To start this off my usual December trip to So Cal for work was called off so decided to do a couple local races as usually out of town - The Christmas Island Jingle Bell 5K Run and the Holiday Hustle 10K Trial Run, there was also a 5K. The Jingle Bell 5k is put on by GTRaces who does a lot of races in the area and appreciate Gordon, Shawn and others for the effort that put into the races. GTRaces has also recently has taken over putting on a couple longer races with Tsali Ultra on January 13, 2024 in Western North Carolina and The Pistol Ultra on March 9th, 2024 in Alcoa, TN (near Knoxville). The Holiday Hustle was a great trail race put on by Rocket Power and Josh Patton and his crew did a great job, even with Josh hand mowing section father course to help provide a variety of surfaces form ravel road, to grass and also single track. Both races were fun and highly recommend for next year.
So now for the fun. First, when I signed up for the Jingle Bell run I had seen it was at 10:30 but did not initially notice it was PM - made sense as was among the Christmas lights on Burnside Island but just did not click in my head - but ended up signing up for it anyway with a scheduled date of December 9th. I then, in wanting to do a more local trail race and to do one of Josh’s races signed up for the Holiday Hustle and chose the 10K instead of the 5k that was to be run on Dec 16th at 9:AM. Also, as it is ZRL (Zwift Racing League) on Tuesday's I had a hard race both Tuesdays before each race. So that was the plan - a hard ride on Tuesday and running race on Saturday two weeks in a row. Then the fun started, as a bad storm was headed our way and unlikely to miss us - we did end up having a Tornado Watch but nothing in our area - the decision was made to put off the Jingle Bell run from Saturday night on the 9th to Friday Night on the 14th. That meant not only did I have the bike race on Tuesday morning of that week but also that I was going to race the Jingle Bell 5K at 10:30PM about 50 miles from me then drive home and get to sleep about 2 AM and then get up early to do the trail race at 9:am on Saturday morning about 40 minutes from home. As my warmup would start at about 9:30PM on Friday and cool down about 10:30am it would make for a busy 13 hours.
So here is how it went for the weekend running portion of the fun starting with the Jingle Bell 5K Run - here is the Strava data for the race. I had played golf on Burnside Island before so knew it was hilly and so was the race. The race Started with a slight downhill but then quickly goes into a long drag uphill followed by some rollers as we followed the road among the lights. I did wear a head lamp as while you could probably get by without one there were enough potholes and areas I could twist an ankle I decided to wear mine (Petzel Swift RL) and glad I did. I did 4+ mile warmup doing the course so I could know what was ahead. For the race I went out at what felt comfortable as knew the hill was coming so was in about 15th or so and over the course of the race ran a fairly even effort and knew the end was a fairly good downhill, a little steeper than I like but good nonetheless less, with a little kicker up to the finishing line. Was chilly out at about 35F and felt good and finished in 20:40 in 9th OA and 1st in the 60-69 AG. Probably would have been good to go out a little quicker as in the dark hard to see people even 10 seconds ahead so did not realize until it was too late there were others I might have been able to stay with if had been with them earlier. After the race, even thought I knew I had more to run the next day, I did a 2 mile cool down for a total of 9.45 miles for the evening. Waited around for the awards and left about midnight and got home about 1AM.
After getting to bed about 2am I got up at 6:00 so as could get ready to leave in time to get to the next race in time for a warmup. Got to the Homeplace Hustle - here is Strava data - and start my warmup about 8AM. While I was a little stiff and tired I ran the 5K loop - my race did the loop twice - so I could check it out to know what was ahead. It was a good mix of surfaces. There was about 1.25 miles of single track in the middle with some nice downhills but knew I would take them easy as a major goal was to stay upright - which I did. Went out real easy on this one even though was on a gravel road. Both the 5K and 10k started together so was not sure who was in which race so just worked to get into a rhythm. The 1st mile was mostly grass but slopped so gave my ankles a workout. The next mile was single track so just settled in then after mile 2 it was back to grass and a road for last bit then out and do it again. Came through halfway in 26:36 and from there just wanted to keep a constant pace and not slow much. Was not sure what place I was in but the person in front of me was for sure going downhill faster on the single track and while caught up some on uphills we stayed about the same distance the whole way. I ran the second half in 26:58 so only slowed down by 22 seconds for a time of 53:36 and 5th OA and 1st in 60+ AG. Felt pretty good but for sure felt the effort but was happy for how things went went. I then a 2 mile cool down for a total for Saturday morning of 11 miles and 20.5 miles in a 13 hour period with 2 good efforts.
While I was sore after the 5K and for sure sore after the 10K most of it was from the pounding of the downhills in the 5k road race and the trail working muscles I have not used much. One of the main benefits of using Vespa - which I had one 30 minutes before each race - and using the principles of OFM (Optimized Fat Metabolism)is it greatly helps with recovery. The key is that you get less damage due to reducing oxidative stress so there is less recovery to the place. Truth is most of the soreness on Friday night after the race was sitting in the car for an hour to get home:).
Nutrition wise this was a weird one - well for the night race - as I always have a hard time figuring it out what to eat on these late races but usually opt for less but knowing I had a race a few hours later and did not want to eat after the race I had a few more carbs for an earlier dinner than usual. Actually had some Mac'n Cheese (homemade) as figured would give me a few more carbs to deal with for the next day and not so much for the 5k that night. I did take a Vespa Concentrate about 15 minutes before my warmup then before the race took a couple BonkBreaker Cola chews as had caffeine. After the 5K I did have a recovery drink just to take something in. The next morning before the 10K trail race I had a coffee w/cream and 1/4 cup of oatmeal. Then before my warmup run I took a Vespa Concentrate and the right before the race took a Vespa Jr. and one BonkBreaker Cola Chew. After the race had a V8, a good source of sodium, and then some water.
A big takeaway is while speed may go down some as you age, I am 64, you can still do difficult things. I am not saying everyone wants to do what I did, and admit I have a lot of years of training and train a good bit now, but don’t let age be the deciding factor. Of course you need to check with your doctor or other you trust but age is less of a factor than lifestyle is. We all may have physical issues to work with - I have excises induced asthma - but with diet and other protocols you can still do things many have given up own long ago.
Go out and do hard things by starting small and working your way up.
A big takeaway is while speed may go down some as you age, I am 64, you can still do difficult things. I am not saying everyone wants to do what I did, and admit I have a lot of years of training and train a good bit now, but don’t let age be the deciding factor. Of course you need to check with your doctor or other you trust but age is less of a factor than lifestyle is. We all may have physical issues to work with - I have excises induced asthma - but with diet and other protocols you can still do things many have given up own long ago.
Go out and do hard things by starting small and working your way up.
Click on images for more information and if you want more info on OFM check out this post:
