Last year’s race was cold and rainy and miserable. This year it was perfect.
I stayed up late the night before, cheering on the Wolfpack, and didn’t get to bed until 12:30. When i woke up Saturday morning, i didn’t feel too much the worse for wear. I ate a banana and some water and was on my way downtown.
I knew quite a few others that were running this race, and i kept my eye out for them before the race. I went through the motions of getting my chip, jogging a little to warm up, hitting the port-a-john, etc. I only saw two people i knew before it was time to line up for the start.
For some inexplicable reason, i started near the front of the group. I think i wanted to start fast, but it wasn’t long before my body let me know how dumb that idea was. Plus, the start is on an uphill. Not my favorite (is uphill anyone’s favorite?) I was glad i had warmed up, though, because i felt pretty good. I was disappointed that there were no volunteers calling out the times at the mile markers, as i neglected to bring my watch with me. Oh well.
The course was a nice out-and-back course, with lots of long, rolling hills. I walked for about 10 steps at the water stop, and once more for 15 more steps in the middle of a long uphill in the 2nd half. I’m not sure where, because i missed the Mile 2 marker. I am sure i didn’t need to stop either time, but psychologically i was having trouble believing that i could do it. Plus, i was running a little faster than i normally do.
I saw two disturbing things during the run:
1) a guy in a truck arguing with a police officer about why he couldn’t turn on the road where the runners were running
2) a mother-daughter pair where the daughter was upset and crying and wanted to walk but the mother was being hard on her and telling her to run.
Cool things i saw:
1) a different mother-daughter pair where the mother was being encouraging.
2) a woman with one leg running with a prosthetic
3) a kid who couldn’t have been older than 7, running/walking in short spurts, getting encouragement from people who didn’t know him
As i approached the final stretch, i experienced a wave of happiness because i was closer to the end than i thought. I was still looking for that second mile marker, and to realize i was near the end was a relief! I finished strongly, but there was no sprinting – i just didn’t have enough gas. I finished in under 31 minutes, which is quite a solid finish for me, particularly since i haven’t been running consistently. Last year my time in this race was over 35 minutes.
I definitely feel that a sub-30 minute 5K is attainable. This year. Just the fact that my time started with three-zero is awesome to me.
The next race i have registered for is the Cary Road race 10K. I guess it’s time to start training for real, if i’m going to be running longer races and participating in the Inside-Out Half Marathon. I haven’t signed up yet, but i’m starting to feel like it’s a foregone conclusion.
Whenever the results are posted, i’ll post a link.
March 19th, 2010 9:56 am
Congrats on a great race! After your half marathon, that I’m sure you signed up for so you can’t back out of, You’ll easily be able to add some speed and break that 30 minute 5k. I think you can do 28 this year.