First 5K

So, there's a local 5K that my running buddy and I have talked about running in the past.

This weekend, we actually did it.


It's my first official 5K. Whoo hoo! Finally got around to just doing it.

So, to set the scene, my running buddy hadn't run for 2 weeks. She's been having trouble with all that's happened lately. I've been battling some various physical issues.

So, yeah, we're not at our prime. Not that our prime is all that prime, either.

We drive up to the area the race is being held, and see some real pros. Guys and gals running faster than I can on a sprint, just to warm up. I casually mentioned that unless we start throwing a few elbows, we sure aren't going to win this thing.

We did the registration, got our shirts, and proceeded to do our warmups. Our warmups consist of absolutely nothing. They certainly pale in comparison to what was going on there.

The race eventually was getting underway, and we lined up. In the street. I don't know what I was expecting.. a crowd of 150 to run down the sidewalk? I dunno. I thought that was pretty cool, though. A decent police presence to prevent bozos from driving near us. If they'd do that every time I want to run, I'd really appreciate it.

Anyway, the starter pistol fired (barely.. really wimpy pistol, if you ask me), and we were off. It took about 6-7 seconds to get up to the starting line, and that's when I started my Garmin. We kept it at an easy pace, and ran the race just to run it.

(The nice thing about it being your first is that it's an instant PR).

The course was mostly flat, with a small downhill and a small uphill. It was 2 loops around some city streets, and there were crossing guards at each intersection.

A few locals came out to watch.. some were even cheering a bit.

The first quarter mile was really congested. There were 141 runners and a whole bunch of walkers. We slowly picked people off and moved past them. After about a half mile, it had spread apart pretty decently, and we could move at our desired pace.

I think our first mile was about 9:14.. (Don't have the splits in front of me. I know.. what kind of race report is this?)

After the first mile was the uphill, which was pretty taxing on a lot of folks. We kept up our pace, more or less, and kept on trucking. At the 2 mile mark (my Garmin said 2.03.. either it was measured wrong, or I turned a bit wide, or both. Probably me, though), we were doing pretty well. We wound up passing one of the walkers we knew, and said "hi". She proceeded to mention that she knew we could run faster.

probably, but not today.

The second loop's hill was pretty taxing on my buddy, so we slowed it down a bit. All through the race, she said I could go ahead, but I'd have nothing of that. I wouldn't be running at all without her, and I was going to run my first race with her, no matter what speed we were going.

We finished up the final push and arrived with a clock time of 29:24. So, actual time was ~29:17. Of course, nimrod here didn't actually hit the stop button until a minute later when he realized that the Garmin was still going.. Smooth move, ex-lax!

We grabbed some water and headed out.. Figured, there was no need to stay for the post-race ceremonies.

Turns out in this field, we both wound up second for our age groups. I was quite fortunate in that there were many many age groups, and my group only had two people in it. I'll still take it, though. Our friend we passed walking picked up our winner's hats, and I'll have to pick that up from her at some point this week.

The whole racing thing was a lot of fun. At some point, I'll try really racing it, rather than just running it, just to see how it goes.