Well after many weeks (months) preparing the World Masters is upon us. The first event I enrolled for was the 5k as I ran a 5k PB before my last marathon so thought a repeat would give me some confidence going into the World Masters marathon in a weeks time. Unfortunately there were several external factors I had not planned for and in the end I feel this race probably did more damage than good.

My week long holiday at Rottnest may not have been the most ideal preparation for the Masters and although I ran twice a day for the early part of the holiday I may have let myself go a bit with the ‘treats’. Truth be told my main treat of choice was a paleo banana  bread which was probably good for me, the accompanying coffee was the problem. I must also confess to two glasses of wine which doesn’t sound a lot but it’s probably the same amount of alcohol I consumed for the previous 10 months. Add in tired legs from the half marathon and plenty of time scuba diving looking for crayfish and cycling everywhere and my first week taper was a bit of a disaster. (Although from a different viewpoint it was a great holiday and I’ve already booked in to Rotto’ again for next year, for the marathon this time, no more half marathons for me!!)

The Masters 5k was at the Ern Clarke Stadium in Cannington, Perth. I have raced a 10k in this stadium on three occasions previously. Must admit a 10k on the track is not my favourite race and running round a track 25 times can be a tad monotonous. How these runners who do 24 hour track ultras do it is beyond me ? (They must take solace in food of course because on a 400m track you are always within 400m of food…..) I wrongly assumed that 12.5 laps would be a lot easier. Today I was to be proved wrong.

The 5k was to start at 3:25pm but was a tad late so probably got under way nearer 4pm. This in itself was a problem as there was the issue with what to eat. I had decided earlier in the day that after breakfast I would use a Yelo muffin and coffee as my fuel for the race. I has these all done and dusted by 11am so logic dictated that by 3-4pm (after 1 banana) I would be ready to race. Truth be told I much prepare the 5k park run which starts at 8am and when I race these runs I normally do so on an empty stomach. Probably another mistake, Yelo muffins are not the prefect pre-5k meal. Pity.

It was windy which make the back straight feel pretty good but the home straight was a struggle. I did manage to get into a group for a few laps but was mostly battling alone.(Although I notice on the results a couple of French runners I had passed early seem to have magically finished a few seconds behind me. They are sneaky the French.)

I have attached the results below. Top 10 finish and 2nd Australian is a good result, position wise. I had hoped for a faster time but I feel the wind, racing last week, the late start, the American election etc. all played a part in me dropping 10-20 seconds. Truth be told I made a decision at the start to run with the leaders for the first few laps and a 3:11min/k first kilometre was, with hindsight, not the right thing to do. I did manage to put in another couple of half decent kilometres after that but the last two were a struggle, or should I say a ‘challenge‘.

Funnily enough I watching a 800m heptathlon heat before my 5k race and one of the runners bolted out of the traps like ‘greased lightning’, she probably has a 200m lead at the halfway mark. For the second lap it was obvious she had nothing left and she was nearly caught. What a difference a lap makes, even in an 800m race you can blow up. I did find some humour in that as I struggled home, though I would hope I did not look quite so ‘finished‘.

So what did I take from today.

1. I am still not a fan of the track. Just too old I think.
2. Went out too hard, too early and paid the price but that was always the game plan so got what I deserved.
3. You can’t get a PB every time you put on a race singlet. (More’s the pity!)
4. I need to be really careful with this last week of taper as i seem to have made a hash of the first one.
5. Yelo muffins are not ideal pre-race nutrition. (This hurts the most.!)