Oak Tree 5k Race Recap

Location: Geneseo, NY

Date/Time: September 6, 2015

Size: 333

Weather: 70s, sunny, slight wind (perfect weather!)

Course: Road race with a slight hill at the start, and steep hill at mile 2

Charity: Geneseo Valley Conservancy

Time: 26:05

Rank: Overall: 96/333; Age Group: 5/12

I kicked of the fall racing season with a 5k series that my little college town is hosting.  The Oak Tree 5k was the first, and there are two more to come in the following weeks.  It's been nearly a year since I've last competed, so how did I do?  Well, let's start from the beginning.

I woke up at 6am and decided to eat eggs, avocado, and a handful of grapes for breakfast.  Breakfast has always been a tricky situation for me - I'm sensitive to gluten, and lactose doesn't sit well with me when I run, so my options are pretty limited.  My stomach handles eggs pretty well when I'm not running...but more on that later.

It was a gorgeous morning, and I loved the atmosphere.  Geneseo is a tiny town, where everyone knows each other, so the size of the race was big enough to be competitive, but also extremely friendly.  I actually ran into my professor and her sons, though embarrassingly enough, I didn't recognize her because I've only had one class with her so far.  The announcer was also peppy and engaging, which definitely helped wake me up on an early Sunday morning.

The race started at 8:15.  The first half mile was a slight incline, and the second half of the mile was a slight decline.  The nice thing about this race was that there were volunteers at each mile marker reading off the time as the runners went by.  I had spent that entire first mile weaving in an out of people, so I wasn't expecting much from my pace.

As I passed the first marker, the volunteer called out, "8:22!"

Which was a whole lot faster than I was expecting.  With a boost to my confidence, I sped up a little bit, just as the hilly part of the course started.

Geneseo got its name because it's located in the Genesee Valley.  Note the "valley" part - the entire town is built on the edge of that valley, which makes for some very steep terrain.  I felt like I had home turf advantage though, because I actually go to school exactly where the race was taking place.  I run up and down that hill at least once, usually twice a week, and I walk up it every single day.

I powered up the incline as everyone else started slow down, and the crowd began to thin out.  Towards the end of mile 2, the course became flat again, and for the most part, I felt great.  My stomach was a little bit queasy, though, so I slowed down a little bit and let people pass.

When I passed by mile 3, a volunteer called out, "It's all downhill from here!" and the other one read out my time - 17:48.  In spite of the hill, I had maintained the same pace.  I hadn't been racing with a goal in mind before, but since it was going so well, I thought a sub-26 was going to happen if I just kept consistent, especially since it was downhill.

During the 3rd mile, my stomach was not having it - every time I picked up the pace, I felt nauseous.  I kept trying to pass two women in front me, one in pink and one in yellow, but it seemed like every time I got in front of them, I felt sick, and I'd have to slow down.  This game of cat and mouse was a recurring theme for the last part of the race - I would pass them, then they would pass me.  Eventually, though, I did manage to pull in front of them for good.

The final stretch of the race took place on the school track.  I noticed there was a woman in front of me who looked almost exactly like my college roommate from behind, so I caught up to her, pretending that she was my roommate, and we were going on one of runs together (in real life, she was the one who took me running for the first time).  I was feeling fairly queasy at this point, but I only had 3/4 of a loop on the track left.  Surely, I could hold out for that long...

After running the straight portion of the track, it occurred to me the college-roommate-lookalike was about the same age as me...and so was a woman in pink who was running right next to me.  They were direct competition.  So as we rounded that final turn on the track, I kicked it, and pulled ahead of them.  I noticed they were trying to keep up, but neither of them seemed to have anything left in the tank.

And it was there, on the last 500 feet of the race, where I fell apart.  As I was racing towards the finish line, watching the clock tick from 25:52...25:53...25:54, I dry heaved.  I put my hand over my mouth, desperate not to embarrass myself in front of the cameras that were flashing wildly at this point.  Everything blended together.  I can't remember if those two women passed me, I can't remember the timer ticking away.  I was just focused on holding myself together as I continued to dry heave.

I passed the finish line, veered away from the crowds, and threw up on the grass.  Immediately I felt better.

My time was 26:05, and I made 5th in my age group.  I did not make that sub-26, but I was quite pleased with getting a single-digit age group place.  Until I took another look and I realized that 4th in my age group has ran 26:04.  3rd in my age group ran 26:00.  I missed an age group award by 5 seconds.  All because of some stupid eggs.

The good news?  I have another race on the 12th, also in Geneseo.  I'm going to eat simple carbs before the race, and I'm going for that sub-26.  If I win an age group award, that will be an added bonus.  Also, I'm so proud of how far I've come since the last 5k I ran.  This race was nearly a 3 minute PR!  It was definitely the confidence boost I needed for my ultimate goal race - the Wineglass Half Marathon in October.