Volta a Peu Runners Ciutat de Valencia: "5.5k" race

Today I raced a 5.5k race called Volta a peu runner ciutat de Valencia. Its a race that is held pretty close where We do our Saturday long run in the harbor, so pretty much the whole way was in the harbor. The goal time for this race was to at least maintain the same pace that I did in the last month`s 5k race for 500 more meters since this race was "5.5k" in length. I put the quotes because I ran surprisingly well today eventhough there were parts that were in the complete sand of the beach so the pace slowed down dramatically in those sections, I would say it was around 300-400m of pure sand where the pace was slow and everyone was trying to just get off the sand as quick as possible, a lot of people were even walking in the sand. I really battled through it and the more people I passed the more energized I felt, I think this is one of my best races in terms of execution and passing people.

I race without a watch, just by effort, so I was going to run at a effort I thought I could sustain for the whole race.

I left home at 8:08 a.m. or so , warmed up to the port avenue and met my brother there, then went to the harbor, to the starting line, all of that running easy, on the way there We did strides, I did my usual 5 x 50m strides and when I arrived I did some form drills and some more jogging to not stay still. Then We lined up, the elites and all people that have preference were gone 4 mins before us, and We crossed the starting mat 14 seconds after the horn sounded in our starting wave. I got out hard and was dodging a lot of people at the beginning of the race, I think that thing cost me some seconds. Then I found my rhythm and was running with good space. My brother passed me in the 500-600m mark and built a quick gap, I think He passed me very quickly and later that costed him a lot. He built a gap of about 10 seconds in the first km, after the 1st km though I little by little bridged that gap and started passing people left and right, some runners passed me, but they were so fast that I could not really go with them. The only km that was marked was the 1st km, but as I saw the course before the race I pretty much know the markers and knew where I had to make my move once We left the beach. Around the mile point I passed my brother and never saw him again till the finish line, I kept pushing and pushing, then We went to the beach, sand to enter the shore was deep and it slowed down a lot, once you were in the shore you could run pretty much at your normal pace, but I would argue that it was the same as in the road, I tried to move my feel as fast as I could before We had to get off the beach and face 200-300m of deep sand to leave the beach, as I said, the more people I passed in this section (from the people that went out in the first wave), the more motivated and energized I felt, but in that stretch of sand I really started to notice my breathing fast, luckily I went out at a good controlled pace and could really push in the latter stages of the race. Once We face the sand to get off the beach a lot of people were walking or running very slowly, I was passing a lot of people in this 200-300s section and was trying to get the feet as fast as possible off the sand. The good news about the sand is that while you decreased the rhtym, you could recover in the lungs a bit from the faster pace. Once I got off the beach that We had around 1k to go, I really started to push home and was passing a lot of people, the more people I passed the more I pushed, once I saw that the finish line was around 400m from when I was running I really started pushing and when I back in the distance saw the clock and I started sprinting in a corner so that people would not hinder my way, last race I could  have run 1 second faster and run 22.59, this time I really sprinted in the corner and the road was wider so this time I was free to sprint, the closer I saw the finish line the harder I sprinted and finished very hard. The clock read 28:31, but since We went out several minutes after the 1st wave (the finishing clock has the time of the first wave), I did not know the exact time, but I knew that I would have run well, because I could run a lot of more in the pain cave than in my last race and whenever I felt like slowing down, I pushed and pushed. Another indicator that I ran well was all the people that I passed, especially in the latter stages of the race, I knew that I closed really hard. Last, but not least, my workouts are way better than in the last couple of months, so I knew that I am in much better condition than in our last race. Later at home I learned that my official time was 24:07 for 5.5k, I dont think the distance is accurate because that sand really slowed you down, and that is 7:03 per mile /4:23 per km, which is my interval pace. In the other hand, I have been hitting lately paces way faster than those in my intervals and my tempos runs I have been feeling good, so really not sure if that is accurate, but either way, I pretty much destroyed my performance from my last race. After my final sprint, I waited for my brother that came in 30:10, (1 min 30 secs after I crossed the line), He really hit the wall hard, I told him not to accelerate in that way, He passed me like a bat and pretty much in that acceleration He went very anaerobic, that cost him the final stages of the race. He congratulated me and said that I raced great. I think that I raced well, but as I told my brother, this type of race you can only compare it to the same event from previous race, because you cant really compare the topography with this race with our 5k race last month were everything was flat and road and few turns. Anyway, I think that I did a good job and I feel pretty good as I type this, no soreness at all. We will see tomorrow!! The weather was sunny, but very pleasant, around 10-13 Celsius.

After We drank some water and talked a bit, We started our cool down jog, which for me was basically the exact same distance to get to the race, I would estimate the distance 2.5k or so. So total for the day was around 10.5k.

 Its good to race without a watch, and just by effort, just racing people and listening to the body.

Have a great Sunday!

Update: According to the GPS of several runners that ran the race, the GPS marked the route in 5:27k, so way shorter than the legitime distance. I suspected though as I mentioned before and eventhough its shorter, I ran a bit faster today than in last month`s 5k and today the terrain was more difficult, especially that deep sand. So, I still did good. My brother did not do that good and probably He will race a 5k race next Sunday to take revange.