Carlsbad 5000 all day 25k

I hate running 5k's. You have to go hard right out of the starting gate! So what possessed me to sign up to run 5 of them in a row? How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Friday I ate something that my body did not like. I'm guessing they were these crackers because I ate a bunch of them again on Saturday and I had a pretty bad case of the "downsies". That's the least gross way I could describe it. I barely could stomach a thing on Sunday morning. But I forced myself to eat at least a Powerbar or else I would not be able to last through all 5 heats.

I showed up to beautiful Carlsbad at around 5:30am. Was kind of hard keeping the eyes open during the drive. Did not get as much sleep as I had wanted again due to having to visit the bathroom every now and then throughout the night. I picked up my bib and tag#1 at 6ish. Went back to my car to change.

1st heat - Men Masters 40+
25:06, 8:05 pace - I warmed up with very light jogging. Hit the portapotties and lined up for the race. Talked to a 70 year old guy wearing Newtons. He pretty much tells me that they're the next best thing since sliced bread. The race starts promptly at 7:05. I felt hungry. Hit the pace that I wanted 8min/mile. Felt comfortably hard. The 70 year old guy finishes about 40 seconds behind me. That's what I want to be doing when I'm his age! He did not look 70.

2nd heat - Women Masters 40+
24:37, 7:56 pace - At the pace that I was running, I had about 30 minutes to take care of stuff before the next heat. I drank a bottle of Cytomax and picked up my new timing tag. We were given a new one for each heat. Talk about bunny overload! Here's where I spotted my favorite bunny. She was also doing the all day 25k. She would pace me for about 1.5 miles. Then I'd pass her on the hill and beat her by 10 seconds or so.

We had an extra 20min break while the wheelchair racers did their thing. So I went and picked up my awesome Sugoi tech shirt and goodie-less bag. I went to my car to drop the stuff off and facebooked my times for the first 2 heats. I love Sugoi clothing, this is going to be one of my favorite shirts! Very nice looking print design. Back to the races.

3rd heat - Men 30-39
24:39, 7:56 pace - This was my AG so I tried to run as fast as my legs would let me, but not too fast where I would burn myself out. Looks like I failed. The weather was starting to heat up. So I decided to carry a bottle of water with me. I ate a banana and drank another bottle of Cytomax while waiting for the race to begin. In the middle of my first mile, my stomach starts to hurt. But I ignored it. I followed and passed my bunny, but I knew I was dead for the next 2 heats when I was coming down the finishing chute. I had no kick and my legs felt spent. I was pouring water on my head throughout the heat. Apparently I was brain dead as well. After all of the races I checked the results and originally thought I did not get in the top 250, but I was reading the sex place which was 553. I came in 207 for my AG. I should've gotten a medal, but oh well.

4th heat - Women 30-39
28:03, 9:02 pace - Wow, this heat reminded me why I hated running 5k's. It was pretty demoralizing running the first mile in 9 minutes. My bunny was nowhere in sight. My goose was cooked. Again I carried a bottle of water and kept dumping it on my head. I tried to get in under 28, but my legs throughout this heat felt like they were filled with lead and had 10 lb weights strapped to each leg. Also as I was walking over to the starting line for the 5th and final heat, I noticed that my right foot was sore. So I sort of had a pimp limp.

5th heat - Men/Women 29 and under
29:05, 9:22 pace - I tried to put out whatever I had left in the tank. Which wasn't much. I got to the first mile in under 9 minutes. But I was running on fumes. This one time I poured water on my head, I heard girls behind me say, "did he just pee on himself?" Anyways, I resisted walking and shuffled along. The last turn for the finish line was the most welcoming sight that I've seen in a long time! I tried to speed up to come in under 29, but obviously I failed.

Final verdict: my endurance is getting better, but I still need a lot of work. I love the events that Elite Racing puts together. They successfully brought me back to this event with this new 25k all day romp. Everything went smoothly without a hitch.