Run Report #3: Bulldog Breakaway Twilight Series 5k

Welcome to Run Report! This is where I document my running journey. Whether it’s workouts, races, or interesting stuff I learn, I cover it here. I’m not a professional runner, doctor, personal trainer, or anything other than a person who enjoys running. If you like this, check out my show!

Event Name: Bulldog Breakaway Twilight Series #3

Date: Thursday, June 20th, 2024

Location: Campus of The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina

Distance: 5k 

Background

I made a couple of changes in an effort to train a little bit smarter. First, I dialed down the intensity of my runs. My long runs are now run at a slow enough pace that I often find myself hoping a UPS truck will run me over. However, I am getting more time on my feet and feeling way less wiped out afterward. 

Secondly, I decided to throw some crosstraining into the mix. I switched out my sprint day with some tennis. How much of a 1:1 translation that is I’m not sure, but it felt good. I also decided to attend my first Barre class. For those who are unfamiliar, Barre feels a lot like someone combined the most painful parts of ballet, yoga, and pilates. Barre is incredibly popular among women (I was the only man in my class). After experiencing it for myself, I couldn’t help but think they must be training for an upcoming conflict that men are unaware of and they will win. 

If you’ve been following this series, you know I have a cranky QL that I believe is caused by muscular imbalances, weak stabilizer muscles, and mobility issues. My girlfriend got tired of me asking her to use the massage gun on my back and suggested I try out her Barre class instead since it would provide more long-term relief for my issues. I didn’t want to risk getting kicked out of the house in this heat, so I agreed. 

It took roughly 10 minutes of the hour-long class to understand how this would help me move past my QL problems. Through a combination of isometric holds, pulses, stretches, and every other movement I hate and would never do under my own free will, I felt muscles I had forgotten about. I was a sore, sweaty mess when it was all over with. The only thing saving me from complete and utter embarrassment was my refusal to take my socks off at the beginning of class (I don’t show my feet…for free). I plan to add this to the mix as I figure out what my workouts will look like moving forward. This 5k series has really highlighted all of the ways my training could be smarter. 

Leading up to the race, the temperature was supposed to be considerably cooler. I started talking myself into a potential PR attempt if it was in the low-80s. So naturally, when race day arrived the actual temperature was almost identical to the previous week. 

Heading to the race, I experienced some jitters that can most likely be attributed to a more stressful day than usual. This led to me making sure my running shoes were in the car multiple times and wondering if I had hydrated enough throughout the day. My shoes were there each and every time I checked which was a relief. I decided my hydration concerns were not important because I wouldn’t get an answer until I actually ran and it was too late to do anything about it anyway. 

During my warmup, I felt pretty good. My only concern was that it was windy. This made it feel a little bit cooler, but there are few things I hate more than running into a headwind. My goal for the race was to run by feel instead of constantly checking my watch. Only looking when it vibrated at each mile marker felt like a good compromise. I lined up near some runners who I had seen at the previous races that I knew were slightly faster than me.

The Race

The gun went off and I settled into a comfortable pace that immediately became uncomfortable as we ran into a headwind. I treated it the way I do the (small) hills we have around here and kept my head down and my stride short until I got through it. Any residual soreness from my Barre class shook itself out and I kept pace with the runners I was familiar with. My watch buzzed for mile 1 and I looked down to see 7:32. It wasn’t nearly as comfortable as 7:32 should be for me thanks to a couple more run-ins with headwinds, but I still felt okay. 

I once again did not feel the need to grab water at the aid station and put all of my energy into looking cool, confident, and athletic for the camera guy positioned by it. I haven’t seen the pics, but I’m sure I fooled him. I fooled myself too as I made a move to pass one of the runners I intended to follow. She’s a machine, but I wanted to put my Barre training to the test. Turns out my one class wasn’t quite enough to survive my 5k wall, which I hit at the 1.75-mile mark. Much to my dismay, the machine passed me back before we hit 2 miles. 

When my watch vibrated for the 2-mile mark, I looked down expecting the worst but was instead met with a 7:57 split. Two sub-8 minute miles wasn’t bad. However, my body was telling me that the best we could hope to do was survive the rest of the way. I gladly took water on my second pass of the station and started my tradition of dumping it in and around my mouth and head. This did nothing to stop my decline. I went back to check my data, and I slowed down to an 8:30ish pace just past the 2-mile marker that only showed signs of getting worse…until I got annoyed. 

There was a teenager who shot out of the gate at the start of the race that I caught up to just before I hit my wall at 1.75 miles. He hit a worse wall than me because he started to walk. At least until he felt me get within 5 or so yards of him, at which point he’d not only start running again but also try to block my path. This happened 4 or 5 times by the 2.25-mile mark and I had enough. He started to walk again and I decided one of us was going to have to die. Fueled by hate, I took off and dared him to keep up. 

Now, I knew he wouldn’t because this was not a man who wanted to run anymore. I mean neither of us did, but he really didn’t want to because he had quite literally just been not running. While he tried, the loud clomping of his steps like a demented Clydesdale, told me that it was taking more effort than he wanted to expend. Slowly but surely the loud steps disappeared and I scored a victory for experience over youth. 

During my teenager-destroyer move, my pace got back down under 8 minutes/mile to as low as 7:12/mile. However, with annoyance gone, so was my fuel for such a pace this late in the game. But then I saw a familiar figure: the machine. With roughly a third of a mile to go, my move to murder America’s future had brought me within striking distance of my previous foe. Having already survived the embarrassment of passing her only to be passed back earlier in the race, I decided I had nothing to lose and decided to empty the tank and see what happened. Unlike the teenager, she paid no real attention to me as I passed. From there, I just tried to maintain. 

I crossed the finish line in 24:28, roughly half a second slower than the previous week. However, my splits were much more consistent, as my final 2 full miles were an identical 7:57, with only 25 seconds separating my fastest and slowest splits, despite all I endured. This was the best race I’ve run during this series. One more race to go to see how much I’ve improved as a runner over the course of this month!