First 5K Race Report (Read 459 times)

I just ran my first 5K race. This is what happened… First some background. I started running in August, have run mostly on the treadmill all winter, and I don’t like to run in the cold (i.e., cold = less than 50*). Most of my training has been easy miles as I have been focusing on building-up my mileage base, while not getting injured. I have done very limited hill and speed work. I ran the virtual 5K in January, posting a time of 32:55. Yes, I am fat and slow. I am running an 8 K in 2 weeks, a 10 miler in 5 weeks, and a HM in 8 weeks. This 5K caught my eye, as a good pre-cursor to the 8K, but I was worried it would be too cold, so I didn’t pre-register. The forecast was for 32* at race time. I decided yesterday to go for it, and I am glad I did. I got to the race 45 minutes early, so I could register, and do 20 minutes of warming up walking/running. It was cold and breezy, but it was really a beautiful day. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sun shined brightly. When I registered, I didn’t get a tee-shirt because they were all out (there were a lot of same-day registrants). The director said there would be more available at the local running shop later in the week. There we no bibs either. The director said I would be handed a numbered popsicle stick when I finished, indicating my placement. What about timing? Well I figured I would have to wait and see. At the start, most of us were standing around shivering, and I was shocked to see a guy walking up to the starting line in shorts and a tank top. I thought to myself this guy must be really fast. It turns-out, he won the race with a time around 16 minutes! Anyway, I was wearing long running pants, a tech t-shirt, with a long sleeved under-armour shirt, covered by a fleece. I was expecting to see a clock or something at the start, but there was just a guy with a stop watch who thanked us for coming, and quickly said, “ready, set, go”. I started my Nike+iPod and was on my way. I was worried about a lot of things, like running off the course, running too fast to start, having to go to the bathroom during the race, getting thirsty, being the slowest runner...I was worrying for nothing, for none of these things were a problem. Anyway, I started out fairly quickly, better than a 10 min/mile pace, which is something I’ve never done before. I wasn’t worried too much about it, for I was feeling pretty comfortable. Having all of the runners around me, made me run faster, also, watching a large pack of runners pulling away from me motivated me to try and keep up the pace. This race was in a college town, where most of the participants were young. The people that stood out to me, as I was running, were the heavier and/or older ones. I would set my sights on them and try to pass them. So one by one, I started picking them off. I did my first mile in 9:38. This was like world record pace for me. I was still feeling good, even though I was pushing it. I figured that all of my aerobic training was paying off now. At some point between the first and second mile, I stopped worrying about if I was going too fast, and just focused on going as fast as I could. So, I just kept chugging along, looking for the next person to aim for ahead of me. In the last mile, I ran into the problem that JK mentioned. I really wanted some good tunes to push me harder, but I had my iPod in shuffle mode, and with 100 to 200 songs on that thing, I couldn’t find any of my favorites. So I did the best I could with Neil Sedaka’s Greatest Hits (just kidding, but you get the idea). So, I kept pushing it the last mile, passing as many people as I could. Most of the people I passed, I never saw again, but there was one young punk hipster who I don’t think liked being passed by paunchy, graying, middle-aged man, so he picked it up, and stayed about 5 yards ahead of me, until the last 100 yards, when I smoked him. So I finished with a sprint, up a hill, to the finish line. Again, I was expecting to see a clock, but there wasn’t one, just a woman with a clipboard, and a guy calling out times. I entered a finishing “chute” and was handled a popsicle stick with my placement on it. I then waited in line to have my name and place recorded. I finished with an unofficial time of 29:18, shaving 3:37 off my virtual 5K time from January. I finished 105th, in a field of roughly 150. This was a lot of fun, and I can wait for the next one!

Congratulations. It must have felt great passing that 'young punk hipster'. Good going, or should I say running. Ewa

So, I kept pushing it the last mile, passing as many people as I could. Most of the people I passed, I never saw again, but there was one young punk hipster who I don’t think liked being passed by paunchy, graying, middle-aged man, so he picked it up, and stayed about 5 yards ahead of me, until the last 100 yards, when I smoked him. I finished with an unofficial time of 29:18, shaving 3:37 off my virtual 5K time from January. I finished 105th, in a field of roughly 150. This was a lot of fun, and I can wait for the next one!

That rocks! Smokin' a whipper-snapper AND shaving more than 3.5 minutes off of your time are both awesome things--especially in a single race! You did awesomely! k

Well done on the PR and a nice report. Sounds like you had a great day - good luck in your next races!

Thanks everyone for all of your kind words!