ENDURrun Sport Stage 7: 5km Track Race
Stage 7 is a 5km race at a local track. That is, 12.5 loops around. After the kinds of races we’ve done all week, this one stick out as being a bit odd. Totally flat, on a rubber surface, and short loops around in one direction. One might think that this is the place where you can make up some ground in the standings, if you’re going for that sort of thing. But make no mistake, it is not as easy as it looks. Some may look at this race and think, wow, an easy stage. This, in my past experience, is foolhardy. It will be difficult, maybe even more so than the rest.
Since we all can’t really race at the same time, we were divided into two heats. I was in the second heat, which meant that I started 35 minutes later. I still got to the track early, so I could do some socializing and cheer on the first heat runners.
The weather was perfect for this race; cool (18 degrees), sunny, with low humidity. The only thing that would have been better would have been overcast. But, after the week we’ve had, I’ll take this.
I always tend to go out way too fast in these type of races, and today was no exception. It was easy to get sucked into the vortex of the lead runners. My first km was at 5:22 pace. WHAT?!?! I dialed it back a bit after that, but I still found my pace creeping up. Pretty soon my hamstring announced itself, and became increasingly uncomfortable until I had to stop and walk. I timed this at the 2km mark and the sole water station. Time to just dial back and be comfortable. I still had another stage to get through, and I didn’t want to cause problems here that could hurt me tomorrow. My pace gradually fell, and I ended up walking a couple more times. Still, I clocked in under 30 minutes for 5km, which made me happy. I was also happy with the fact that so many first heat people stayed and cheered for the second heat. It’s always nice to see the so-called “good” runners supporting everyone, no matter what speed or fitness level they were.
Now for lots of rest and relaxation before tomorrow’s final stage.
- Official time: 0:29:42
- Cumulative time: 5:15:49 over 7 stages and 45.5km
