Half-Assed Runner

Archive for December, 2011

Since winter has rolled into Minnesota I’ve been running less and less.  My last outdoor run (other than a 5K race on Thanksgiving) was on 15 November.  I woke up this morning and wanted absolutely nothing to do with running.

Lake Harriet Band Shell

I packed some cold weather gear and hit the road at 8 am.  The race was around Lake Harriet and I figured that finding parking would be a special slice of hell.  I ended up parking near Lake Calhoun and walking the half mile or so to the band shell.  There were a lot more people at this race than I had anticipated.  I picked up my bib (no race bag or t shirt, they must be handing them out at the finish) and went for a quick jog (it was about 15 minutes before the 9:30 am race start).  It was 30 degrees, but there was no wind so it didn’t feel that cold.  I was dressed in a tech shirt and a running jacket with running pants.  I had brought a hat but did not need it.  My hands were a bit cold, but I had forgotten to bring gloves.

Lake Calhoun

As I returned from my jog, the race director asked that the runners line up.  I didn’t jump in right away as the RD was leading the runners through some exercises (like marching in place) to “warm them up”.  By the time I wandered to the starting line, I was shocked to see how many runners were lined up.  I ended up at the very back of the pack.

Reindeer Run 5K

The race started…but I didn’t.  I took over 4 minutes to reach the starting line.  It took even longer before I could even approximate something that resembled running.  The route followed the street around Lake Harriet.  A lot of runners were running on the path closer to the lake instead.  So basically you could run on the road, the path, or the grassy area between the two.  The road was completely clogged with runners.  I used the path and the grassy area to pass runners/walkers.

Starting Line Looking Back

There were a lot of runners dressed up in Christmas costumes.  I saw plenty of Santas, elves, and reindeer.  There was a group of Marines running in formation complete with flags and cadence.  There were also a number of runners with dogs.  They were supposed to have waited with the walkers for a 10 minute later start, but many (along with walkers) started with the rest of us.  The dogs were very well behaved, but did pose a unique problem: they tended to run to the side of their owners and their leashes would extend to the side making a runner/dog barrier.

Back Of Pack Looking Forward

At the one mile mark, Runmeter announced that I was running just under a 10.5 minute mile.  So much for any plan to PR (this was NOT the race to PR).  This was by far my slowest first mile ever.  Since a PR was out of the question, I just decided to enjoy the run.  And it was enjoyable.  The course was very flat.  There were maybe two tiny hills.  The lake area is beautiful and I had no issues with the cold.  I even ended up breaking a sweat.  I did have to do a lot of dodging through the whole race so I had to keep my head on a swivel.  I never really hit a comfortable pace either.  I would hit my pace, but then encounter another wall of runners.  This went on for the entire run.  Even with all of the dodging, I felt really good running.  I had been laying tile (not a euphemism unfortunately) the night before and my hamstrings were really tight and my knees hurt a bit, but I felt really good during the run.

Many of the runners were sporting the long-sleeved cotton race t shirts.  This made me believe that they had either run out or I had missed out on the area where they were handed out prior to the race.  Nuts.

I tried to sprint at the end of the run, but this was cut short as it was just too crowed.  I crossed the finish line with the clock showing 34 minutes.  I stopped Runmeter and my actual time (the race was not chip timed) was barely south of 30 minutes.  This was the my slowest (road) 5K time since July.  The good news was that I ran the complete distance with no stops.  I never even considered stopping as the combination of the slow pace and lack of hills meant I was never winded.  This is only the second time I’ve completed a 5K without at least one walk break.  I also managed to achieve negative splits for the first time ever.  Small victories. 

Reindeer Run 5K

I decided to get back to my car as soon as possible to miss out on traffic and before the cold air hit my sweaty body.  I wandered though the tent area and nabbed some hot chocolate.  I didn’t see any other post race offerings although I did see some runners with bottles of water so I assume it was offered.  I saw a small group of runners around a table piled high with race shirts.  After handing me my shirt, the volunteer made a mark on my race bib.  This turned out to be a great system as it meant that you could nab the shirt after the race rather than getting it before the race and then having to find a place to stow it.  There was another area with plastic bags with the usual array of advertisements, samples, and coupons inside.

I jogged back to my car and headed home.  All in all, this was a very enjoyable race.  I actually liked running in the frigid weather.  There were runners commenting that there was a foot of snow at last year’s run.  There was minimal snow on the ground this year and none on the race course.  Of course, the weather gods dropped 3 inches of snow on the area that night just to make us aware that winter had indeed come to Minnesota.

Race Shirt Front

Race Shirt Back

Reindeer Run 5K Course