2015 Bringing Hope Home 5K
Spur of the Moment on Tired Legs
I'd been looking around for a local 5K to test my speed, but nothing seemed to fit into my schedule around long runs and interval workouts. I was always tired on the weekends or trying to fit in a long run. I had my eye on a 5K in Thorndale that I knew was a flat, fast course, but in the preceding week my interval workout on Wednesday was flat in a different sense. I couldn't get any good speed and finished exhausted on tired legs. I decided I would not set my alarm for Saturday morning and when I woke would be a good indication of my level of fatigue. Come Saturday morning by the time I was finished with breakfast and ready to make a decision, it looked like I would be cutting it too close for my peace of mind, so I started searching for a nearby race for Sunday instead. That's when I discovered this one only 5 minutes from hom, which gave me plenty of time to get there, register, and warm up. the course was just as flat, if not flatter if possible, than the one in Thorndale. The field was also a lot smaller. Even in hindsight I'm not sure how much difference that might have made.
When I arrived I would have thought I was way too early if I hadn't expected a small turnout. My initial estimate was that we might have 50 runners max. I registered, was told I get my t-shirt after the race, and went to warm up and check out the start and finish areas. It's a good thing I checked out both. At the start area the people there pointed out where the finish was. It wasn't a simple out and back on the rails to trails path. As we returned we had to turn right by the parking lot and run an almost full loop around the playground area, close to a quarter mile in length, instead of continuing straight to the starting line. While waiting at the start I chatted with a few of the other runners. My Labor Pain shirt elicited a few comments.
Even with the small field the race was chip timed, but with the narrow path it still took me 6 seconds to cross the mat. I quickly fell into step with one of the young ladies I'd been chatting with who said she normally runs about 30 minutes. That pace was fine with me, so we settled in as runners sorted themselves out quickly. We ran together for the first mile which we reached in 9:38, then she accelerated and I couldn't stay with her. She ended up finishing about a minute ahead of me and won her age group. Shortly after that we could see the leaders coming back, so I knew the turnaround was too far away. Meanwhile there was a group ahead that I tried to keep in sight and within striking distance if I could pick up the pace a little. One drawback of a race like this is that the turnaround causes runners to break their rhythm because we have to make a u-turn on a path that's only about 8 feet wide. I had to make a conscious effort ot regain my stride, rhythm, and pace after that, then see what I could do about narrowing the distance between me and the runners ahead. It seemed like I was closing a little, but not fast enough...and I couldn't seem to go any faster regardless of how hard I tried. I passed two miles with a second mile split of 9:41. Despite my increased effort I had actually slowed down by a few seconds. I could see that I was slowly catching up to at least one runner but I was also running out space. I kept pushing hard and sometimes seemed to be closing the gap, then I would look again not be sure. We were rapidly approaching the turn off the rails to trails path onto the loop around the playground. At least I could tell that I had definitely narrowed the distance, then just as I thought a final sprint just might get me past her, she accelerated. This was one time when desire and experience couldn't overcome the benefits of youth as she pulled away in the final 100 meters, but chasing her did get me under 30 minutes as my last mile was 9:37 and my final time 29:51.
It was great temperatures for racing, but cool enough that after the race I wanted to get my jacket on for my cool down. As I was cooling down briefly I had one odd observation. Of the 60-80 vehicles in the parking lot, only about 10 were American models. When I jogged over to get my race t-shirt, they were out of men's medium, so I didn't bother taking one. Besides I don't really need another cotton shirt that will ony take up space in my closet or drawer. When the results were posted I checked to see where I placed: 29th overall of 46 finishers and 2nd in my age group. Third was only 8 seconds behind me. As small as the race was age group awards were only being given to first place in each division. After we thought the awards ceremony was over, we had a little surprise. There were left over awards, possibly because not every age group was represented or someone miscounted when ordering awards, but we were called back and they started giving out the remaining awards to second and third place finishers, so I ended up with a medal after all.
With the year starting to wind down and my final race being a 24-hour race at Across the Years in Phoenix, I'll be concentrating on my distance training. I may still run a turkey trot on Thanksgiving since there are a lot to choose from and most allow race day registration, but that again may be a race day decision with the weather as much as anything else being a deciding factor.
