Caroler 5K

Still reeling a bit from my sad effort on Thursday, I set out for a 5K race. My body, recovered pretty well from my long run, with only minor remnants of achiness. I may not have made the best decision for lunch. My wife and I went out, I had a garlic pasta dish, while in theory isn't too bad, but it was saturated in oil.

Tonight's weather wasn't too bad, mid 20's, but not as much wind as earlier in the day. I started out on a decent pace, but again felt my energy draining quickly. I also felt some waves of nausea coming and going. Similar to Thursday, each step became increasingly difficult, but at least this time I had people around me that helped to keep me going.

I just hung on as good as I could to the end, crossing the line with a very unspectacular and mediocre time.

Mileage: 3.03
Time/Pace: 21:57/7:14
Avg HR/Max HR: 194/221
Elevation: 61ft
T/W: mid 20's, clear

My last handful of runs have been less than spectacular, which leads me to think about why. Here's what I've come up with.

1) Diet: Throughout the summer and fall, I was eating very disciplined. I had tons of energy and was performing very well. I fell off that train late fall and have also gained a few pounds.

2) Sickness: I am at the end of a cold and still a bit congested.

3) Quick Change in Weather: It seems as the transition from fall to winter here was pretty abrupt this year. Usually the temperature change is a bit more gradual, but it seems to me as though we went from 40's to 20's almost instantly.

4) Additional Layers: To combat the temperatures I have added layers of clothing, which probably would suggest that it takes more energy to move me.

I'm sure my issues are a combination of all of these, but I am going to mostly point to diet. I want to perform at a higher level, and the times when I was at my best were also the times that I was training smartly and eating very well. Let's get back at it.

About this race. 1st time race hosted by the same group that does the Quakerman Tri and Wilson Tri. I like the idea of this race, mid-winter, with a family atmosphere/seasonal theme. Registration was a bit disorganized, perhaps due to the small space for race day registrants or the lack of help/unpreparedness of the number of participants. The race course itself was well maintained, a nice course with one small challenge of a hill, but a helpful downhill. I was mildly disappointed that the course was a bit short, only 3.03, again only mildly though, because I was hurting pretty bad. It took a bit long for awards, but I have found that to be typical of most races these days. They had a raffle of some cool Sabres items and even though the after party was packed it was nice to have a couple of free beers afterwards. The post race food that was advertised, was nowhere to be found. We ate dinner at the host restaurant afterwards, a good meal.