New Year's Day 5K: Why you should NOT start out too fast!

Linda, one of the awesome C10TP coaches (left), and the Turtle, pre-race!

Well, I didn't break any records, but what a great way to start out the new year!  This was an 11 a.m. race, which made it a little tougher, in my opinion--my runs are generally quite early in the day, and for my long runs (well, you know, long for me!) on Saturday morning, I usually can have 1/2 banana with some peanut butter and feel great.  I added some toast and a cup of coffee this morning (2 1/2 hours pre-race), but I felt "sloshy" during the race.  Also, for January 1 it was quite warm, and while I considered wearing short sleeves I ended up in my zip-up long-sleeved shirt, and I got overheated around the 2-mile mark.  The biggest obstacle I have, which I also found during a 5K back in November, was starting TOO FAST.  Coach Lorenzoni keeps warning us not to do this, but I get so caught up in the early-race momentum that I am running a full minute per mile faster than my weekly runs.

Part of me wants to skip any more races until the 10-Miler, mainly because I am not thrilled with my race performance, but I know that if I want to learn to pace myself, I need to get in on as many races as I can.

Oh, the funny part about today's race came as a result of racing out in the country.  (BEAUTIFUL location, by the way--thanks so much to the good folks at McIntosh's Farm for letting us use their pastoral setting!)  Less than a mile into the race I looked over to the side of the road and saw a skunk ambling my way.  That's one motivation for kicking it into high gear!

So, fellow racers, if any of you have tips on not starting so fast, I'd love to hear them!


HAPPY 2012 TO ALL OF YOU!!