The Practice Start

Yesterday was the Earth, Wind, & Fire 5K run put on the by the Illinois State Geological Survey at the University of Illinois. The race started at 8 a.m. When I woke up at 6:20 a.m. the temperature was 13˚ F. This was going to be interesting.

The start was less than a mile from our house, so I ran over there to warm up. I registered for the race and waited around inside the Natural Resources Building until closer to race time. There was a Festival of Maps (I like maps) lining the hallway so I kept myself occupied. About 20 minutes before the start I ran another mile outside to warm up then I headed to the start line.

There were a surprising number of people there. I thought there would be maybe 20 of the most hardcore runners that braved the frigid weather and howling winds for this race, but I was mistaken. About 150 people showed up.

As everyone was mulling around near the starting line, trying not to freeze, the race directors decided to blow the air horn to test it out and make sure it was working. The thing is, they didn’t tell anyone what they were doing. As soon as the horn blew a few people took off running. Seeing them, everyone else took off running. The race directors were standing right in front of the line and all of the sudden the entire field was running around them. They quickly got on the bullhorn to announce that this wasn’t actually the start. The runners eventually stopped and headed back to the starting line. When it was time for the real start the directors were much more careful to explain exactly what was going to happen. Fair enough. They gave a 5 second count down then we were off.

The race went surprisingly well given the poor weather conditions. I was able to pull out a 19:20, which was good enough for 5th place overall and 2nd in my age group. I guess I’m not as out of shape as I thought I was.

Since the race was put on by geologists, the winners received some sort of special rock as an award.

Update: They posted race photos, including a couple of me.

Rob finishing the 5K (photo courtesy of Joel Dexter)

Rob receiving award (photo courtesy of Joel Dexter)

The Bonk

Several of my regular bicycling partners have started a racing team this year called Wild Card Cycling. This weekend we planned a long (even by my standards) training ride together. The plan was to do a century (100 miles). My previous longest ride of the year was around 50 miles or so, so this was a big jump. After 75-80 miles I bonked (*).

Bonking is basically the same thing that marathon runners refer to has “hitting the wall.” It is the point at which your muscles run out of glycogen and can no longer continue to function at their current capacity. In a matter of minutes you become incredibly tired and your heart rate skyrockets. You can keep going after you bonk, but your performance drops significantly. Your body has no stored carbohydrates so it has to burn only fat, which is a poor source of energy.

The only way to avoid bonking on really long workouts is to continue to eat during the workout. I was eating during the ride yesterday, but apparently it was not enough. After 4.5-5 hours or so my body stopped cooperating.

Fortunately, another guy bonked at roughly the same time and we were able to ride together the last 20 miles into town. It seemed to take forever. I ended up at home after 96.33 miles and decided not to do another 4 miles. I didn’t have it in me. I was past the point of enjoying myself anyway. There will be other days.

No “peddlers” allowed in Cerro Gordo

The route from Urbana to Cerro Gordo

This morning I did another 35 miles with the group. It took 20 or so miles to work the lactic acid from yesterday’s ride out of my legs, but I felt pretty good by the end. It was dark and rainy right until the end of the ride then the sun came out and it’s now a beautiful day. If only we had waited an hour.

(*) Incidentally, we used to ride with an Australian woman who informed us that “bonk” had a totally different meaning in her country.