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ht_murrayI've been putting off writing this, but since my last post(whoops)was dripping negativity, I thought I'd share some goodness.
Once upon a time, I took up running. It went something like this.
"Hubby, I want running shoes for my birthday this year."
"Why?"
"Because I want to start running."
*laughs* "You'll never use them."
"Screw you. Yes, I will."
Okay, so it was four months later before I actually RAN in the running shoes I got for my birthday, but four months later is not never, so THERE. I actually put them on and putzed around my block sometime last October, back when a mile and a half seemed like a huge distance, and I couldn't run even that. I remember distinctly what I did last Thanksgiving, because I put my dressing in the oven and went out 'running.' My run that day was a whole whopping two miles, and I couldn't run more than five minutes at a time without walking. I don't know what made me keep trying, but I did, and that's why I have a race to report.
I signed up for a 5k race. That's about 3.1 miles for the unsavvy. Those of you following along are probably tilting your head in confusion (see Sony dog for reference) because, yes, my last two race reports were for a 10k and a 10 mile race, both way longer than 5k. But would you believe I was more nervous for this one than for either of those?
It's hard to explain, but with the 10k and 10 mile race, I considered the distance my primary competition. As long as I could go the distance, I figured that was a win. I can stay Zen about my running if I just have finishing as my goal. However, having run a 10k and a 10 mile race, the 5k distance was dauntingly... short. Suddenly, I felt like I had to race the race, not just finish, and I knew exactly how that would go. I'd run too fast, burn out early, and end up staggering over the finish line like I hadn't trained at all. I'm not kidding. I psyched myself out sooo much.
But I still signed up. Why? Because I'm training for a marathon, and all the training paces for the program I'm following are based on my fastest 5k time. Sure, I can go out and run 5k around my block and plug that in, but I wouldn't know it was my fastest unless I raced it. Plus, the race proceeds were for a great cause, which I'll link at the end of this post. Besides, I'd been hitting my speed workouts in the weeks leading up to the race, and that hasn't happened in EVER. So, I was feeling pretty fast, or at least, like I could run 5k faster than the race calculator prediction of 29:17. I hoped so, anyway.
I sucked it up, paid my entry fee, and prayed for good weather. Then, I commenced psyching myself out some more. How much? Well, the night before the race, I realized I needed to shave my legs. Only problem was, I also had to wash my hair. Not enough hot water to do both. Sucks to be me, I know. No way I wasn't washing my hair, because sweaty hair is stinky hair, but hairy legs might increase the wind resistance. I kid you not. I actually considered the amount of wind resistance the hair on my legs might add. I was seriously going a little insane at that point. Luckily for me, I have a pair of Zoot compression socks in my gear bag. I usually only use them for really long runs, but for 70 bucks, they would work as industrial strength leg hair smoother downers in a pinch. Problem solved.
Next, I didn't have any idea what to do with my hair. I have really, really long hair, the kind that gets caught in my pants if I'm not careful, and for my last two races, I picked out cute hairdos and did sporty little twisty things with braids. This time, I actually said to myself, "The race isn't chip timed, so the more people who run behind me, the better." A tiny vindictive part of myself actually considered leaving my hair down at that point. There was this guy in high school who sat behind me in math class, and every time I sat down he made sure to say, "Ugh, that hair," before scooching his desk back a foot or so to prevent any one of my disgusting hairs from touching anything of his. If it worked in high school... Hahahahaha! Okay, no I'm not bitter at all. We were all infected with a good dose of budding jackass back in the day. I just... yeah, I actually considered using my hair as a weapon in the race. How crazy does that make me? Don't answer that.
Anyway, I decided against it, because loose hair on my head would totally counteract the leg hair smoother downers on my feet. Finally, I just decided to tie it up the way I always do, a top knot with a couple of roller pins, and voila.
I knew before I got up that morning that the weather was not going to be ideal. The 10 miler had been gorgeous, high 60's maybe, clear. The days leading up to and including the Turkey Trot were hot for November, approaching 80 degrees and humid. Really grody. There was a front predicted to move through on race day, and we were warned to keep rain gear handy, but most likely, it was going to stay hot and muggy for the duration. Race morning was mid-70's and 100percent miserable with gusting winds. Ah, well, beggars can't be choosers, right?
I got there early, ran a nice half mile warmup around the park. That felt really good. My plan for the race was to stay as close to 9:00min/mile pace as I could, and my warmup kept wanting to push into the low 8 minute range. Prophetic? Probably so.
I hooked up with a couple of friends from the Galloway marathon group I run with, and we discussed whether or not any of us planned to run/walk, which is the Galloway method, or just run. I said I was going to just run it but wasn't going to rule out walking if I needed to. I found my other running friend when it was nearly race time. I had almost given up on finding her, and I joked that we'd probably only see each other at the starting line because she's 14 years younger and faster than me. Plus, she'd run a 5k before and knew how to pace herself. She laughed at me. I really was overthinking it. I told her I was going to try to average as close to 9 minutes as possible, keeping in mind that the race calculators predicted closer to 9 and a half. I'm an overachiever, I guess. We were sorta discussing this, or I was talking, and she was listening, because she's awesome like that, as they directed us to the starting line.
That's when it hit me that there were quite a few people in this race. It was an inaugural race, and I had seem small numbers predicted online, less than a hundred. But as we lined up, they said they'd predicted at most 200 or so and ended up with more than 400. Not a huge race by any means, but also, not chip-timed, and not very wide streets, so starting and finishing could be a problem. Also, it was a family race, so lots of kids, dogs and strollers. We lined ourselves up somewhere in the middle of the pack and stood there, waiting for further instructions. The race director finally gave up trying to talk to us over the PA, because with the wind, we couldn't here him. We all had a good laugh when he stood at the front of the pack and said, "Anyone lining up right here should be able to run a 5 or 6 minute mile," and then everyone that was up there scattered like they were standing on shock plates. LOL! We stayed right where we were.
The actual start took us by surprise. One second we were standing there laughing and talking, and then, BANG! I jumped ahead and didn't see my running partner again until almost the end of the race. I wasnt' trying to race her. I was mostly trying to figure out where the actual starting line was, since they picked up all the cones before the gun, and I wanted to start my watch right on the line in order to get an accurate time. Well, I took my best guess, looked around, and it was just me and a ton of kids and people running three and four abreast. Despite my best intentions, my claustrophobia kicked in, and I started darting around passing up people and looking for holes. By the time I broke free of the main pack, we were going downhill, so I said,"Whee! Downhill!" First mile ended up being my fastest mile ever, just over 8 minutes.
But, Tracy, you say, that's way faster than you were supposed to be going. To which I say yes, and then hang my head with shame as I admit, yes, I actually burned myself out waaaaaaaayyyy too and ended up walking some. I'm still beating myself up over that. I think I stopped to walk 3 times, not including the water stop, but it seemed like I was in a group of people who were having similar problems. One, in particular, looked a lot younger than me, and she walked at least as much as I did. So, I just kept plugging.
I know some of you think it's rather absurd to have water stops in a 5k race. I'd tend to agree with you. However, I was already parched BEFORE the race started, having counted on there being water fountains at the park when I never actually found one that worked. So, starting a race thirsty in near 80 degrees with wind that actually knocked me sideways more than once was a recipe for running out of steam. The one water stop was near the 2.5 mile mark, and the cups were way too teeny. I was still thirsty for the whole race. My own damned fault, too.
Just after the water stop, I was still walking, cuz yeah, I was pooped, my running buddy showed up next to me. I thought she'd passed me in one of the groups earlier on, but when she fell in beside me, I found the oomph to pick up and start going again. She asked me how far we were, since I had a Garmin, and there were no mile markers on the course, and I said 2.6. Just half a mile left. Just half a mile. I should've been able to make another half mile, right?
Wrong. I was determined to stay in step with her, could even hear the crowd yelling around the next corner, but my heart rate was over 180, and I needed on last breather. I let her run on ahead. I don't think I walked very far, just enough to catch my breath, because she was still right in front of me as I turned on the steam for the last 200 meters. I came around the corner and found out I still had legs left to kick, so I did. Garmin says I managed a 6 minute pace through that section.
HOWEVER.. and there is always a however... remember what I said about there be no clear start or finish line? Well, I turned on the steam, watched my running buddy right in front of me, figuring she'd see the finish line before I did, since I had no clue. There were a bunch of people just milling around in the street, and she stopped right past them, so I stopped, just a second behind her. I walked maybe a step, and a race official said, "NO, go! All the way to the end!"
Me: "WHAT?!" Then, run, run, run, about twenty more feet to the end.
When all was said and done, I stopped my Garmin at 28:23, but I'm pretty sure I heard the race official yell 28:30 when I stepped into the line where they wrote down our numbers, so I'm going with 28:30. It wasn't pretty, and the conditions were less than ideal, but I beat my race prediction by over 30 seconds(depending which calculator you looked at). Plus, I ran my fastest mile ever. LOL.
This is where I admit that a little kid, no more than 3 feet tall, okay maybe 3 and a half feet tall, outran me for the whole distance, and I almost got beat by a dude with a jogging stroller. But none of that matters, because I got my goal. And besides, the kids were cute. In fact, I think the kid right in front of me turned to his mom at the end and asked, "Did I win, Mommy?" Awwwwwwwwwww. I don't think he did. There were actually faster kids I never even saw, but awwwwwww.
But FYI, the overall winner of the race was a girl. So, yay, girl power. I think her time was 19:15, but don't quote me on that.
I stuck around long enough to eat a bagel, of which there were plenty, despite the large crowd, and downed a bottle of water while waiting for the door prizes to be drawn. I didn't win any of those, either, but all in all, it was a good day, and I definitely plan on doing it again next year. Probably still wearing Saucony Kinvaras, of which there were many, many pairs on the road that day. *shares my shoe love despite the fact that I'll never get paid to do so*
And that, as they say, is that.
Short story. Ran my first 5k in very poor fashion. Finished in 28:30. Lived to run another day.
Here's the link I promised the charity this race benefited. Mercy Project. According to the race coordinator, the race raised over 7000 dollars, which would free about 7 of these children from slavery. That's something to be thankful for, for sure.
Once upon a time, I took up running. It went something like this.
"Hubby, I want running shoes for my birthday this year."
"Why?"
"Because I want to start running."
*laughs* "You'll never use them."
"Screw you. Yes, I will."
Okay, so it was four months later before I actually RAN in the running shoes I got for my birthday, but four months later is not never, so THERE. I actually put them on and putzed around my block sometime last October, back when a mile and a half seemed like a huge distance, and I couldn't run even that. I remember distinctly what I did last Thanksgiving, because I put my dressing in the oven and went out 'running.' My run that day was a whole whopping two miles, and I couldn't run more than five minutes at a time without walking. I don't know what made me keep trying, but I did, and that's why I have a race to report.
I signed up for a 5k race. That's about 3.1 miles for the unsavvy. Those of you following along are probably tilting your head in confusion (see Sony dog for reference) because, yes, my last two race reports were for a 10k and a 10 mile race, both way longer than 5k. But would you believe I was more nervous for this one than for either of those?
It's hard to explain, but with the 10k and 10 mile race, I considered the distance my primary competition. As long as I could go the distance, I figured that was a win. I can stay Zen about my running if I just have finishing as my goal. However, having run a 10k and a 10 mile race, the 5k distance was dauntingly... short. Suddenly, I felt like I had to race the race, not just finish, and I knew exactly how that would go. I'd run too fast, burn out early, and end up staggering over the finish line like I hadn't trained at all. I'm not kidding. I psyched myself out sooo much.
But I still signed up. Why? Because I'm training for a marathon, and all the training paces for the program I'm following are based on my fastest 5k time. Sure, I can go out and run 5k around my block and plug that in, but I wouldn't know it was my fastest unless I raced it. Plus, the race proceeds were for a great cause, which I'll link at the end of this post. Besides, I'd been hitting my speed workouts in the weeks leading up to the race, and that hasn't happened in EVER. So, I was feeling pretty fast, or at least, like I could run 5k faster than the race calculator prediction of 29:17. I hoped so, anyway.
I sucked it up, paid my entry fee, and prayed for good weather. Then, I commenced psyching myself out some more. How much? Well, the night before the race, I realized I needed to shave my legs. Only problem was, I also had to wash my hair. Not enough hot water to do both. Sucks to be me, I know. No way I wasn't washing my hair, because sweaty hair is stinky hair, but hairy legs might increase the wind resistance. I kid you not. I actually considered the amount of wind resistance the hair on my legs might add. I was seriously going a little insane at that point. Luckily for me, I have a pair of Zoot compression socks in my gear bag. I usually only use them for really long runs, but for 70 bucks, they would work as industrial strength leg hair smoother downers in a pinch. Problem solved.
Next, I didn't have any idea what to do with my hair. I have really, really long hair, the kind that gets caught in my pants if I'm not careful, and for my last two races, I picked out cute hairdos and did sporty little twisty things with braids. This time, I actually said to myself, "The race isn't chip timed, so the more people who run behind me, the better." A tiny vindictive part of myself actually considered leaving my hair down at that point. There was this guy in high school who sat behind me in math class, and every time I sat down he made sure to say, "Ugh, that hair," before scooching his desk back a foot or so to prevent any one of my disgusting hairs from touching anything of his. If it worked in high school... Hahahahaha! Okay, no I'm not bitter at all. We were all infected with a good dose of budding jackass back in the day. I just... yeah, I actually considered using my hair as a weapon in the race. How crazy does that make me? Don't answer that.
Anyway, I decided against it, because loose hair on my head would totally counteract the leg hair smoother downers on my feet. Finally, I just decided to tie it up the way I always do, a top knot with a couple of roller pins, and voila.
I knew before I got up that morning that the weather was not going to be ideal. The 10 miler had been gorgeous, high 60's maybe, clear. The days leading up to and including the Turkey Trot were hot for November, approaching 80 degrees and humid. Really grody. There was a front predicted to move through on race day, and we were warned to keep rain gear handy, but most likely, it was going to stay hot and muggy for the duration. Race morning was mid-70's and 100percent miserable with gusting winds. Ah, well, beggars can't be choosers, right?
I got there early, ran a nice half mile warmup around the park. That felt really good. My plan for the race was to stay as close to 9:00min/mile pace as I could, and my warmup kept wanting to push into the low 8 minute range. Prophetic? Probably so.
I hooked up with a couple of friends from the Galloway marathon group I run with, and we discussed whether or not any of us planned to run/walk, which is the Galloway method, or just run. I said I was going to just run it but wasn't going to rule out walking if I needed to. I found my other running friend when it was nearly race time. I had almost given up on finding her, and I joked that we'd probably only see each other at the starting line because she's 14 years younger and faster than me. Plus, she'd run a 5k before and knew how to pace herself. She laughed at me. I really was overthinking it. I told her I was going to try to average as close to 9 minutes as possible, keeping in mind that the race calculators predicted closer to 9 and a half. I'm an overachiever, I guess. We were sorta discussing this, or I was talking, and she was listening, because she's awesome like that, as they directed us to the starting line.
That's when it hit me that there were quite a few people in this race. It was an inaugural race, and I had seem small numbers predicted online, less than a hundred. But as we lined up, they said they'd predicted at most 200 or so and ended up with more than 400. Not a huge race by any means, but also, not chip-timed, and not very wide streets, so starting and finishing could be a problem. Also, it was a family race, so lots of kids, dogs and strollers. We lined ourselves up somewhere in the middle of the pack and stood there, waiting for further instructions. The race director finally gave up trying to talk to us over the PA, because with the wind, we couldn't here him. We all had a good laugh when he stood at the front of the pack and said, "Anyone lining up right here should be able to run a 5 or 6 minute mile," and then everyone that was up there scattered like they were standing on shock plates. LOL! We stayed right where we were.
The actual start took us by surprise. One second we were standing there laughing and talking, and then, BANG! I jumped ahead and didn't see my running partner again until almost the end of the race. I wasnt' trying to race her. I was mostly trying to figure out where the actual starting line was, since they picked up all the cones before the gun, and I wanted to start my watch right on the line in order to get an accurate time. Well, I took my best guess, looked around, and it was just me and a ton of kids and people running three and four abreast. Despite my best intentions, my claustrophobia kicked in, and I started darting around passing up people and looking for holes. By the time I broke free of the main pack, we were going downhill, so I said,"Whee! Downhill!" First mile ended up being my fastest mile ever, just over 8 minutes.
But, Tracy, you say, that's way faster than you were supposed to be going. To which I say yes, and then hang my head with shame as I admit, yes, I actually burned myself out waaaaaaaayyyy too and ended up walking some. I'm still beating myself up over that. I think I stopped to walk 3 times, not including the water stop, but it seemed like I was in a group of people who were having similar problems. One, in particular, looked a lot younger than me, and she walked at least as much as I did. So, I just kept plugging.
I know some of you think it's rather absurd to have water stops in a 5k race. I'd tend to agree with you. However, I was already parched BEFORE the race started, having counted on there being water fountains at the park when I never actually found one that worked. So, starting a race thirsty in near 80 degrees with wind that actually knocked me sideways more than once was a recipe for running out of steam. The one water stop was near the 2.5 mile mark, and the cups were way too teeny. I was still thirsty for the whole race. My own damned fault, too.
Just after the water stop, I was still walking, cuz yeah, I was pooped, my running buddy showed up next to me. I thought she'd passed me in one of the groups earlier on, but when she fell in beside me, I found the oomph to pick up and start going again. She asked me how far we were, since I had a Garmin, and there were no mile markers on the course, and I said 2.6. Just half a mile left. Just half a mile. I should've been able to make another half mile, right?
Wrong. I was determined to stay in step with her, could even hear the crowd yelling around the next corner, but my heart rate was over 180, and I needed on last breather. I let her run on ahead. I don't think I walked very far, just enough to catch my breath, because she was still right in front of me as I turned on the steam for the last 200 meters. I came around the corner and found out I still had legs left to kick, so I did. Garmin says I managed a 6 minute pace through that section.
HOWEVER.. and there is always a however... remember what I said about there be no clear start or finish line? Well, I turned on the steam, watched my running buddy right in front of me, figuring she'd see the finish line before I did, since I had no clue. There were a bunch of people just milling around in the street, and she stopped right past them, so I stopped, just a second behind her. I walked maybe a step, and a race official said, "NO, go! All the way to the end!"
Me: "WHAT?!" Then, run, run, run, about twenty more feet to the end.
When all was said and done, I stopped my Garmin at 28:23, but I'm pretty sure I heard the race official yell 28:30 when I stepped into the line where they wrote down our numbers, so I'm going with 28:30. It wasn't pretty, and the conditions were less than ideal, but I beat my race prediction by over 30 seconds(depending which calculator you looked at). Plus, I ran my fastest mile ever. LOL.
This is where I admit that a little kid, no more than 3 feet tall, okay maybe 3 and a half feet tall, outran me for the whole distance, and I almost got beat by a dude with a jogging stroller. But none of that matters, because I got my goal. And besides, the kids were cute. In fact, I think the kid right in front of me turned to his mom at the end and asked, "Did I win, Mommy?" Awwwwwwwwwww. I don't think he did. There were actually faster kids I never even saw, but awwwwwww.
But FYI, the overall winner of the race was a girl. So, yay, girl power. I think her time was 19:15, but don't quote me on that.
I stuck around long enough to eat a bagel, of which there were plenty, despite the large crowd, and downed a bottle of water while waiting for the door prizes to be drawn. I didn't win any of those, either, but all in all, it was a good day, and I definitely plan on doing it again next year. Probably still wearing Saucony Kinvaras, of which there were many, many pairs on the road that day. *shares my shoe love despite the fact that I'll never get paid to do so*
And that, as they say, is that.
Short story. Ran my first 5k in very poor fashion. Finished in 28:30. Lived to run another day.
Here's the link I promised the charity this race benefited. Mercy Project. According to the race coordinator, the race raised over 7000 dollars, which would free about 7 of these children from slavery. That's something to be thankful for, for sure.
