This weekend I competed in the Johnny CASA 5 Miler Zombie Run in Rocky Mount, VA and have to say that I had a great race since I won, but was almost 80% sure I wasn't even going to race Friday night! So... let me explain.
I have been hard at it for the past month and a half either racing or doing other endurance adventures every weekend and on top of all of that, I am trying my best to train for the Richmond Marathon. This past Tuesday I did an 18 mile run and was able to keep a 7:20/ mile pace quite comfortably even after a good swim workout that morning with Coach Tanya so I was very pleased. Unfortunately I woke up Wednesday and could tell I was catching a cold which led me to take a rest day and I planned to only swim on Thursday to try my best to recover as much as possible. My training had been coming along quite well and I was really hoping to push at least a 5:45/ mile pace in Saturdays race.
Thursday morning I woke up at 4:30 AM as usual to get ready for swim practice and it was all I could do to get myself out the door. I still felt horrible and my head cold was trying to get in my lungs. I made it through practice with some encouragement from my coach and made sure I stayed on top of all of my Hammer Supplements in order to help my immune system. That night I got to bed early and after work on Friday I jumped on the treadmill to do my pre-race day paces workout in order to get ready for Saturdays race. Immediately my heart rate went trough the roof and I felt like I was dying! As I finished the warm-up I even questioned skipping the interval sets and completely bagging the race as I tried everything to get my heart rate down and bring my run pace up. I made it through the paces workout and as I looked at the data from my upload I realized part of the reason my pace was so messed up is that my Garmin was struggling to correctly track my footpod because according to the satellites I was standing still. That made me feel better about my pace, but I was still very concerned about how hard the workout felt. So... reluctantly I decided to go ahead and race but because of how I felt, I only committed to trying to keep my previous 10 miler pace of 6:10 as long as I was able to stay with the lead group.
Saturday morning I felt a little better, but still moved at a snails pace in order to conserve as much energy and minimize all efforts so I could throw everything at the race. I was still sticking to my game plan of being a defensive racer in hopes of staying with the front group. I really wanted to have a good showing for Roanoke Valley Elite and Runwell now that I was totally focusing the rest of my season on my run training and because the defending Johnny CASA winner was Andrew Parkins, an RVE teammate. As I got ready for the race I knew that the local favorite, H.T. Page, was my main competition for the day so I was excited to finally get to run with him again but was also anxious to see if I could keep up, much less beat him. He and I trained together last fall on the trails and up to this point I had yet to beat him. He is by far one of the fastest masters in the valley and is a noble competitor in every race. He is a local celebrity!
After my warm-up I made my way to the line and could hear some of the runners talking and pointing to H.T. as the person to watch for and to stay on. I did my best to just blend in, keep my head down, and be unnoticed. Johnny Nolen, the race promoter, went through the introductions and then just like that the horn was sounding and we were off. I immediately jumped out front with H.T. and Timmy Moyer as we headed out of town and sped towards the turnaround. As we started up a climb near the end of mile one, Timmy took to the front but was not able to create separation so he eased back up allowing the group to stay together. Unfortunately he must have put out more effort than he thought and before the 5k turnaround was already off the group. At the 5k turnaround I was feeling fine sitting on H.T. but was jealous of those that would be soon finished and even H.T. kidded with me after the race that he had wished I had done the 5k!
At the 5 Mile turnaround H.T. was still in the lead with me glued to his hip and moving at a comfortable pace of just a hair over six minutes. I was both pleased and surprised at how I felt and even thought about upping the pace a bit but because I still had a bad cold and out of the great respect I had for my running partner I decided to hang back. I never felt like I was in any trouble and cruised the first hilly four miles working out in my head when I would try to make my move. With the lack of confidence about my own ability tied with my respect in the ability of the person I was running with, I decided to hold out no matter what until the final quarter mile and as we topped out the final climb I lit up the burners. I had never gone head to head with H.T. before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I knew right away I had created a gap and I committed everything I had to pushing all the way to the line and what do you know I won! I was both pleased and humbled to have run with such a great guy and finally beat someone that I had looked up to for so long. Throughout the entire race he was cheered on by runners and spectators the whole way! It was great and I was glad for the experience.
So now it is Sunday and I needed to put in some recovery miles but because my wife was doing something with our church I had to run on the treadmill again. I knew I would be tired from yesterdays effort and I still felt pretty rough. Just like on Friday my heart rate immediately shot through the roof! I was now starting to get a little concerned and right about the time I got ready to stop the workout I noticed that the incline setting on the treadmill was set at 5.5%! I quickly fixed the incline and just like that my heart rate went down to an acceptable level. Thanks to my lovely wife, I was hit with a hilarious dose of humility! It turns out she had been adjusting the incline during her workouts and I was the lucky recipient of the increases unknowingly during mine. And with a devilish snicker her response was... "see I actually helped you win." Yes, I guess so.
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