Father's Day 5M
Ran another race this morning. Still not in race shape, and in fact was thinking of not going if it was raining. But the rain cleared up (sort of) and I went.
I spent the first mile wanted to stop and walk. Then I decided to push to mile 2 before stopping. Then at mile 2 I said to myself I'll force myself to get to 3.1 miles (5K). This is the anniversary of my first race ever. Back then it was a 5K and so I wanted to compare.
Like usual, I forgot to check my old time before leaving. So when I passed 3.1M at 26:26 I had no idea how that compared to my past. (Actually, it was better. That first race 9 years ago has no net time, but the official time was 27:59. There weren't that many runners back then so I probably took less than 1:33 to hit the start line.)
Well, I really wanted to stop and walk then. But then I decided to just slow down a little instead. I tried to take it a little easier from then on. Looking at my mile splits it doesn't really seem that I was successful, but I felt a little better during the fourth mile.
By the last mile I was hurting again. But now it was too late to stop! I just forced myself to keep going through to the finish line.
Final splits:
8:40
8:24
8:34
8:35
8:34
Final (net) time: 42:28, for an 8:33 pace.
I spent the first few miles thinking how this race was going to be crappy and make for a depressing blog post. In the end, I'm happy with it. No, I'm not in good shape at all. And yes, it's way off my PR. But it was good to push myself again. Most of my long runs lately include a break. I just can't tough it out these days. But forcing myself to just make it through this race - even at a slower pace than in the past - is good mental training. Because of the pricing change (and my overall conditioning) this is only my second race of the year. I'd done 10 by this time last year! So it was good to be out there again...
By the way, for those into numbers, it's been 9 years since that first race. And this is road race #63 for me. I wish I'd also kept track of all the miles since day 1. Unfortunately, I've only done that the last few years. But all my recorded miles so far come to 2730. That's more than running from NYC to LA. (Yeah so my 9 years is like 1 summer for Dean Karnazes. It's still cool!)
I spent the first mile wanted to stop and walk. Then I decided to push to mile 2 before stopping. Then at mile 2 I said to myself I'll force myself to get to 3.1 miles (5K). This is the anniversary of my first race ever. Back then it was a 5K and so I wanted to compare.
Like usual, I forgot to check my old time before leaving. So when I passed 3.1M at 26:26 I had no idea how that compared to my past. (Actually, it was better. That first race 9 years ago has no net time, but the official time was 27:59. There weren't that many runners back then so I probably took less than 1:33 to hit the start line.)
Well, I really wanted to stop and walk then. But then I decided to just slow down a little instead. I tried to take it a little easier from then on. Looking at my mile splits it doesn't really seem that I was successful, but I felt a little better during the fourth mile.
By the last mile I was hurting again. But now it was too late to stop! I just forced myself to keep going through to the finish line.
Final splits:
8:40
8:24
8:34
8:35
8:34
Final (net) time: 42:28, for an 8:33 pace.
I spent the first few miles thinking how this race was going to be crappy and make for a depressing blog post. In the end, I'm happy with it. No, I'm not in good shape at all. And yes, it's way off my PR. But it was good to push myself again. Most of my long runs lately include a break. I just can't tough it out these days. But forcing myself to just make it through this race - even at a slower pace than in the past - is good mental training. Because of the pricing change (and my overall conditioning) this is only my second race of the year. I'd done 10 by this time last year! So it was good to be out there again...
By the way, for those into numbers, it's been 9 years since that first race. And this is road race #63 for me. I wish I'd also kept track of all the miles since day 1. Unfortunately, I've only done that the last few years. But all my recorded miles so far come to 2730. That's more than running from NYC to LA. (Yeah so my 9 years is like 1 summer for Dean Karnazes. It's still cool!)
posted by Danny on Sunday, June 21, 2009
4 Comments:
Pushing the brain forward is usually more than half the battle.
Hey, as long as you're in LA you should give me a call. We'll go for a run in Bonelli. LOL
At that distance I've already been to NYC and back to LA and am almost back to NYC. When I get there I'll look you up.
Nine years is great!! And pushing yourself all the way can make for a great race!
Great job getting out there. I can't even think about a race right now. On top of being sick last week, I'm just nowhere near where I want to be, even for a short race. Kinda weird.
hey. i was looking for you post race... It was so freaking humid - i choked.
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