2018 Carlsbad 5000 All Day 20k Race Report

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As you know if you follow me on Instagram or pop into this blog from time to time, last Sunday I ran a few 5ks! (There is something fun about telling people that you race four-5k races over the weekend!) Here is my Carlsbad 5000 All Day 20k Race Report.

It is a Rock ‘n’ Roll race and as a Rock ‘n’ Blogger I received a complimentary Tour Pass. Another Rock ‘n’ Blogger perk is that I have a discount for my readers too. Save $15 on most marathons and half marathons with the code RNRRNB2018.

After having run the simple 5k for many years, last year was the first time I attempted the All Day 20k, which is basically running four of the Carlsbad 5000 races (all but the two elite races) during the day. I had such a great time that this year I dragged along my husband and friend Christina to join me.

I’ll apologize in advance for the length of this report, and also for some things seeming a little out of order. When you run four races in one day, things can get a little confusing!

Carlsbad 5000 All Day 20k Race Report

We got up pretty early the day of the race. We were staying at Christina’s place in Oceanside and race parking can be a challenge if you don’t get there early. Christina’s husband Andy was signed up for the 5k, but he had to work at the last minute, so we were on our own.

We got there early enough and parking was plentiful. After hanging out in the car for a bit, we finally headed over to pick up our packets. After that we wandered around, pick up our t-shirts, checked out the expo (which still wasn’t open), then headed over to the All Day 20k Lounge to wait for our first race. Yes, there is such a thing. Those 300 or so of us crazy enough to do doing the All Day 20k have our own “private” place to hang out, with chairs, tables, accessible gear check, and portable toilets.

Once in the lounge, I bumped into many of my fellow Pro Compression Ambassadors and other Rock ‘n’ Bloggers, including Smitha, Sarah, Briana, Janet, Brett, Kait, and a few others. It’s always fun to meet new friends and touch bases with old ones!

This was basically Christina’s first race (she’s done our Turkey Trot trail race a couple times) and she was a little nervous. As a nurse with a 1.5-hour drive to work hwe 12-hour shifts a few days a week, training has been a challenge for her. She’s pretty tough though, so I had faith that she’d get it done (and probably have a great time doing it).

We decided ahead of time that we’d just go out to have fun, stick together, and not worry about “racing.” My original plan had been to push in my age group race a little, but I liked the idea of running as a team. Especially since both Alan and Christina are generally faster than I am (though I am in better shape).

All Day 20k Race Report: Race #1

The first race was scheduled at 6:58. The times sound weird because they are all designed to fit in with the train schedule. The tracks go straight across both the start and finish streets, so timing is really important. No one wants to wait for the train to go by when they’re racing!

This first race was for Masters Men (and of course, all the All Day 20k-ers). We took off on time and headed west on Grand Ave. towards the Pacific Ocean.

The Carlsbad 5000 has a great course. You hit the Coast Highway at about a half mile, then head south along the ocean. A little before the halfway point, you make a U-turn and head north, pass the turn to the finish, make another U-turn, then finally head east for the last quarter mile to the finish, which is a lovely downhill.

That means that we get to see the lead runners heading back toward the finish line, plus cheer on all the runners that are ahead of us (as well as the ones behind, once we make that U-turn).

Alan, Christina and I stuck with our plan and ran together, nice and easy, for the whole race. We chatted with each other and with other runners. After all, at this point, it was a simple 3.1 mile run.

We finished in about 31 minutes, grabbed some water, then headed back to the Lounge. Though they hand out finisher’s medals to the 5k runners, we 20k-ers have to finish all of our races before we earn our medal. I needed to use the restroom and spent most of the 20 minutes or so in line. Note to Rock and Roll: We need more toilets in the Lounge! Last year there were five. This year? Only two.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the start line for race number two.

All Day 20k Race Report: Race #2

Because of the toilet line, we were a little late to line up at the start of our second race. That meant struggling the first half mile trying to pass the walkers that seem to line up across the road. We needed to remind ourselves that we were in “fun mode!”

Once on the coast, we did pick up the pace a bit. Throughout the event, we stayed close to that 10-minute pace. We were still feeling pretty good through this race, though not quite as chatty as in the first.  There was one water station on the course at about the halfway point. I tried to drink in each race knowing that even though the weather was cool, it would be easy to get dehydrated. I also sipped Nuun in between races to make sure I stayed hydrated.

We stayed together and finished just a little behind the time of our first race. I bumped into Marie, a fellow Skirt Sports Ambassador. We recognized each other because we were wearing the same print! We took a quick photo, then Marie went to prepare for her race.

Back at the Lounge, we had a snack, drank up, and rested for a bit before it was time to head back for race number three. Oh, and it was at this point that I discovered that I had somehow reset my phone. I carry it in my skirt pocket, and I think it must have rubbed enough that the phone thought someone was trying to enter the wrong passcode over and over.

While I eventually got back most of my data, all my pictures before this point are gone (including the really cute one with Marie). They weren’t backed up because I hadn’t set it up when I got my new phone back in December. Lesson learned the hard way.

All Day 20k Race Report: Race #3

By race number three, it’s starting to get serious. We got to the start line in a more timely manner this time, so we managed to move a little farther up than before. This is a self-seeded race, with large numbers along the start so runners can line up appropriate to their planned race pace. Unfortunately, many runners seem to ignore this or think that they really will be walking at a 9-minute pace. This can actually be a little dangerous, with so many runners on the road trying to dodge around the walkers at the start. We made it safely to the first turn, though, where it opens up and there is more room to move.

Not much chatter for this race. It was more about focusing on keeping the momentum going, especially for my less trained partners. We did stay together, though, at least until Alan pulled off to use the bathroom at about 2.4 miles. Up until then, we were moving along well, maybe a little faster than our previous two races. Christina and I continued on at a slow jog, then fell to a walk to give Alan the chance to catch up.

Which was when I had my Internet Famous moment! A woman passed us, looked at me and asked if I blogged! I said yes, and she told me that she had seen my blog. This has only happened once before, and it’s a really good feeling. She encouraged us to run along with her, but we said we were waiting for my husband, who arrived shortly thereafter. Day made!

By then we were close to the finish, so we stuck together until the end. At the finish line Christina and I were slightly ahead of Alan, so she said, “let’s jump!” as we crossed. So we did. Not very high. And from the photos I’ve seen it doesn’t seem to be caught on camera, so maybe it didn’t happen! In fact, though many race photos have been posted, as I write this there are none from the actual finish line. Hopefully, they will be up soon.

At this point, after race three, we have a two-hour break while the elite races take place. We hung out for the women’s race (and saw Emilia Gorecka win in 16:04, pretty much twice as fast as we were running!), but Alan’s foot was bothering him, so we headed back to the Lounge so he could sit down and rest it. I also had a meetup with my fellow Pro Compression Ambassadors. Can you guess the sock of the day?

Even though two hours sounds like a long break, all too soon it was time to head back to the start line for race number four!

All Day 20k Race Report: Race #4

Also called “That Race Where You Must Start Yelling at Your Friend.”

Alan wasn’t even sure that he could run this race, but by the time it started his foot felt pretty good. Christina was having her doubts as well, but I just dragged her along with me. We were a team, after all.

We got started just fine. We managed to get ahead of the walkers and actually hit the one-mile mark at our fastest time of the morning. There was no talking. Even though we were running together, we were into our own thoughts. Alan started to pull ahead a little, but Christina said, let’s catch up. We did.

We had just passed the water station when Christina suddenly started to walk. She whined a little. This was the yelling part. I told her, no way! Less than two miles left, you are not walking! Come on! I don’t care if you run slow, but you are running. It worked (yay), at least for a while. She started running.

We continued on for another half mile or so, when Christina started walking again. And again the yelling. Or, should I call it “motivating?” I just told her that yes, she could do this, don’t stop because it gets harder to start each time. That there was less that a mile to go.  That worked for a while, but a quarter mile or so later, she was walking again. I knew she was about out of gas, so I just yelled a little this time. But I also kept going. Team or not, I wanted to finish the darn thing! I looked back a little later and yes, she was running. I felt proud.

That is why, as we crossed the finish line of our fourth race of the day, Alan and I were together. Christina was right behind us though! And it was our best time of the day!

Our total time for the four races was 2:05:56, which was good enough for second in my All Day 20k division (and first for Alan!). The benefit of outlasting the competition! The complete results are not posted yet, so I don’t know the stats for each individual race. We are eligible for age group awards from our own race (Masters Women for me, Masters Men for Alan), but that’s unlikely.

I was also pleased (and surprised) to see that my overall time was about six minutes faster than last year! I did push in my division race in 2017, but I kind of fell apart for the last two races. Probably because I didn’t have my team with me!

Teamwork makes the dream work! • • @alantwoodruff, @brendadion and I decided before the start of the first race at the Carlsbad 5000 #allday20k that we would stick together, not push it, and just have fun. • • Mission accomplished! There were some tough moments, but we helped push each other through, and we even managed to finish the final 5k faster than all the rest! • • More coming later (obviously), but we had so much fun, I got to meet up with some @procompression ambassadors, and even met one @skirtsports sister! Hopefully I’ll have more pictures later, because about halfway through the races I managed to reset my phone and may or may not have lost all my most recent pictures. ☹ • • Even cooler news was that one of my clients not only scored a PR in her 10k today, she managed to win it! Nice job, @kpokorski7! • • How are you spending this beautiful Sunday?

A post shared by Debbie Woodruff (@coachdebbieruns) on Mar 25, 2018 at 2:50pm PDT

This may be one of my favorites IG posts of all time.

After finishing, we headed back to the Lounge, picked up our medals, took a few more photos, then got ready to leave. The beer garden sounded good, but the music seemed to be wrapping up and frankly, we were just ready to go. Instead, we headed to the Veggie Grill for some yummy vegan fried food and enjoyed a beer there.

To Sum Up

I love the Carlsbad 5000! It was one of my first 5ks back in 1995, and I’ve done it many times in between. The All Day 20k is a brilliant idea and is the perfect choice for distance runners who want an extra challenge. While the three of us just ran for a good time, there are many 20k-ers who race their butts off in all four races. Now that’s impressive!

We had great weather for running. While it was a bit chilly for this desert rat in the morning, it was perfect for running, and even the last race, which started at 11:40, was pleasant.

The organization is always on point for this race. Considering the challenges of working with the train schedule (which is subject to change all the way up to the last minute), the organizers managed to start every race on time. There is plenty of crowd support, great announcers (Rudy, Fitz, and Greg Welch had the duty), good finisher’s medals, plus medals for the top 250 in each race. There are age group awards, but those are mailed to the recipients.

I think the best thing about this race is that now my friend Christina is hooked! She wants to take her 5k time down to sub-25 minutes (which I’m sure she can do) and she already signed up for the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon!

Did you race last weekend? Have you ever run four 5ks in a row?

I haven’t decided yet whether to purchase my photos. There are so many good ones! If I do, I’ll replace the watermarked version.

 

And Now It’s Time for the Running Coaches’ Corner!

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Weekly Linkups

My weekly linkups! Please stop by and check out all of the great recipes, workouts, and information that all these awesome bloggers share every week!

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