The Carlsbad 5000 is probably the most popular 5k race in the world. It’s flat and fast. On this course, I made my second attempt of 2010 to run a sub-20 5k. First off, it was not to be this time. I crossed the finish line at 20:43.

On April 11, 2010 I got to the race site early since parking is a big problem due to the race’s popularity. While waiting to start my pre-race warm-up routine, I got carried away reading a book and sipping on my Pre-Race Infinit drink. Unfortunately, I did more reading than sipping. Instead of thinking about my liquid intake right before the race, I drank the remainder of the Infinit drink, and immediately, I regretted it.

Carlsbad 5000

With about 40 minutes until race start, I did a short warm-up run and walked around for a little bit, waiting for my body to process all the excess liquid. Fortunately, I felt less water-logged by the time the race started. With about 15 minutes to the start, I powered on my Garmin 310 XT. I noticed the battery power was kinda low, but I didn’t think anything of it since the total race time would be brief. With 5 minutes to go, my Garmin powered down… dead battery. Apparently, I had left it on all night the other day, and there was no power left.

I know I’ve become dependent on the Garmin’s features. For runs, I use it to view my pace, speed, and elapsed time. For this race, I ran blindly, relying simply on my perceived effort and my experience from other races. I put negative thoughts out of my head and resigned myself to the fact that I’d be listening to my body rather than looking at my watch during the race.

Despite my lack of technology during the race, I ran a very good race and came within half a minute of my personal best. This year I was one of the top 250 finishers in the race so I got one of the cool First 250 Finishers medal.