2005 Summer Stampede 5k
This race was a little different because it is in the evening and it is part of a larger series of races - one a week for 12 weeks. I only did one of them (though I'm now tempted to do the last one next week). I was running the race with one of my coworkers, James. We used to be Mac OS X Product Champions together. He's now in the call monitoring and analysis group (listens to phone calls for "quality assurance" and all that stuff).
At about 5:45 yesterday it started raining like crazy. Great. So I found a little plastic baggie to put over my iPod shuffle. At 6:15 we left work to head for the race and the rain let up. By the time we got to the race site at 6:30, the rain had completely stopped. We registered at the sign in table and paid our entry fee and walked a bit of a course for a warm up. At 7 we lined up at the finish line. James and I were near the back of the pack which was fine with me because I knew I would be pretty slow.
I heard the airhorn go off and we started to move. I picked up to a run when I crossed the starting line. The nice thing about chip-timed races (you have a little chip attached to your shoe) is that it doesn't matter where in the group you are because your time starts when you pass the start line, not when the "gun" sounds.
By the time I got to mile 1, I felt like I was doing pretty well. It didn't seem like it was that hard. About halfway between mile 1 and 2, I was ready to start walking. Lately I've been running a maximum of 1.5 miles before I need to start walking. I decided I wasn't going to stop and I kept pushing. I finally reached mile marker 2 and there was a water station. Since drinking and running didn't work so well at the Marathon Relay, I decided to walk and drink my cup. After handing my empty cup to a volunteer, I started walking really fast and I was keeping pace with a guy that was jogging along. For the next mile I walked and ran alternately. When I got to mile marker 3, I picked up and ran, sprinting into the finish as fast as I could go.
I was pretty pleased that I ran for 2 miles before walking, and I was thinking I had beat my time from the marathon relay, but I didn't. I got the results online today and my time was 36:18, an 11:38 minute mile. At the Marathon Relay I came in at 36:09, an 11:18 minute mile. Darn. I was hoping I beat my best time. However, I am really pleased that I ran for the first 2 miles. I feel like I'm one step closer to running the whole thing. Once I get to that point, I can start to try to increase my pace. Roger also pointed out that this course had a lot more hills (including one incredibly steep one) than my last course which was pretty flat so that may have also contributed to a bit longer time.
Running is hard. It's harder than pretty much any other physical activity I've ever done and the increase in stamina takes longer than I would like, but I'm going to keep at it.
After the race was over, I got a bottle of water (I worked really hard to hydrate myself all day before the race) and cooled down. I began to stretch and just at that moment, it started pouring down rain. I didn't really get a chance to fully stretch so I'm a bit tight and sore this morning. I'm going to spinning class today, then boot camp class tomorrow and I'll start up running again on Monday to continue training for my next race.
Originally my goal was to run 10k next spring, but I really want to run the 10k in October. I think if I keep working hard I can do it. Of course, I won't be able to run the whole thing, but if I'm at least able to run an entire 5k, I can then do some walking in the middle and walk/run the second half.
At about 5:45 yesterday it started raining like crazy. Great. So I found a little plastic baggie to put over my iPod shuffle. At 6:15 we left work to head for the race and the rain let up. By the time we got to the race site at 6:30, the rain had completely stopped. We registered at the sign in table and paid our entry fee and walked a bit of a course for a warm up. At 7 we lined up at the finish line. James and I were near the back of the pack which was fine with me because I knew I would be pretty slow.
I heard the airhorn go off and we started to move. I picked up to a run when I crossed the starting line. The nice thing about chip-timed races (you have a little chip attached to your shoe) is that it doesn't matter where in the group you are because your time starts when you pass the start line, not when the "gun" sounds.
By the time I got to mile 1, I felt like I was doing pretty well. It didn't seem like it was that hard. About halfway between mile 1 and 2, I was ready to start walking. Lately I've been running a maximum of 1.5 miles before I need to start walking. I decided I wasn't going to stop and I kept pushing. I finally reached mile marker 2 and there was a water station. Since drinking and running didn't work so well at the Marathon Relay, I decided to walk and drink my cup. After handing my empty cup to a volunteer, I started walking really fast and I was keeping pace with a guy that was jogging along. For the next mile I walked and ran alternately. When I got to mile marker 3, I picked up and ran, sprinting into the finish as fast as I could go.
I was pretty pleased that I ran for 2 miles before walking, and I was thinking I had beat my time from the marathon relay, but I didn't. I got the results online today and my time was 36:18, an 11:38 minute mile. At the Marathon Relay I came in at 36:09, an 11:18 minute mile. Darn. I was hoping I beat my best time. However, I am really pleased that I ran for the first 2 miles. I feel like I'm one step closer to running the whole thing. Once I get to that point, I can start to try to increase my pace. Roger also pointed out that this course had a lot more hills (including one incredibly steep one) than my last course which was pretty flat so that may have also contributed to a bit longer time.
Running is hard. It's harder than pretty much any other physical activity I've ever done and the increase in stamina takes longer than I would like, but I'm going to keep at it.
After the race was over, I got a bottle of water (I worked really hard to hydrate myself all day before the race) and cooled down. I began to stretch and just at that moment, it started pouring down rain. I didn't really get a chance to fully stretch so I'm a bit tight and sore this morning. I'm going to spinning class today, then boot camp class tomorrow and I'll start up running again on Monday to continue training for my next race.
Originally my goal was to run 10k next spring, but I really want to run the 10k in October. I think if I keep working hard I can do it. Of course, I won't be able to run the whole thing, but if I'm at least able to run an entire 5k, I can then do some walking in the middle and walk/run the second half.
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