Hello, hello, and happy July! I am bringing you a race recap of the LuLu’s Hot Trot 5K! This was my 9th year of being HOT TO TROT (if you give it a Chappell Roan-esque spin).
Here’s a quick summary:
2012 – 19:56
2013 – 19:35
2015 – 20:50 (long)
2016 – 19:05
2017 – 19:01
2018 – 18:57
2019 – 17:37
2023 – 19:06
My current goal is to break 17:00 for the 5K. For context, my 5K PR is 17:19 (from 2020). 20 seconds 6+ years later might seem like a lot to ask, but I actually think I can do it (and that is over half of the battle!). In fact, my fitness is already getting dangerously close. However, given that this race is in late June and is quite literally a hot trot, I didn’t think that aiming for sub 17 was a realistic goal for this race. Based on my current fitness plus an adjustment for heat and humidity, my coach and I settled on 17:45 as a reasonable goal. I wasn’t viewing this as a goal race as much as just a chance to get out there and rip the Band-Aid off and get a race under my belt.
I woke up to an “above and beyond” readiness score of 92 and an “optimal” sleep score of 85 (with a resting heart rate of 45) per my Oura data. Granted, if this hadn’t been stellar, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but it was absolutely reassuring to see such good recovery metrics! I met my mom at Lowe’s around 5:30 and we rode down to Gulf Shores together, arriving a little before 6:30 for a 7:30 race start. I had a bagel and some coffee in the car.
Once we arrived at the race, I immediately noticed that the start and finish line were not where they were typically located, which was not a good sign. Sure enough, the course had been modified and not recertified, which was a bummer. At that point, I didn’t realize that the course would be short (*spoiler alert*), but knowing that it wasn’t certified made that possibility much more likely. This type of thing used to bother me, but I was hardly fazed. All I knew is that I was going to run my best race on that given day and whatever the time and distance may be, so be it. Taking a low stakes, no pressure approach to racing has served me well in the last year or so!
I ran the course as my warm-up. I wanted to familiarize myself with the course, since it was new and I wanted to make sure I knew where the turns and mile markers were. After the warm up, I changed into the Hoka Cielo X1 3.0, took my Nomio shot (yes, I am drinking the Kool-Aid) and had a couple sips of an energy drink. This was my first run in the Hoka Cielo X1 3.0, but I do all of my training runs in the Hoka Cielo X1 2.0, so I felt comfortable with a new shoe on race day given that I am comfortable with the previous model and it was “just” a 5K. I take Nomio and a few sips of an energy drink before all of my workouts, so that wasn’t anything new!
My plan was to start out at around 5:45 pace and work down from there if possible. My goal time of 17:45 averaged to 5:43 per mile. I briefly chatted with a few runners beforehand and had a good idea of who I might be able to work with and who I might want to try to stay behind. Cody told me that his plan was to run as close to 5:30 pace as possible. I told him that was basically my goal for the fall, but that I didn’t think I’d be able to do that in 76 degrees with a 73 degree dew point.
As soon as the race started, a lead pack formed with 4 to 5 runners. I didn’t immediately go with them, but instead stayed just a few seconds back. There were 2 to 3 of us that essentially formed a chase pack. Both packs were blown apart up by about a mile and a half into the race. I found myself running side-by-side with another runner from the “chase” pack, but now we had worked our way up into second and third overall. I surged slightly ahead of him just before the two mile mark and focused on chasing down Cody, who was leading the race.
It is worth noting that I didn’t once look at my watch during the race. I was closer than I expected to be to Cody, but I didn’t know if he was running slower than planned or if I was running faster than planned or perhaps some combination of the two. This is probably my fourth or fifth data point of races that go extremely well when I don’t at all focus on my pace, but solely focus on my effort during the race. I know this strategy works for me, but I am still slightly hesitant to use it because I do almost all of my quality sessions on the treadmill, meaning that I don’t have as much of a feel for outdoor efforts. Either way, it worked this time and I would be silly to not continue to race using this strategy!
I actually felt very comfortable for the first two miles of the race, but started to really feel like I was working hard during the last mile. At that point, I broke it up into little chunks and told myself I had “less than 5 minutes to go,” “less than 3 minutes to go,” etc. I actually caught up to Cody just before the third mile, but I knew that I didn’t really stand a chance when it came to the final sprint to the finish. In hindsight, I probably should’ve tried more of a “sneak attack” and not caught him until I was already in a sprint, but I don’t think it would’ve made a difference. I was just happy to have someone to chase and I think he worked harder than he otherwise would have as well (especially once he realized I was right there). I like to think of it as mutually beneficial pacing and racing!
After it was all said and done, I ran 5:33, 5:31 & 5:31 for 3 miles. That put me at 16:36 for 3 miles, which projects to 17:11 if the race had been a full 5K. On one hand, I’m a little bit disappointed not to have an official 5K time to show for this effort, but on the other hand, I know that I just ran the fastest 3 miles of my life in really tough conditions. If I can maintain my fitness through the fall, running a sub 17 5K just might be in the cards!
I distinctly remember a conversation with my coach, John, a few years ago where we talked about the fact that I likely had some gains left to make in the marathon and the half marathon, but that I felt like my fastest mile and 5K times were behind me. Now here I am, proving myself wrong in the best possible way! It’s tempting to want to be able to explain the fitness gained by giving one or two changes that we’ve made in training, but it’s actually the accumulation of dozens of small changes over the course of dozens of years. My fueling is better. My iron levels are better. My recovery is better. My mindset is better! I’ve got years and years of consistent training under my belt (this can’t be overlooked). I’ve made strength training more of a priority. I’ve been working on passive and active heat training techniques. While there are a few new things that do seem to help (i.e., Nomio), none of those things are magic in and of themselves. Together, all of these things have moved the needle. Perhaps I can come up with 10+ lessons learned over 10+ years of high level training?! Stay tuned for that (assuming I can actually write another post without 6 more months going by).
Until next time … happy running, friends!