Half-Assed Runner

Archive for July, 2011

This is a test post.  I want to see if I can change the posting date so I can add race reports backdated to the date of the races. I changed the posting date of this post from 01 Aug to 04 July. <= It worked.  I wonder if the articles will reorder based on the changed publish date?  Test this later <= sweet! It works.  I can add race reports and then backdate them to the date of the races. Theme changes: remove flowers, create header image, create repeating background wallpaper, get rid of lines in footer.  Might want to add a left column for Google ads.  I don’t like the comment/footer box at the bottom either.  

Block quote test.

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What the hell did I get myself into?  Today was my first race ever.  The last time I ran in a race, I was in sixth grade.  I agreed to sign up for a 4K with my wife later this summer and I’ve been running (if you can call it that) since mid-April so I don’t embarrass myself during that race.

I wish I remember the impetus for signing up for this race, but I honestly don’t.  I chose this race because it’s nearby and I have the day off (4th of July) off from work.  The race director emailed us a few days before the race and advised that about 400 runners had pre-registered.  I was happy that the field would be this large as that gave me better odds that I would not be the absolute last person to cross the finish line.  I had only two goals for this race: finish and don’t be the last person to do so.

I partook in my first packet pickup the day before the race.  I gave my name and was handed a bag containing the race t-shirt, my bib, and a bunch of coupons and promotional items.  The night before I Googled for running etiquette and noted that I should not start near the front of the pack as I’m not fast.  I also noted that I should stay to the right and let the faster runners pass me.

The race started at 10 am.  I got to the starting area around 8:30 am.  Since I already had picked up my packet, I really didn’t have much to do but kill time for an hour and a half.  The route was a point to point route, so my wife dropped me off at the start and then parked near the finish so she could get a picture of me (hopefully) finishing and we could avoid walking 3.1 miles back to the start after the race.

It was a very sunny day.  The temperature was in the mid-seventies as race time approached.  I sat in the shade on a hillside and watched the crowd of runners grow as the clock inched towards 10 am.  I scanned the crowd to see if there were any runners I felt I could beat.  Early on, the number of runners I felt I might be able to beat was zero.  I saw people stretching, sprinting, hopping, and going for long runs prior to the start of the race.  I had no pre-race warm up planned and I certainly wasn’t going to do any running prior to the race as I wanted to use all of my energy to propel myself to the finish line.

I had scoped out the route a week ago.  I had walked the route and noted that there were three hills.  The first was a baby hill, followed by a normal hill, and then – near the 2.5 mile mark – there was a steep hill.  Otherwise the route wound through neighborhoods before spilling into the main street in Delano and ending on a path behind the local baseball park.  Other than that last hill, there were no major obstacles.

About 15 minutes before the start I wandered down near the starting area.  There was a DJ pumping out pop tunes and occasionally a person would jump on the PA and make an announcement.  I couldn’t make out what she was saying.  I found a group of middle-aged women in the last fifth of the pack and just before the line of parents with strollers and decided that was where I would start the run.  I made sure my iPhone playlist was loaded up and that Runmeter had started.  10 am came and passed.  Many of the runners looked at their watches.  Soon the race director made an announcement…which I could not understand.  Eventually – like a game of “telephone” in grade school – the announcement filtered from runner to runner: the start would be delayed as the police needed to clear the running route.

Did I mention that the running route would be the same route as the Delano 4th of July parade? This I knew before the race.  What I didn’t know was how freaking popular the Delano 4th of July parade was.  With the exception of the first half mile, every inch of the race route would be packed with spectators.  If I had known this, I definitely would not have made this my first race.  If I was going to fail, I’d rather not fail in front of thousands of people.

Finally – about 15 minutes late – the race began.  I don’t even remember hearing a horn or a gun, but just noticed that the mass of runners had started to move…very slowly.  It took a while before I even crossed the starting line, but with the sound of Haujobb’s Dead Market throbbing in my ears, I was off and running my first race ever.

Although I did experience an adrenaline rush, it was a controlled high as I had to keep an eye out for other runners as well as adapt to the slow pace.  The slower pace was a godsend though as I was able to run comfortably and further than I usually do on my solo runs.  I soon settled into a pocket of runners and matched their pace.

We made a number of turns during the first half mile.  I tried drinking in the whole experience while watching out for obstacles (mostly other runners).  After the first half mile, we would run the vast majority of the remaining distance on city streets which meant there was plenty of space to pass (or be passed in my case).

Before the race began I noticed three men dressed in wedding gowns. They were running the race in those dresses as a promotion for a local dress shop.  Right before the 1 mile mark I passed them.  I now had three goals: finish, don’t be last, and beat the men in dresses.

I mentioned passing the 1 mile mark.  That’s the furthest I’ve run without taking a walk break.  Prior to today, I had only achieved an underwhelming .88 miles before taking a walk break.  The combination of the slower pace, the rush of adrenaline, and the drive to not end this race in colossal failure was pushing me to run better and further.

As I stated earlier, about half a mile in the streets were lined with parade spectators.  They were cheering for the most part and there were a ton of kids high-fiving the runners.  I high-fived a few kids and – right before the halfway mark – I ended up high-fiving Goldie the Gopher (well, someone dressed up as the University of Minnesota mascot).

At the halfway point there was a water stop.  I ran past it but ended up taking my first walking break shortly afterwards.  I had run 1.5+ miles without stopping.  That almost doubled my previous best.  I know that this sounds pretty lame to most people, but I’ve only ever run more than a mile without stopping one time: back in boot camp during the “freedom run” that you had to complete or else do an additional 8 weeks of boot camp.

I wish I could say that this was my only walk break of the run, but I ended up taking a lot of them.  The further into the race I was, the more frequent the walk breaks became.  I was happy to find out that I wasn’t the only one taking walk breaks and I found out pretty early on that I was not going to be the last runner to finish…provided I made it to the finish line.

As the race went on, the crowd grew larger.  We made a right onto the main street in Delano about 1.8 miles into the race.  This was the main parade viewing route and there were thousands of spectators packing both sides of the street.  Crap.  Had I bothered to research the parade I would have found out it was “Minnesota’s oldest and largest 4th of July Parade”…and I would have skipped this race.  At this point of the run I was in run/walk mode with the runs becoming shorter and the walk breaks occurring more often.  I wasn’t the only one doing this and I ended up leapfrogging with a woman for most of mile 2: I would walk and she would pass me, then I would run only to pass her while she walked.

I got about halfway through the main parade route when I received a text message: “Run faster!  I’m right behind you!”  Crap.  I thought that there was little chance that anyone I knew would be at the parade, but one of my co-workers was there and recognized me.  I asked him later if I was walking when he saw me and he told me that I was running but I looked mean as hell.  That “mean” look was most likely me being pissed off at myself for walking so often.

The crowds finally thinned as we approached the 2.5 mile mark.  The course turned to the right and we began the ascent of the big hill.  I continued to sprinkle in liberal walk breaks.  I knew that the remainder of the run was downhill and then a brief flat run over paved paths.  I convinced myself I was conserving energy and I would run the rest of the race from the top of the hill with no stops.  That didn’t happen as I took another quick walk break.

Finally I spotted the finish line.  I surprised myself by sprinting the last 100 yards and passing runner on the way.  I crossed the finish line and had completed my first race.  I ended up finishing in just under 33 minutes, which is slow, but still faster than any of my 5K training runs by a full minute.  Plus, I had run for 1.5 miles without a single stop and I had beaten the three dudes in dresses.

I looked around for my wife, but did not see her.  I grabbed a banana and a bottle of water and returned the timing chip.  Finally I texted my wife and she found me.  She had had trouble finding the finish area so I didn’t end up with an action shot of my sweaty self powering across the finish line.

After all was said and done, I had a blast.  I finished and I was far from the last runner to do so.  It went so well that I started searching for local 5K races as soon as I got home.  All in all, a great experience and a fun way to celebrate the 4th of July.