Race Day: Endurance 5K

Max Speed: 8.5 mph
Ave Speed: 4.3 mph
Time: 44:28 minutes
Distance: 3.1 miles

My first 5K since I've started!

To those people who have never run one of these, I can only say, you should come out and at least walk it. It was a blast. There were family's, serious runners, and runner wannabes! This race was for charity, so it was more family friendly. I definitely appreciated the feeling of community I experienced, as well as all of the support from the organizers of the event.

It started out as a cool morning, slightly overcast. It finished as a gloriously sunny day and it was a distinct pleasure to be outside with everyone. Some people from a local martial arts business led us in a rousing warm up, complete with karate "hai!" yells and kicks. My quads were burning from this and I was more than a bit worried that it would tucker me out before I even started the race!. We lined up and the horn was sounded.

Christy and I ran at a comfortable pace. We were at a park where we had been training so the terrain was familiar to us. It is also relatively flat, so that was a blessing. I was using the people ahead of me to keep my pace steady and I just kept my head down for the first half. In the beginning, I kid you not, these 3 feet little 7 year olds passed us... swinging their little legs like there was no tomorrow. It's a bit demoralizing to be passed so easily by children, but we were able to rally and keep up the pace even after the children had collapsed into tired giggles.

After the first loop I was flagging noticeably. I was able to keep going, but I was beat.... then we got passed by a tall power walker. EMBARRASSING. Then someone who was walking/running passed us... sigh. This was not to be allowed, so we decided to fartlek (run/jog intervals) to the finish line. This worked. we re-passed the power walker (couldn't find the run/walker - must've run the final leg). I was breathing like I'd never tasted air before and the finish line came into sight. I managed a final sprint to the finish line.

I wanted to do it in under an hour. A walker can do it in under an hour. In my dreams I wanted to do it in 45 minutes. We did it in UNDER 45 minutes. I was really happy. My average pace through the whole ordeal was about 4.3 mph which is faster than I've ever been able to go. This was amazing as well.

I haven't been able to break the 4 mph barrier. Wow, this was amazing. Not only did I complete my first goal of this blog, but I did it much faster than I expected. I did it in 6 weeks instead of the given 23. I did it faster than my dream time, at a pace I had not been able to sustain before for a distance I've run for the first time in over 10 years.

This was a big day for me.

You guys have got to try this. All of it. It's so rewarding.