Feb 14, first timed run - 5k

February 14, 2009 Timed 5k

Hey, so it seems that I forego my journals on days that I don’t work out. I’ll try to work on it, maybe talk about the diet aspect of this training regimen.

Anyway, this morning at 8am we had our first timed run. The distance was 5k or approximately 3.1 miles. I started out with the goal of 24 minutes, approximately an 8 minute mile.

I woke up after some pretty good sleep and ate a half vanilla, half chocolate meal replacement shake. This one was a little different as I used hot water so it resembled hot chocolate. They are surprisingly filling. After that I got ready and biked over to the Stanford track and met with the other 50 or so people. There was some extra time so I jogged around, and then we all went on a group jog, stretched and prepared for the timed run.

Before the run there was some serenading by Mayank to coach Amy, from a secret admirer(Somebody hired Mayank to sing to her). It was pretty good song and I could see a lot of the women getting excited and teary eyed.

I began the run with 3 others: Isaiah, Mayank, and Ryan. We ran together for the first mile and a half and then Isaiah took off and left the 3 of us to watch him leave into the distance. A little while after that I began to feel the urge to take off and slowly left Mayank and Ryan. It was really fun, and the mentors and coaches along the course were encouraging and enthusiastic. At one point one of them said, “Good job, it’s like running in the park” and I responded, “yea, a giant park.” That was at around the 2.5 mile point and I was beginning to cramp up a tiny bit, but definitely not willing to stop by any means. The humor definitely helped me escape the ensuing pain for a few moments and helped me before the final turn and straightaway.

It got a little scary when at the last turn because I thought we had to run a lot further than where the ending really was. I was going by my watch and it was at about 21 minutes, expecting to finish around 24. I started lengthening my stride, which took a toll on my breathing, but I knew it had to be over at least sort of soon. I kept looking for Isaiah and the orange cones signifying the finish, but didn’t see them until about 100 yards away. At that point I just started increasing my speed and finished strong. I destroyed my goal of 24 minutes, finishing in 22:10. Isaiah and I walked back, he had finished 40 seconds earlier. Mayank and Ryan finished about 15 seconds later, I’m not really sure when, I was completely drained and just focusing on recovering my breath.

It was a good experience, definitely putting everybody to the task of overcoming physical and mental barriers. I talked with a few people afterward and had some shake, and an antioxidant bar. We stretched and later listened to a person from SMI about stretching and he gave us some really good information. His #1 thing, don’t go in a hot tub or hot bath after exercise because it increases the inflammation. This makes sense, if you ice your body after exertion the body will heal faster, so heat does the opposite. He talked about foam rollers, and how beneficial they are. He had us try them out on part on the IT band, which nobody really stretches. It was excruciatingly painful, but felt really good in a sick kind of way. Apparently, that’s a good thing.

I’m going to buy one of those at the next track workout. The other main points he made are to keep the core in really good shape, and to stretch differently before and after. Before exercise you should do about 2 seconds of stretching, the reason: the muscle will stretch for 2 seconds and then try to contract. It will stop contracting after 25 seconds, but you don’t want to hold it in that position. Therefore after the workout it’s good to stretch for about 40-60 seconds at a time.

It’s amazing how great I feel right now. I have said it before, but the days I workout, I feel absolutely incredible, and the days I don’t, somewhat down. Keep that in mind the next time you don’t feel so great, go do some exercise, it will get you back to equilibrium quickly.

Anyway, I need to go get some stuff done, have a great Saturday, or whenever you read this,

Ryan