QDR Toy Drive 5-Miler Race Report or the Detraining Edition

Name of the race: QDR Toy Drive 5-Miler

Where: Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, NY

Date: Dec 18, 2016

Time: 9:00 am

Distance: 5 miles

Terrain: Flat

Entry fee: $20

Swag: Free race photos

Post-race Food: Hot chocolate and water

Time: 39:55

Performance: Overall: 24/65; Gender: 9/34; Age (30-39): 4/14

Weather: 45 degrees, 94% humidity, winds 11 mph

Someone is way too happy in this photo and it’s not Ben and me.

Immediately after Rehoboth, I went into detraining. I didn’t have any firm plans for what I was going to do in terms of running post-Rehoboth. I thought if I had time and I felt good, then I think about training for an early spring race. If I didn’t, then I would go into an off-season. Work got crazy and I stopped running essentially. I’m a big believer of having an off season, but the last couple of years, my off-seasons were dictated more by life events (e.g., wedding in 2015) and illnesses (e.g., the neverending bronchitis of 2016) than a conscious decision about the periodization of training.

The Queens Distance Runners Toy Drive 5-Miler was coming up. I really do believe that the 5-mile distance is my best distance, and I always try to support my friend Kevin and his wonderful running club, Queens Distance Runners. The weather as mild that day, so I decided to do the race.

The two weeks of minimal running had a major impact on my top speed, plus I could feel the humidity. My legs felt heavy, but I was moving just below an 8:00 pace. The 4th mile, I slowed down to 8:20 and I managed to speed up again in the 5th mile to come in at 39:55.

As for life right now, I’m more or less done for the year. I have a couple of small projects that I need to finish up, but essentially I’m done and I’ve been enjoying the time off. I’ve been sleeping more and de-stressing my life by taking care of the things that I didn’t previously have time for.

I’m not in the mood to be in training right now. While I do want to accomplish certain running goals (eventually), I’m not in the right mindset right now to do the work to get those goals. To put things simply, I’m tired. Physically and mentally tired. Not just with running, but with everything. While others can run well while stress (or need to run because of stress), I don’t run well with stress. I need to rest. I am running, but I run what I feel like. If I want to do a super short speed work, I do. If I feel like doing a slow long run, I do. If I want a rest day, I take it. There’s no rhyme nor reason to the running and for now, this is perfect.