My Journey to an Ultra Marathon: Out of Hibernation 5K

Out of Hibernation 5K in Portsmouth NH

Originally my plan was to run this race as fast as I could just to see what I could do for time. Since I started training for the 24K video though I have upped my running to daily (as opposed to every other day) and my knee started bugging me (from a non-running-related injury) so I wasn't too worried about speed.

I finished in 26:55 which isn't too bad for me, especially considering I was wearing a knee brace and I had run 5 miles the day before.

The Race

It was an absolutely beautiful day in Portsmouth, NH. You couldn't have asked for nicer weather for a 5K. The turnout was decent; around 250 people. There were some good sponsors, but a lack of presence from those sponsors at the race; which isn't always a bad thing.

The course was really nice with a few short hills and the bulk of the run being small side roads without any traffic. There was some serious diversity when it came to the runners in age and ability. I would say that there were more over 40's than under 40's at the race...the guy who won though was 26 and ran a 5:02 mile!!!!

If you live in or near the Seacoast you should definitely plan to do this race!

Out of Hibernation 5K

What have I learned?

Once you get to a certain point in your training, running every day really doesn't matter. I was worried that I was going to end up doing a 10 minute mile, which is my typical relaxed pace when I'm running longer distances and I'm not concerned about my time. I ended up running this faster than I had planned or expected considering I was going back-to-back with my running.

Really, once you get to the point where you can run 5 miles without feeling like you are going to die by the end of it, your body can probably handle consecutive running days. Once it becomes a daily routine you really, REALLY start looking forward to it rather than dreading it.

Stats and Stuff

Time from 5K Sports: 26:55 (I think I was a few seconds faster than that, but I'm not complaining)

Temperature: 65ºF

Wind: Slight breeze, nothing to write home about

Gear

Shirt: Reliv TekShirt - Purchased from the company that I distribute for. This is a really nice light weight shirt which isn't too heavy on the graphics

Shorts: Just some cheapo "athletic" shorts from a department store.

Underwear (because some people may want to know?): Underarmour compression underwear

Shoes: Vibram KomodoSport's - I LOVE these. LOVE I tell you! They are SO comfortable and have a touch more padding then the classics.

Fuel

Breakfast: Apple, small bowl of cereal with almond milk
Pre-race: 2oz of 24K (24K Link use VIP code: refresh) - this stuff is really great for both pre-race and post-race. No jitters, no crash and I felt totally charged.
Post-race: 24oz water, banana. Yep, that's it. Did I REALLY want the chocolate muffins and donuts they had out? YES! That was probably the hardest part of the race was resisting all the goodies.