First 5k Done - And a Question on HRM during races
SweatpantsRebellion
Posts: 754 Member
My first 5k was yesterday. It was freaking awesome! I loved it. The energy of raceday is amazing! My PR was beyond what I thought I could hope for. My goal was sub-40. I thought that was reasonable considering my 3 mile training runs were all around 39 or 40 minutes. My finishing time? 35:45...I about died (in a good way) when I saw the clock as I ran in to the finish!
I did push pretty hard. I know - don't go out too fast. It's rule #1, 2, and 3 of racing...lol. I might have went out too fast. That being said, my second half was faster than my first and I finished strong. So I'm not sure that I did. I will say that even though I wore my HRM I completely ignored it for the most part. I was definitely running over 85% a good part of the race. Towards the end I had to force myself to slow a few times and I noticed that my HRM was probably around 95 - 100% max during those times I felt my body telling me to slow down a bit. When I came to a sudden stop at the end so that the race official could place a medal around my neck, I felt like I was going to vomit. I mean, seriously, I clamped my mouth tight so that I wouldn't lose it. I did not end up vomiting. I walked around a long time before daring to sit down. But today I feel fine. I can tell that my legs worked harder yesterday, but definitely feel pretty recovered. So even though my HRM was "off the chart", what do you think? Do you think I should've held back a tad more than I did? Do you follow a rule of thumb with your HRM during races? I know I'm totally overanalyzing this, but I want to make sure that I don't hurt myself when I do longer distances.
Also, I did break one rule - don't try anything new. I didn't really think about it. They were offering pre race coffee -so I had half a cup of coffee. That being said, I've never drank coffee in the morning before a run - only after. So I wonder if that's part of why my heart rate was super high. Also, I wonder if that improved my performance. Do you guys drink coffee before running? Does it have any affect on performance?
I did push pretty hard. I know - don't go out too fast. It's rule #1, 2, and 3 of racing...lol. I might have went out too fast. That being said, my second half was faster than my first and I finished strong. So I'm not sure that I did. I will say that even though I wore my HRM I completely ignored it for the most part. I was definitely running over 85% a good part of the race. Towards the end I had to force myself to slow a few times and I noticed that my HRM was probably around 95 - 100% max during those times I felt my body telling me to slow down a bit. When I came to a sudden stop at the end so that the race official could place a medal around my neck, I felt like I was going to vomit. I mean, seriously, I clamped my mouth tight so that I wouldn't lose it. I did not end up vomiting. I walked around a long time before daring to sit down. But today I feel fine. I can tell that my legs worked harder yesterday, but definitely feel pretty recovered. So even though my HRM was "off the chart", what do you think? Do you think I should've held back a tad more than I did? Do you follow a rule of thumb with your HRM during races? I know I'm totally overanalyzing this, but I want to make sure that I don't hurt myself when I do longer distances.
Also, I did break one rule - don't try anything new. I didn't really think about it. They were offering pre race coffee -so I had half a cup of coffee. That being said, I've never drank coffee in the morning before a run - only after. So I wonder if that's part of why my heart rate was super high. Also, I wonder if that improved my performance. Do you guys drink coffee before running? Does it have any affect on performance?
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Congrats on your first race. Warning - it is addictive. I do about 2 a month now
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A lot of serious runners suggest drinking a cup of coffee before runs. The caffeine helps blood flow. Some people's stomach doesn't tolerate it well, but I won't lace up without a cup of joe in my system.0
