5k hooray!

5k. 5000 meters. 3.125 miles.

I went into Saturday's Race for the Cure with but two goals -- 1. Finished the race alive, and 2. Break 30 minutes.

The first goal was a given. I've been running 5k on the treadmill at the gym twice a week for well over a year. The second goal was a bit tougher -- not because I'm a slow bastard, but because I hurt my hip really badly in late August and had only been able to run for about 2 weeks before the race. I was only able to run 5k three times prior to the race, and had only broken 30 minutes one time (29:29), on the last practice run. As a point of reference, I had been running in the 26-27 minutes range, with a personal best of 25:25.

The forecast called for rain and lots of it. It was gloomy and VERY overcast when I arrived at Baker Park at 8 AM on Saturday. Notwithstanding the forecast, we were able to get the entire race in before the deluge set in.

I checked in and was assigned number 13. If I were a triskaidekaphobic, I'd have freaked, but I put no stock in superstition. After a whole lot of milling around, the race kicked off at about 9AM.

I felt strong at the start -- too strong, it turns out, as my pace was too fast to maintain for the entire run. That's where experience helps a bunch. I was able to adjust my pace early enough so as not to kill myself.

But my lungs were on fire! I have to be honest. I hadn't run outdoors since I was in my 20's. It's a different animal. Upslopes and downslopes became tests of how much I remembered from running the campus at college.

Because of rain overnight, the event sponsors weren't able to provide mile markers around the course, so I never had any idea how far along I was. THAT I didn't like - I need visual feedback in order to convince my body that all is well and it can continue despite its discomfort. Thankfully, just when my body was starting to convince me that maybe a little break wouldn't be a bad idea, I saw Baker Park coming into view. I was surprised at how much kick I was able to generate at the end. As I crossed the finish line, I saw my time on the big board - 29:16. Not only had I beaten 30 minutes, but I had bested my latest training time! Woo hoo!

I finished 34th out of approximately 70 runners (it's hard to have an exact count, since there were joggers, jog-walkers, and walkers in the mix in addition to the race competitors). Better still, I finished 5th out of about 12 50-and-overs. Not too shabby for a guy who, two years ago, was a 180-pound tub of goo with man boobs who got winded going up the stairs!

Will I race again? I think so. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with optimal training and actual mile markers.