Just a quick race update. The race was Saturday, and it went surprisingly well for someone who has barely run in the last few months. The weather was, as expected, a nice balmy 25 degrees (what doesn't kill you...). My toes weren't present for any of the run, having decided to take a quick jaunt to somewhere lacking any and all sensation. But it turns out, I didn't really need them. I didn't anticipate the competitive streak that erupted at the sounding gun (LIES!) and did my first mile in about 7:20.The one thing that you'll see in a 5K that you won't see in longer races is drunken frat-boy types who started imbibing early in the a.m. so as to be plenty fueled for the run. There were three on this particular day. They shouted and skipped around like mentally challenged, er, frat boys, for awhile, making asses of themselves and probably irritating the hell out of many of the other runners.I settled in behind them at the beginning of mile two in order to take advantage of the free entertainment but then passed by when they started to flag. A blue-shirted woman went by me at about a mile and a half, which set off teeth-gritting frustration. So after going around the frat boys, I held onto her footsteps for the last mile. She and I hit the last hill at the same time and I kicked into high gear, completely leaving her behind. Yes, I enjoyed it.I finished 77th overall out of 661 runners; 21st of 396 in my gender; and 7th out of 76 in my division. My compadres, the Torpedo and the Cruiser, seemed equally happy with their times. We drove the hour back home and were treated to biscuits, gravy, scrambled eggs, and bacon by Mr. Universally Talented who slaved all morning, thus ensuring that we had to run at least another ten miles if we planned on equaling out the calories in-to-out ratio. Instead, we opted for a long and promising day of perfecting our between-race slacking techniques.The next race is actually only five miles, not the 10K I thought it was, on January 21st. Perhaps I'll attempt another straight-from-the-couch run, and see if I can PR with that strategy. Or maybe I'll be smart, perhaps even run and interval or two before then.
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| Snapshot of the other races I've kept track of. This is Athlinks, a pretty decent online tracking tool. |
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