Half-Assed Runner

Today I ran a local Thanksgiving 5K with my family. This was my first race in nearly a month and most of my training runs since that last race have been on the treadmill.  I was running with the my wife and son.  I just wanted to finish the race and possibly take a whack at breaking the 28 minute barrier.

Since the race was so close we arrived shortly before the start and nabbed our event shirts.  It was 39 degrees with a steady wind with some pretty nasty gusts.  I wore a long sleeved tech shirt and running pants.  Although it was warmer than the start of my last race (27 degrees) and I was wearing warmer clothes, I still was freezing my butt off.  I didn’t bother with my normal pre-race warm up jog and stayed in the school building as long as I could.

We lined up for the race and had no idea which way we would start running nor where the course went.  The race director announced that the route would be the same as last year, which told me absolutely nothing.  We were lined up at what we assumed was the back of the pack, but soon realized that we were starting the run in the opposite position so we were actually near the start of the pack.

A horn sounded and we were off.  I watched my son shoot out in front of me and he ended up about 100 yards ahead once the runners started to find their pace and settle into a (mostly) single file line.  This was the first race we let him run at his own pace and not be stuck running with my wife and he was determined to run it fast.  The combination of the cold and the lack of a warm up run made it difficult for me to hit a comfortable pace.  I knew almost instantly that I would not get a PR as I wasn’t feeling strong and for some reason my knees were aching the entire run.

We wound through some residential streets and then down the highway across from the lake.  I kept expecting to see my son either fall back in the pack or start walking, but he maintained his pace.  Although I closed on him a bit, he remained a good distance ahead of me.

At the one mile mark I was running at an 8:51 pace.  This briefly sparked me to consider making a run at my PR.  I still did not feel like I was hitting my pace.  A little over a mile in we made a right turn and the first (and steepest) hill began.  I was definitely not loving this hill.  I broke down and a third of a mile later I took my first walk break so I could crest the hill.

My son was still ahead of me.  He too took a walk break and I did not pass him until the 1.5 mile mark.  He had beaten me for half of the race.  I was simultaneously proud of him and disappointed with myself.  It won’t be long before little Oedipus is beating his old man in races.  He’s ten. 

Another half mile and another walk break.  At that point I was running about a 9:40 pace.  Goodbye PR.  At this point I just wanted to finish the race under 30 minutes and get ready to fuck up some turkey dinner.  One minute and 38 seconds later I took walk break number 3.  WTF?  I finished mile 2 with a 10:07 pace.

I ran the last mile at a better pace (9:30ish) but ended up taking yet another walk break.  Today I just didn’t have it in me.  I still managed to finish in 28:21 which is my second fastest 5K time.  Considering I ended up with four walk breaks totaling 1:48…I could have easily broken the 28 minute mark and set a new PR.  I really need to start doing hill repeats and increasing my stamina.

I finished and waited for my son.  My wife crossed the finish first.  She told me that she passed him only within that last .25 mile.  Soon after we saw him chugging away.  He crossed the finish line right at 32 minutes.  He told me how mad he was that he had to walk so much on the last half of the race.  I told him I had to do the same thing and that his time was better than my first 5K time.  That cheered him up.

All in all, it was great to get out and burn some calories before gorging myself at the dinner table.  I had a good time running with my family even if I felt less than happy with my performance.