an hour.  I ran my first mile in 6:45 and immediately felt defeated.  My goal was to be in the low 6:20s, but I knew my body was not going to cooperate.  The area was hilly, and I felt like junk.  I ran the second mile in 6:42 and the last mile in 6:31.  I finished, and immediately felt defeated.  I finished the first 5k in 20:48 and made it my goal to finish the second under 21:00.

So moving on to the actual race:
I lined up next to my husband and a few local friends.  All of a sudden we were off.  I found myself as fifth woman overall.  I knew one of the women was extremely fast so catching her would not be an option.  I checked my ego at the start line and raced in the moment. (which was not a great moment). During the first mile, we climbed a steep hill.  I focused on just climbing, and I crossed the first mile in 6:08. I was surprisingly happy.

During the second mile, I passed two women and found myself as the third lady overall.  I was running side by side by side with the second women who I eventually passed.  For the rest of the race, I ran alone.  The next person in front of me was my husband, and he was over a minute ahead.  It was a lonely race.  It was like I was doing a workout alone. I crossed the second mile in 6:18.  It was much faster than anticipated.

The third mile climbed a large and surprising hill.  I thought we had gotten the hill done in the first mile, but boy was I mistaken. Even though the race is a few short miles from my house, I had no idea the hill was back there.  I was in second place, but the third place women was not too far behind.  I was feeling sick, and my stomach hurt from the day before.  I was struggling to control my breathing.  I just focused on charging the downhill and getting to the finish line.

I crossed the third mile in 6:12 and finished in 19:20. I was shocked I finished 90 seconds faster than my first 5k, but I also needed that confidence booster as well.  After the first 5k and not feeling great, I was feeling demotivated.  I was happy with the workout as well as the second 5k.

I’m still recovering from that flight.  I don’t typically get motion sickness but we never expected it to be that turbulent.  I’m just glad we didn’t fly before a goal race!

Question for you:
Have you ever done a workout during a race?
Do you get motion sickness?