FredtheDuck
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2017
RACE RECAP: Candy Cane City 5k
AKA: The Race in Which My Legs Had It but My Lungs Didn't
AKA: The Race in Which My Legs Had It but My Lungs Didn't
November 12, 2017
This was a late add to the fall race calendar when I got a sudden burst of confidence post MCM10k and some good interval training that maybe a sub-30 5k—once completely out of the question, as far as I was concerned—was perhaps within reach. The race itself was a small one that is part of the local running club's "low-key race series," so it was $10 to enter and was a straight out and back on Rock Creek, about 10 minutes from my house. Why not?
We got there about 20 minutes before the race and picked up our bibs. It was COLD. In the low thirties, but it felt much colder. Though there were only a couple of hundred runners, they did a wave start due to some construction about 100m in to the run that narrowed the trail. @MoanasPapa and I lined up kind of in the middle, behind what they termed the "faster runners" but ahead of the walkers. 8:00 struck and we were off! My plan was to race blind again, so I noted the race clock when we crossed the start at 44 seconds, then pulled my glove and sleeve over my watch and got to work.
I knew within a third of a mile that it was not going to be my day. Those of you following since the beginning may remember that I have exercise-induced asthma. The more I've run, the less it has been an issue. I carry my rescue inhaler with me now, but I haven't needed it in months. I use it ahead of races as a preventative measure, which I did on Sunday as usual. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough with the cold, dry air. My lungs flared up almost immediately with the effort, and I could never get them "right." My breathing was not quite gasping, but my chest was tight and I was breathing with much more effort than I should have been. Because of the breathing challenges, I couldn't quite push my body to go any harder than the high-9 pace I was working at.
I wish that I could say that I was feeling strong at the turnaround halfway in, but I wasn't. I knew I was going to miss my goal, and I was really struggling to maintain a pace that I thought was at least faster than my LR pace while fighting my breathing the entire way. About 1/3 of a mile to the end of the race, I checked my watch. It confirmed what I knew - that I was going to miss sub-30. Funny thing about knowing you're going to miss your goal. You start wondering why you're working so hard. A guy that I had been neck and neck with most of the race passed me on a downhill and I knew that I didn't have enough oxygen to pick it up and catch him. I was deflated (pun completely unintended). At this point, I was also feeling nauseous. So, I did something I've never done in a race. I stopped and walked. I gave myself 15 seconds, and told myself that that would be enough to bring my heart rate down and loosen my chest a bit, then I could finish strong. My RIs have been really helpful during my speed training in terms of managing breathing, so I thought inserting one here might help steady the ship. A lady ran by and told me we were almost done, and I knew she was right. I picked up and ran hard to the finish, where @MoanasPapa was waiting for me (He also PRd and had a great race! His official time was 27:53 for an average pace of 8:59, potentially faster if they revise the net time).
The official race results have me finishing in 31:36. But, my gun and chip time are the same. We crossed the start with 44 seconds on the race clock, so I expect that that'll be revised down to 30:52 or so, which is close to what my Strava says (it has almost 3.3 miles in 30:45). We found out after the race that the bibs had shoe chips on the back, not the bib chips the group usually uses... our fault for not realizing, and I'm guessing that may be the culprit for the timing issues. I've written to the club, but totally won't object if they don't revise the results - it really is our fault for not realizing we were using shoe chips.
So, I was close, and the walking didn't cost me my goal - it was already out of reach at that point. Still, it's a new PR for me (my previous PR was 32:04 back in June), which is great. I used my rescue inhaler, then went home and did a spacer treatment. My chest was still tight and inflamed the entire rest of the day - I did another spacer treatment right before bed. It feels about 90% today.
More importantly, my legs weren't super tired at the end of the race. In thinking about what happened, I know that I've always had trouble breathing when running in cold weather. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me that running at 5k race pace could be a respiratory challenge. I read up on what was going on, and apparently those with exercise-induced asthma have a higher frequency of bronchospasms in cold weather. So. It is what it is. But I DO think that my legs/endurance have what it takes to sub-30. I think that if I had been able to breathe well (meaning, if it didn't hurt to take every breath and if I had been able to get in to a good breathing rhythm), I could have done it. I'm disappointed that I didn't, even with the new PR.
So, this goal goes back to being a 2018 goal. And one that I'll shoot for in weather that is more agreeable to my lungs. I have two more races this year, but I wasn't planning on running hard in either of them, and yesterday confirms that choice. So I'm done "racing" for 2017, and while I finished on a disappointing note, I'm sure that 2018 will bring lots of new challenges, victories, and, like yesterday, lessons learned.