Race for Our Heroes - 5K Run
My 5K started at 9am in downtown Raleigh, NC. I live about 45 minutes away, so the family and I woke up around 6:15 in order to get everything together. After taking advice from some friends that are runners I ate breakfast around 6:30. Had one egg with cheese on an english muffin. It seemed to sit pretty well on my stomach, and we finally hit the road around 7:15am.
I got to the race and tons of people were already there. I proudly wore my new shirt that I got with the registration, along with my racing bib, number 244. I got my chip, which gives you an accurate time and hooks onto your shoe laces. I knew I needed to warm-up but was unsure of how to, I usually just hit the trail after a short 5 minute walk; and, once you are at the starting line it is very crowded and hard to do anything.
My goal times for the 3 miles were: 10 minutes, 10 minutes, 9 minutes. This would put me in around 29-30 minutes.
3-2-1 START
Everyone took off really fast from the start, and it didn't help that it started downhill, which made everyone go even faster. Compared to the others I felt like I was going REALLY slow. People were passing me on both sides, but I really tried to keep a slow-ish pace so that I wouldn't run out of energy. The course description said "no hills; only slight inclines"... no hills my ass! This was the hillest race I've every been on, and at no point was it flat. It was up and down, up and down the whole way. As I approached the first mile marker I heard one of the volunteers calling out times.
"8:40"
WHAAT!!! I ran the first mile in 8 minutes and 40 seconds.... no wonder I already felt so tired! I instantly tried to slow my pace and let me heart slow down.
I started to worry about making it to the finish line. I felt dead, with the hills and the rushed pace I just couldn't push anymore. I came to another hill and started walking. I gave myself 30 seconds to 'rest' and make it up the hill. As soon as I hit the top I ran again and pushed until the next hills. Walked again. Ran again... but this time I ran until the end. I came up on the last stretch, about 6 blocks. My body wanted to stop, but I kept going and had a burst of energy right at the end. I saw my wife and kids there, holding up signs that said "WE LOVE YOU," and "GOOD LUCK DAD." It was so cute and really made all of my hard work worth it!
When I was finally able to stop I was flooded with emotion and walked with my family over to the grass... where I layed for a while and relaxed. It was wonderful; a HUGE feeling of acomplishment and pride... in myself!
My official time was 30 minutes 19 seconds; and that included two short walks! I am really happy.
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On a separate note I found a 10k. It is on October 11 in Disney World! I am going to take my family down and make a long weekend of it. I am going to start training next week (will post my training schedule once I find a good one). I'm not pushing for a specific time on this race, just to finish without stopping or walking.
I'm also doing another 5K race on Jun 13, 2009. This time around I would really like to get a sub-30 minute time! This 5K should be easier since I will be in the middle of training for a 10k, we'll see.
I learned from this race that I have several things to work on for my next race.
1. I need to workout on hilly courses, because most road races are not flat (like my beloved trail near work)
2. I need to practice running in the morning to get use to my energy level at a differnt time of the day. It definitely felt different than running in the afternoon.
3. I need to find a better way to pace myself within a 1-mile distance. Going so fast on the first mile really hurt my time and pace at the end of the race.
4. When running, even for practice, I need to start at a comfortable pace and speed up towards the end... not the other way around.
