5 Observations On My First 5K in 5 Months
I have actual progress to report! I started this blog to document how things are going as I train to run 5 half marathons this July and bounce back from a significant injury last Fall. However, there just hasn’t been that much to document for a while now since I’ve just been gradually building my mileage back up and being pretty miserable running in the cold and the snow. But! This past Saturday, I ran a competitive 5k! And it went well! That was my first race since October, a few weeks before my stress fracture was diagnosed. Here are 5 thoughts on the race, and racing in general:
In general, running races is something I enjoy a lot after I’m finished actually doing it, but that makes me pretty miserable during the actual act. This is even more true for running in the cold. We had 60 degree weather here earlier in the week, but the bottom dropped back out on Friday and the temp at race time was around 25 with a pretty gnarly North wind beating down on us. But it was dry and the sun was shining, so I’ll take it. I don’t like running races in the cold, but I’m always proud of the fact that I did it. It doesn’t feel like I’ve actually gone through a winter if I don’t run at least one race under those conditions, so I’m glad I was finally able to check the box.
This was the last ride for my running tights. When I was getting dressed Saturday morning, I noticed that the inseam of my tights was starting to have second thoughts about things, so, after the race, I tossed them. I will deal with finding a new pair in November. It will be shorts weather soon, and, until then, I can bridge the gap with sweatpants as needed. Farewell, noble tights, you served me well.
Mason, my Australian Cattle Dog, ran the race with me. He is definitely in better running condition than me right now and probably could have finished even faster if I’d had a little more left in the tank over the last half mile. Back in October, when I was in marathon shape and temps were still getting up into the 70s, I had to leave him at home on my longer runs because he couldn’t keep up. But for now, I’m holding my running partner back a bit. He didn’t mind, thought.
Why oh why oh why do people run with little speakers blasting music? Do they not own headphones? I have never been so confident to imagine that every stranger around me would enjoy listening to whatever music I had picked out. I guess I’m envious of that kind of self assurance, but, all the same, I might need to shove someone into a drainage ditch the next time the pass me blasting “Highway to the Danger Zone” out of tinny Bluetooth speakers.
Mason and I were the fastest dog/human pair at the race (an unofficial category without any prizes), and I finished way ahead of the walkers, but I was comfortably out of the running for any kind of overall or age group recognition. They gave out finishers’ medals, but I don’t even display medals from halfs that I’ve run, so the 5k ones usually go into the trash. And they were out of my size in shirts, so I had to go XL and ended up with a nice new pajama shirt. Nevertheless, it feels great to run a race. Running is a solitary pursuit, and I’m a solitary kind of person, but being a part of a big group all doing the same thing is an essential human need. And, calling it like it is, racing against other people, even if it’s just part of a battle for 45th place that the other person is unaware we are engaged in, feels good. I ran about a minute ahead of my fast mile pace from the past few months of training, and I spent the rest of the day feeling like I’d accomplished something. Running races is fun.
Next up, I’m going to run a 10k in April and then a half somewhere local in either May or June. Two days post race and everything feels fine injury-wise, so I’m feeling good about all the rehab running I did over the last two months. I should be in good shape to do my 5 state/5 half marathon road trip out to Seattle and back in July. If you’re new here, the whole thing is a fundraiser I’m doing for the National Diaper Bank Network. If you’d like to make even a small contribution to the project, please hit the “Donate” button up at the top of the page. Thanks so much!
