RACE REPORT: Noda 5K

TRAINING WEEK:

Shorter week, due to the Memorial Day long weekend.

Tuesday, May 30:
6.0 in 48:23, 8:04 ave.  This was a recovery run for me.  My right side was sore and tight from volunteering on Sunday.  One of our tasks during Course Build was to move sandbags (one of the obstacles) to the designated part of the course.  We did two trips of 3x20lbs, about 0.3 mi per trip.  I was bucket brigading it, shouldering it, deathgripping it to make it.  Anyway, I needed this run to help reset my body's imbalances.  At first, I figured that I'd do maybe 4 miles, but I got to 6 ok.  I could've pushed farther, but I didn't want to overdo it for Noda.

Wednesday, May 31:
For an A-race like a marathon, I do strength sessions no closer than 10 days to the race.  I decided to do one on the Wednesday before a Saturday race, though, because I needed to keep up on Green Beret 24 hr Challenge training.  Furthermore, when I had looked up last year's Noda 5K results, it looked liked my typical times may only get me 3rd in Age Group, at best.  They had stiff competition attending.

I did more Deez Nutz WOD exercises.  I thought that I'd be getting stronger, but I kind of stay at the same level.

• Situps (in 1 min, hands behind head): 31, 34, 32, 36, 36... target is 40.
• Lunges: 135
• Flutter Kicks (4-count): 60 + 45 + 45
• Plank: 2.5 + 2
• Push-ups (in 1 min): 30, 25... target is 40
• Squats: 130
• J-jacks (4-count): 100
• Assorted dumbbell exercises (10lb)

On Friday, my hammies and some of my glutes were really sore.  I'm surprised.   I thought my body would be used to the squats.

THE RACE:

This was my first Noda 5K, although I had been to this facility before, to pick up last year's prize from the USNWC Brew Stash Dash.  I was looking forward to a good beer run.  It was hot, fully sunny and 86 degrees.  Parking was limited, so I came early, although it meant finding ways of dealing with the heat while waiting.  I was inside for a while, and iced off, which helped for a while, but during the warm-up time, I feel like I went back to being really warm.

I started pretty close to the front, along with one other girl who had been doing a long warm-up earlier (I did just my typical 2-min jog, then dynamic stretching).  I was determined to pace smartly this time, vs. how I did at Rugged Maniac, where I faded after 1.5 mi.  It was already hot and uncomforatble, even just sitting around.  It would be downright painful to bonk during an over-exerted 5K.  We went out... nobody went to crazy, which is good.  We were respecting the heat.  I was surprised to be in 2nd for the women early on.  I wasn't going overly fast.  Not too long after, another woman caught up and passed, so I was in third.  Mile 1 came in 7:02, reasonable.

We went through residential areas.  It was nice to see some great views of downtown.  My feelings on living in downtown vs. outlying areas is that the outlying areas give you the awesome views of downtown... seeing the beautiful forest, vs. being amidst the trees.  So I thought that the place where the race was held was awesome, because of that.  There were a couple of stretches of road that offered the great view.  There were some trees every now and then, which offered much-needed shade.  Wished there was more, but you appreciate any shade you can get.  Volunteers were great.  There were water stops at 1.5 and 2.5.  Mile 2 ticked off at 6:53.  There were some rolling hills, so I didn't take it as necessarily going faster.

I debated whether to slow down a tiny bit to get water at 2.5.  2nd place was still in view.  It was better to get the extra cooling and mental help of the water, to have enough for the final push, though.  I kept the effort pedal on.  I was very, very slowly reeling in 2nd.  It wasn't until the final 0.3 miles that I started really gaining, though.  Mile 3 went down in 6:37.  I had truly been speeding up.  It wasn't enough, though, and I finished 7s behind her.  She had paced well in the heat, and she was 10 years older than I was, so her 2nd place finish was well-deserved.

21:46 in 7:01.  About a minute slower than my usual time, but given the heat, I'm happy with it.  I was glad that I had paced it well, and finished feeling less pain than usual.  I did wonder if I could've started kicking earlier, to make up the 7s, but at least I got 3rd.

 

The swag at this race is maybe the best I've seen for a 5K, especially a 5K that was only $30-ish for registration.  They offered ladies and mens tanks or tees, which are choices you don't normally get.  They looked cool.  Plus, there were awesome medals... my first beer-related medal.  You got a beer.  There was also a sponsor offering free printed pics.

 

One thing that I was really excited about was that my race number was none other than.... 360!

 

After the race, Noda had live music, and their outdoor beer garden has boccee, disc golf, and corn hole.  A fun place to hang out.  Everyone was having a great time.