Evansville YMCA 5k

Race Day

Pre-race: It seemed like I slept pretty well last night, about 7 1/2 hours, but I don't feel very energetic. I'd kind of rather like to just go back to sleep for a couple hours.

Forecast@6:30am for 8am: sunny, 76/79, 76%, NNW@4.

6:25 a.m. actual: sunny, 78/81, 88%, NW@7.

I decided to eat my normal breakfast before heading down to Evansville. This is a change from races past.

Post-race: Woohoo! I hit my 30:30 "b" goal for the race and set a PR! I'm a little surprised considering the heat & humidity which was worse than last year. I came in 409 out of 794 at 30:18 which is a 9:45 pace. Woohoo! I had to walk a short bit at the water stop as well as for a minute at about the 2.5 mile point. Bummer. Right at the end, the last 10 or 20 yards or so, some other woman was sprinting up to pass me. Well, I couldn't let that happen. I came in ahead of her, but they gave us the same time.  Oh yeah, my ankle. It didn't hurt at all. In fact, outside of the heat, I felt pretty darn good.

The top five female times in my age group were from 22:55 to 24:15. At least I beat all the walkers this year. I also came in faster than the 85 year old guy (31:43) who beat me last year in both the 5k & 10k. It's the small things. I hope I'm running when I'm 85. I'd win the age group then. Ha! The oldest female runner today was only 67.

Last year, my time was 31:50. Based on this race, getting under 30:00 shouldn't be too hard. I'll have to find another 5k to do. The YMCA 10k is September 6th, the half marathon October 12th. My long term goal for this distance is sub-24:00. I don't know if I'll be able to make that or not. Age is working against me.

Time: 8:00 a.m.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 30:18

Pace: 9:45

Splits: mile 1 - 9:29.7, mile 2 - 9:32.2, last 1.1 miles - 11:16 [about 10:24 for the 3rd mile].

HR: max 193, average 177. 

@start: 81°F(actual)/87°F (heat index), 82%, haze, NNW@7.

Here's a handy heat index calculator.

Food

Breakfast: blueberries, strawberries, banana, 1/2 oz almonds.

Post-race Chow: fruit salad - watermelon, cantaloupe, pears, grapes, peaches, strawberries, blackberries.

Morning Snack: Almond Joy (.6 oz bar).

Lunch: steamed summer squash & zucchini, corn on the cob, edamame, Almond Joy (.6 oz bar).

Afternoon Snack: Almond Joy (.6 oz bar).

Supper: Whole wheat pita stuffed with hummus, diced bell pepper & onion, mixed baby greens; carrots; celery.

Evening Snack: n/a

Calories for the day: 1448 -  66% carbohydrates, 11% protein, 23% fat.

Calcium: 561 mg

Sodium: 988 mg

Obviously, today is "as a reward for the race performance, eat Almond Joy without feeling guilty about it" day. Yes!

Day 3: Wednesday, 04 June 2008

It was another somewhat restless night, although not so much as Monday night. I woke up about 6 and turned on the TV to watch the weather & an episode of Third Watch and then dozed until 9. I don't feel as hungry this morning, but mild hunger pangs are still there. I have a slight headache, too.

For women my age, my body fat should be 20-25% to be considered excellent (20) or good (20.1-25). Moderate is 25.1-30. Overweight is 30.1-35. Obese is 35.1+. So, regardless of weight, I am presently considered overweight, although I think "over fat" is a better term since it accounts for fat versus just weight. I could have a bunch of muscle and be at 20% body fat and still weigh the same as I do now. Conversely, a thin person with little muscle and too much squidgy fat could be "over fat" without being overweight. Generally, they will also be out of shape even though they are thin. And, of course, the reverse holds true with regard to fitness: you can be overweight/over fat and be in pretty good cardiovascular shape ... good enough to run marathons and half marathons and the like.

I just now came across software called Optimal Weight 1.0 to calculate your optimal weight using height, weight, leg length, and ankle and wrist circumferences. Unfortunately it is PC-based and not available for the Mac. I'll go fire up my PC later and give it a go.

I am not a fan of BMI measurements because they do not take into account body fat percentages. BMI just looks at height and weight just as the old height-weight tables do. The only difference is that BMI uses a standard number that means the same thing for various height-weight combinations, e.g. a BMI of 31 means you're Obese I, regardless of how tall you are or whether you a man or a woman.

Check out this article for more information. For a ton of fitness and health screening calculators, check out ExRx.net.

Morning Stats

weight: 152.0 lbs
bf: 31%
bp: 112/66
pulse: 56 bpm
bg: 76 mg/dl