Countdown to Race Day!

Four days until I run my first official 5K race.  Since February I have been plotting training regimes and tracking distances and times.  I have gradually improved my running technique and speed as evidenced by the following:

  • February PB 38:22, fastest km 7:09
  • March  PB 35:58, fastest km 6:02
  • April  PB 30:51, fastest km 5:24
  • May PB 29:49, fastest km 5:39
My goal for the Ottawa 5K was to run it in under 30 minutes.  I thought I was well on my way to accomplish this but my right hamstring may have other plans.  Turns out that in all my time dedicated to planning and plotting training I purposely overlooked a very important piece of the training puzzle.  I know it sounds silly but I haven't been warming up, cooling down or even stretching for that matter. 

I know.  Dumb move. Anyways, probably for my last 3-4 runs, my right hamstring begins screaming at me to stop at the 3 km mark.  My last run was on Saturday and I could not complete it because my leg hurt so bad.  Since then I have been icing and resting.  Today I woke up and it's feeling relatively great; not swollen and as tight.  Good news I think.  A couple more days of rest with a bit of light stretching will surely be the right thing and I will be all ready for race day.

Under 30 minutes?  Doubtful but you never know....

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