Race Recap: Albany Lakes Series Race 2

Race Website: Albany Lakes Series Website

I wore my bright pink tights, love heart sunglasses and ran a 10k for Valentines Day.  It was also my friends birthday and she did the 5k then we met up with others for a well deserved brunch.

Official Stats:

Distance: 10 km
Time: 1:11:20
Pace: 07:08 min/km

Pre-Race

Saturday night was spent hanging out with a good bunch of people.  We had a barbeque and then watched a movie so it was quite social but chilled.  Due to it being a barbeque, Kane and I had vegetable skewers and a salad for dinner followed by watermelon and a muffin.  It was very tasty but I don't think it was quite enough for racing the next day.

I was being careful to make sure I stayed hydrated, but I need to also watch the fuel intake for the next race.

On The Course

0 - 5 km

The first half of the course was pretty steady.  I felt really good and I was surprised at how quickly the first 5k went by.  I was deliberately taking my time because I knew I had another 5k to go, but I ended up doing this 5k 20 seconds faster than the 5k race 3 weeks ago - oops!

//Image of Kane from Running Events Facebook Page

5 - 10 km

I can't think of another race where I've had to do laps before so I think this is my time.  It didn't actually feel too terrible to run away from the finish line as I was mentally prepared for this.  However right on queue my sun glasses - which were love heart shaped glasses for Valentines day - started to fog up and I had little pools of sweat gathering around the points.  I gave them a quick wipe and considered taking them off but decided just to go with it.

Then as I climbed up a small incline away from the finish line I started to feel quite fatigued.  I struggled to get my breathing under control but then it was a nice long flattish downhill and I was able to gather myself.

The struggle truly began at the 7k point and I really really wanted to walk.  My legs felt tired and tight, my lower back started to hurt and my body just wanted to hunch over, breathing was difficult to control.  Alex (from Moxiee Running who I've blogged about before) was running the second half with me and he would not let me walk, not even for a second.  He kept me distracted, gave me good pointers about when to take on water and helped me get my breathing back under control when I needed to but there was no way he was letting me walk.  Walking is the enemy apparently.

Somehow I managed to keep going and get up the hill towards the end that seemed easy 4km ago and then it was a nice downhill and long flat to the end and I managed to get a tiny bit of power and speed back.  However, I made a mistake with how much I had left in me and gave a burst of speed that lasted about 10 seconds and then I felt like I was going to throw up and I still had 400 metres to go :(

I struggled on and managed to look smooth going down the finishing straight.

//Image of me from Running Events Facebook Page

Post Race

The last 2 km of the race felt so difficult and I felt so sore through my back and legs that I was really surprised at the finish how quickly I felt absolutely fine.  I felt like I could manage a few more k's!  Even the following day I didn't feel any soreness at all.

It was my friends birthday brunch and she had gone to cleaned up prior to the prize giving but I needed some time to stop sweating before getting cleaned up and then we went and had some good food and conversation which was a great way to finish up the morning.

What's Next

The third and final race of the series is another 10k with a slightly different route where we run inside the QBE stadium and through the Westfield shopping mall and that's in 2 weeks time.  I'm hoping to improve on my time, but more importantly I want to get the fuelling and race strategy right.

Also in the series: Albany Lakes Race 1

How was your weekend? Did you celebrate Valentines Day?