Carlsbad 5000 - Erica Schramm

April 3rd, 2011

My husband and I have gone to Carlsbad the last 10 years.  I love watching all of the age group races and especially enjoy the Elite race at the end of the day. This year I decided to try the All Day 25k which is each one of the 5k's except the Elite race.

 

We got in Friday afternoon and relaxed. Saturday morning we watched the kids races which are between 400 meters for 4 y/o up to 1 mile at age 12. We relaxed in the afternoon and had dinner with about 10 of our Vegas friends, including Red Rock teammate Steve Morgan. We filled up on pasta and got to bed early. I slept really well. For some reason I wasn't too nervous this year. My goal was to run the Master's men race as my warm-up and run the rest of the four races hard.

 

The first race started at 7:05. I just ran an easy pace. It was fun to see the leaders on the other side of the road. I cheered on Steve, and Andrew Duncan from Las Vegas, who were close to the leaders. I also saw my husband and other friends. I finished in 23:32.

 

I felt fine and geared up to start the Master's Women's race which started at 8 a.m. I got some striders in and felt ready. I was hoping to be close to 18:00. The gun went off and I started with the leaders. The pace felt good. I saw the first mile in 5:34, which is a tad too fast, although I was battling back and forth with another lady and still felt strong. I finally pulled away from her, and I must have lost my focus becaue my next mile slowed considerably to a 6:03. I was thinking I was around 5:50, so I was not happy. The next lady was about 15 seconds ahead of me and behind me was about the same. I tried to keep a good attitude and stay strong and I finished at 18:23. I guess the first mile was too fast. I was happy to PR on the course, although I felt I should have been about 10-15 seconds quicker.

 

I then had a bit of a longer break before the 30-39 y/o men's race. It stared at 9:20. At first I was thinking about taking this one easy again and try hard in the next ladies race, but I saw another lady who was also doing the all day 25K and I got motivated to beat her. The gun went off and I just tried to go at a cruising pace. My first mile was 6:02, then 6:05, which wasn't too far off my last race for the second mile, which made me realize I definitely went too hard at the start. I was also surrounded by other racers which helped me as I was passing a bunch of guys. I finished in 18:52.

 

I then went back to the start line to get ready for race #4 of the day, 30-39 y/o women, which is my normal race. I ate a little food and had some protein drink, which after I started running again was not smart, as I got a bad side ache during most of this race. I went out too hard again in 5:46 and then slowed to a 6:15 and then felt my legs getting tired, but tried to stay strong and finished in 19:03. I was happy at this point as my last three races were all faster then last year's time.

 

I then went back to the start area for the last race of the day. I was very tired at this point. One of my friends, Bryan Porter was gracious enough to join me in this race. It started at 11:25 and we were off yet again. This was the 29 and under men and women and it was packed. We started out strong in 5:55, but then I totally hit the wall and was just ready to be done. I finished in 19:21. I was very pleased with the all day 25k and I stayed ahead of the other lady on the last four races. I ended up 3rd overall in the all day 25k and second female. It was a great challenge and I really enjoyed the experience. We then finished the day up by watching the Elites in world class style. We had yet again another great time with friends and running in Carlsbad.

Comments

[Anne]

ERICA!!
Found your blog and LOVE it!! How COMPLETELY motivating!!! Keep blogging!!!