2 seconds
This morning I ran the Dexter Ann Arbor Run 5K for the second year in a row. I didn’t remember it being so damn hot last year but this morning it was already in the 60’s when I left home and probably was in the mid 70’s during the race. I saw 84 on the car thermometer when was leaving. Lots of full sunshine for the race, although clouds have already started rolling in for thunderstorms today.
I wore my cho-pat strap for the race and it stayed in place very nicely, although I was almost hoping it would slip so I would have a good excuse to stop.
The heat really got to me in the race. I was totally unprepared for it, and after missing an entire week, I was just not feeling very strong. All those voices in my head that tell me to stop and rest, were just screaming today.
I’m trying to remember some of the race. At the two mile water stop they were handing out frozen chocolate covered bananas but I was so beat there’s no way I could have eaten one. Maybe cooled my face down with it, but that would have looked really bad for the photos to have melted chocolate smeared all over my face.
This race has a big long uphill at the very end. Maybe .25 to .5 miles. Not sure. Like last year, I just was dying on this thing. It just seemed so hard to get air into my lungs. I was doing a 1-1-2 breathing pattern. That is, two shorter breaths in with two foot steps, followed by a longer exhale that holds for two foot steps.
Oh yeah, and I had seriously bruised my ribs last week, and that spot was killing me in the run. I had been putting my wife’s bike in the back of the truck and front wheel hit the floor and spun the handle bars around, and one hit me just forward of my left armpit. It felt like I had been shot and it knocked the wind right out of me. Hadn’t hurt much during the week except when I pushed on it, but during the race it got really sore. And right now it is killing me. Maybe running twists my ribs or something.
I hit the first mile at 6:59, which was right on target for where I wanted to be. I missed mile 2, and it seems to me I missed it last year too. The marker is at the frozen banana table and its too distracting to remember to hit the lap button. So at mile 3 I was 14:25, slowing down quite a bit. Then the last bit was :46. Forerunner claims it was 3.17 miles total. Whatever, stupid Forerunner probably thinks we’re still in the woods.
Final time 22:12, 7:09 pace, 9/62, 82/1147. Another 5K PR by just two seconds. Saw the clock ticking away as I approached the finish line and I wanted to run faster but there was nothing left in the tank, but I made it just under the wire anyway.
The food was pretty good this year, although there were fewer cookies. A HUGE table of bananas, oranges, and grapes though. I was so toasted after the race I could hardly speak. I gulped down a cup of Gatorade and staggered around abit before trying a salt bagel. Got half that down and then tried a cookie. Then I went for the fruit. The idea of an orange made me really ill and I tried grapes first. When I felt better I went back for the oranges. They went down pretty well. They also had Energice bars they were giving out after the chute. It felt good just to hold it on my face which is what I saw alot of people doing.
Cool T-shirt this year. Its by Jeff Mallet that does the comic strip Frazz. He was there signing shirts and stuff. I had him put my number on the runner in the title box. Yeah for a good T-shirt this year! Last year’s was really ugly and had images of these old sweaty guys in the race. My wife hated it so much, she won’t let my son where his outside the house. :D
I have mixed feelings about this race. It was a PR and I’m damn happy about that but I felt totally unprepared in general (the heat, the speedwork). I feel like I could have done alot better. Ah, what are ya gonna do? You run the race your are given.
So this race is now behind me, I got some great hot weather speedwork training out of it besides having another PR. Now I spend a few weeks recovering and doing some nice NORMAL running again (go away nasty speedwork), and then on 6/20 I start training for Detroit. And best of all? Day 1 is a rest day. :)
June 5th, 2005 11:02
(Sound of jaw hitting the floor)
You got to meet Jeff Mallet? Lucky dog.
Congrats on the PR, even in the heat.
June 5th, 2005 11:07
A PR despite the heat and your less than perfect feeling, I would say well done!
June 5th, 2005 11:14
22:17????Cool Jon!! Well done!!! And chocolate-covered bananas?? We don’t have stuff like that in OUR races:) Oh, and you’ll have a long wait for me after you finish the New Haven 5K!! Congrats~
June 5th, 2005 11:50
Nice job, Jon!! Your time is amazing :-) And I wanna frozen chocolate-covered banana!! It was a hot day here, too!
June 5th, 2005 12:56
Oh, that would be torture, to have such a treat offered in the middle of a 5k! I hope they had them at the end, too. If it were a 10 miler or longer I would have stopped for it, but a 5k? What were they thinking?
Great job on the PR in the heat. Two seconds COUNT. Once your body gets accustomed to the warmer season you’ll do even better.
June 5th, 2005 14:08
So I start reading this race account by Jon. It’s too hot … his rib hurts like heck … he missed a week of training … the voices … long uphill at the end … blah blah blah. II’m expecting the worst.
What’s he do? He PRs at a 7:09/mpm. Would anyone else like to pile on? I mean, I am just green with envy at that time.
Jon - it’s a PR. In the record book it will always be a PR until you break it next time, which should be a piece of cake because you had so many “challenges” this time.
June 5th, 2005 14:24
Congrats on the PR Jon. Cool t-shirt too! Heh, I had 2 chocolate fudgicles in your honor yesterday..lol. :-)
June 5th, 2005 14:28
Congrats on the PR! It’s a great job, even if you felt icky. Also, I’m so very jealous about the shirt - that’s awesome!
Is it just me, or does 6/20 suddenly feel like it’s right around the corner?
June 5th, 2005 14:39
Nice job on the PR–Why would they offer something like a chocolate covered banana in the middle of a race? They should have them at the end!
Congrats!
June 5th, 2005 17:29
Jon, Congrats on the PR, and on sticking it out in the tough race. I think a lot of us were clobbered by the heat this weekend - I’m just glad I only had to encounter it in a training run, unlike you and Lara in races! I bow to you.
June 5th, 2005 17:47
Congrats on the PR, Jon … be proud!! And, I hate to keep on about the chocolate covered bananas … but … you’re really inspiring me to race! :)
June 5th, 2005 18:17
Hey–great account! I am a fellow Michigan “runner” (I’d suck compared to you ;) ) but I am training for Detroit as well and enjoyed reading! I’ll be back for sure. Good job on the PR.
June 5th, 2005 19:02
Congrats on the PR! And the restraint…I might just rub a chocolate covered banana on my face right now, just before I head out to run some errands. I’m nowhere near as disciplined as you are.
June 5th, 2005 19:32
what a wicked fast time! yeah jon!!! it sounds like the race was hard-meaning you EARNED your time :) way to tough it out.
June 5th, 2005 20:03
Good job!!!
June 5th, 2005 22:16
Congrats on the PR! Y’all have some different race food there! I’ve never heard of chocolate covered bananas at a water stop- I would totally throw up if I ate that while running. We always get donuts at the end though, I think that is why my son likes to run the kid races….
June 5th, 2005 22:18
Yeah sure - I’ll pile on - I was thinking the same thing… shot ribs, intense heat, week off, yadda yadda yadda……BAM!!! A P.R.!! So… if that’s the formula for a sub 7:30 pace, I’m going to take a week off, go to Miami in July, and kick my own ass! Nice job big guy - Should’ve grabbed the banana at mile 2 - at that pace the chocolate only would have made it down to your elbow by the time you finished!
June 5th, 2005 22:28
Jon I am so proud of you! With your ribs, week off, heat, etc. You still came throught with an AWESOME time!! I think your to hard on yourself!
Congrats :)
Heather
June 5th, 2005 23:21
Congratulations!!! A PR under challenging conditions? I’m very impressed. And at a 7:09 pace? Whew. That’s moving fast!
June 6th, 2005 06:56
You PR’d with ugly heat and painful ribs - that’s not just dumb luck. You may feel you could’ve done better but that doesn’t mean that you didn’t do great anyway! Congrats!!
June 6th, 2005 07:45
Congrats on the PR Jon! And in that heat. Just think, you could have been racing down here where it was 90 and HUMID all weekend. Did I say it was HUMID?!
When does marathon training start?
June 6th, 2005 12:17
Congratulations! What a great race! And we all know..the real reason why we race is for the cool t-shirts! :)
June 6th, 2005 13:02
a tough race, for sure, but you made the best of it! chocolate smeared on your face for the finishline photo? you’d have to turn that shot into your masthead image! haha!
good job on the pr, even if it felt rough!
June 6th, 2005 20:41
Wow! Nice job with that heat! It was awful here, so I really understand. No way is that race food fair, though!
June 6th, 2005 20:57
You know what I have to add being the 24th FREAKIN commentor? NOTHING!!! Argh.
Good job my man. A PR is a PR. :D
June 6th, 2005 21:41
25 comments??? What the hell have you been up to since I’ve been away?
Have people been searching HOT BARN YARD PORN LOVING to get here again? Or is the FREE VIAGARA people..OR possibly the PENIS ENLARGMENT.
Waddya think?
(great job on the race..)
June 6th, 2005 22:39
Wow 26 comments, you sure are special *wink*.
June 6th, 2005 23:52
Great job on the race, especially since it was so hot and humid out. It’s supposed to be 90 degrees here tomorrow, with almost 100 percent humidity. Ugh. Also, sounds like you got excellent post-race fuel; I need to find a race lilke that. Reading you last few posts have been inspiring to me - I’ve been slacking a bit on the weekly mileage, and now I’ve gotten re-energized and will try to be more diligent.
P.S. Re Nike Free 5.0 - you’re right. Mostly a marketing gimmick. Nike will not get another $85 out of me.
June 7th, 2005 07:03
I’m a little late to the game with my congratulations, but CONGRATULATIONS!!! I’m not too far south of you and it was horribly hot here! I couldn’t imagine running a race in that weather! Way to go on the PR!!! Woohoo!
June 7th, 2005 09:04
Wow. Damn. Jon, you’re the sh*t! Wow! You totally rock! I’m so proud of you. You pr’ed when it’s hot and you’re not feeling great? You so rock! Man.
June 7th, 2005 10:57
Great race, Jon! A PR on a hot day? Wohoo!
June 8th, 2005 18:42
As they say, any PR is a PR. And at a damn fine pace, considering. But forcing you to pass up chocolate is really a bit much.