Bumble Bee 5K

My last race of 2010 - I ran the Bumble Bee 5k yesterday and here's how it went...

My garmin said that I finished in 18:13, and i think the official time was 18:15, not sure yet as the results have yet to post.

This is a pretty good time, about where I have been running for the past couple of years, but I was disappointed with my performance and here's why....

The morning was nice, a bit cold, but the sun was out - not bad racing conditions, i think temperature at the time of the race was low 50s.  Gun went off and I was near the front - I was wearing my garmin and set my pace zones for 5:31 - 5:54  - last year I ran this race and finally broke the 18 minute mark with a blazing 17:55  - I was pretty stoked with this performance.  That was the first race I used the garmin and it really helped me be more consistent in the race instead of going out too fast during the first mile.

So what happened yesterday - I went out at a pretty good pace, my first mile was 5:29, my second mile a bit slower which is typical at 5:55 and my last mile was 6:05.  Normally my 2nd mile is slower and I am able to pick up the last mile and finish strong - yesterday this was not the case.

I could say that the wind was a factor, at the turn around point it was definitely notable on the way back.  The sun was also starting to get real hot at that point and I definitely felt my system overheating believe it or not, but the truth is that I gave up.  Something happened, not sure exactly what it was - but mentally I found it difficult to stay dialed in during the last mile, as a few runners were going by my I had no drive to want to stay with them, which is highly unusual and unlike me.

Could it have been because I wasn't completely rested - maybe, I worked out hard sunday-tuesday with a couple of double days, took wednesday off and had a great massage in the morning, so was I properly rested?  Maybe, maybe not...This was not an A race for me, but it was certainly a race I was looking to run fast and potentially PR - could I have run under 18 minutes again - most definitely, I am super confident that if I would have picked up the last 400-800 meters I could have easily done so, but I didn't want to.   As I saw the finish line I was beat, mentally and physically - I couldn't recruit the energy to get into that extra gear I've been known to get before, oh well.  I was mentally defeated too - I could tell this was happening and the frustration/disapointment came on fast.  I knew when I passed the 3 mile marker I could go into a super fast sprint and potentially gotten under 18 minutes - but it just didn't happen yesterday.

I started this post yesterday, and just now finishing it - i looked up the official times and here they are:

http://www.y-events.com/10bumble5k.htm

It turns out my official time was 18:11 and I finished in 6th place in my age group and 35th overall in a race close to 1500 people.  No place to be disappointed, but this is what I call a character building day.