I had forgotten to register on line so we then had to stand in line to register during which we heard the start of the kids fun run….grrrr! To hell with this I thought so we cut out of the line and dashed over to the start. My wife took our eldest and I had our youngest, there were already some kids nearly three quarters round the 1000m parking lot track when we crossed the start line; as bandits.
We finished the lap and the got they participant ribbon, smiles and laughter and that was what it was all about!
I went back to the registration and completed the sign up for the 5k, I quickly pinned on my number stripped of my puffa jacket; oh did I mention it was 55f with a cold north wind, and track bottoms and ran to the start. There are a two big High Schools in the area as well as local running store that focus on the shorter distances and they were out in force. I nestled myself into the front quarter about 15 yards behind the start. There was a shout, apparently the gun was broken, and were off!
Since we had rushed out the door I was without my iPod; virtually a first so I focused in on my breath and picking off people slowly some I did some I didn't. The course was a loop and a half mostly around the local mall, it was a bit rolling so what I lost on the ups I gained on the downs, steady was my key, finding a pace that was sustainable but pretty quick, especially as I had not done any speed work since February. My splits are really representative of the ups and downs of the course; 6:54, 7:25, 6:59 and 1:29 for the last (0.25mile?)
My chip time; 22:58:01 good enough for 126/1319 OA and 9/73 in my Age Group. Considering my lack of speed work and training in general I was pleased, I was expecting something north of 25 minutes. As mentioned my wife was there and with a camera so I asked to grab some photos of me, she said she would wait at the finish, as I came down the home straight I picked up my speed for the sprint finish, I saw her on the sideline camera in hand, unfortunately this was the fruits of her labor:
;-/ well actually seeing me finish is an improvement, in previous races she has missed that altogether! I looked at my Garmin stats for this point in the race, I was doing a 5:59 mile and my HR was 185, yeah the guy in black is feeling but check out the kid in white, looks like he is out just kicking a ball along; genetics are a beyotch!
So closes out my racing season; well…maybe.
LMAO... You need me to have Dee Dee chat with her? She's a pretty awesome race photog....
ReplyDeleteWell done, I'm pretty sure the only thing I have against "shorter" races like this is that I'm not fast enough for them! Way to run Stuart.
ReplyDeleteYou crack me up with how close you cut these race times before they start. I would be so stressed! :)
ReplyDeleteEnd of your race season...yeah right. I don't buy it.
haha too funny! Nice job! 5 and 10K are tough! I'd much rather run a 1/2 or full :)
ReplyDeleteYou've had a great race season so far!!! Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteWell, the people following you sure look tired trying to keep up so I assume you must be doing a great job and looking good too. Bully!
ReplyDelete