What the 5K!

Well, a small milestone was completed. I ACTUALLY COMPLETED A RUNNING EVENT!

You may remember a few posts ago I wrote that I had to prove to myself I could run a 5K so I did it on the treadmill in 36 minutes. But I still wasn't so sure that on real land, with some small ups and downs, that I would be able to make it.

First I couldn't sleep. I haven't competed in an 'athletic event' since my feeble attempt at a tennis comeback 3 years ago when I lost in the first round to a very very lame club player and cried 2 hours all the way home. So after NOT sleeping, I got up at the a*s-crack of dawn...ok, so it was really like only 7 a.m. but to me it might as well be the middle of the night. I was shocked to see life out and about on the drive over to playa del rey where the race was. It actually was a beautiful day, clear, with tons of bicycle riders out training and people walking on the beach.

Well, there were people everywhere except where the actual race was. The flyer said there would be race signs everywhere. I noticed a balloon along the highway as I drove -- turns out "race signs everywhere" means one balloon on the side of the hightway. I thought it was for a small child's birthday. As 5k's go, this one was pretty small -- about 170 people and that was fine by me.

But I was still nervous. Fortunately, my friends Abby and Amanda were there to join me -- Amanda is running the marathon on sunday!!! Abby and I just wanted to make it across the finish. We gave each other butt pat's like real athletes do, and I was called over to my Team-N-Training people to go for a warm-up jog.

Ok, let me explain something. My 3 weeks of training to this point had only precision-tuned my body to be engineered to run 3.1 miles. Maybe 3.2. So when coach said we were going to run .6 miles to the first checkpoint and back, i about plotzed...an extra 1.2 miles was not in the plan. I pissed and moaned the whole way there and back, which I"m sure is the best way to make friends with your new teammates. And I was sure that I would now only make it 1.9 miles of the race. Remember, precision engineering.....

I got in the little pack of people at the start line, with my #62 (my first race number!) on my jersey and my very ragamuffin cutoff gym shorts signalling to the other competitors to watch out for me (i.e. step over me once I ended up a human speedbump 1/2 way thru)...I noted that maybe in a month when i turn 30 and go "up" a category to the 30-34 age division that maybe I'd be a competitor. I saw a small older woman in her 50's that I thought "now THAT'S probably who i need to be running against - put me in the 55+ division." These 25,26,27,28 year olds are like lightning, you know. Young whippersnappers. My bones creak when I get up off the couch.

So the buzzer thing went off and I dutifully started running. People passed me, but I wasn't at the back yet either. I toodled along, no ipod, no watch, just the sand and ocean to my right. I got to that darn .6 mile mark from the 'warm-up', cursing sensible things like 'stretching' and 'prepping your body for a race so you don't get injured'. I felt a little pain in my knee...then my hip...then my knee...little pains moving around taunting me. I vowed to start drinking some more milk.

I got the the 1.2 mile mark and did the little loop around the cone heading back to the finish line. The route had us go out and back 1.2 miles, then pass the finish then come back after going back out .35 miles...so yeah, the correctly mapped the race to 3.1 total.

Around 1.5 miles, I kinda was ready to veer off up the hill to my car, but i vowed not only would I finish, but i WAS NOT GOING TO WALK. Future ironmen don't walk in their first 5K. Then little old(er) lady ZIPPED by me. So much for my theory. Guess I need to race 80 year olds. I had a fantasy as I passed the finish line to do the last leg that maybe they were playing with our heads and that i didn't REALLY have another .7 miles to go, that they would all yell SURPRISE!!! YOU'RE DONE! But alas. I heard some of my team-in-training people cheering us on. I also would learn later that by this point, the winner of the 5K had already been done for about 10 minutes...ha ha.

I got to the OTHER last little cone, did my u-turn started my last .35 mile leg. Actually, I felt totally pumped, with adrenaline flowing and feeling no doubts anymore that I could run it all, provided my hips agreed. For the last .1 miles I did my version of a sprint and heard them yell #62 into the speaker as I zipped across the finish. I swear to you, I actually got choked up and I imagined how insane it'll be when I finish my (first of many) triathlon in June. I know there are people that run 3 miles everyday and it's no big deal. But it felt like a milestone in this tri training....and i was PROOOOOOUUUD. Amanda was already there to greet me and we cheered on the last couple minutes of Abby's run.

Now for the results.

31.52!!!!!!! Yup, 4 minutes faster than my trial run (last sunday I had to prove I could do it and ran it on the treadmill in 36 minutes). Not only that, but in my division, I came in 12th out of 30. That is in the TOP half of the field for those struggling with the math. My next one I'll do in under 30 minutes, no doubt.

The 1st 4 weeks of training - the base training - are coming to a close -- which leaves 4 months. I was kinda cocky with 5 months to go, but now I realize it's closer than I think. I have worked out -- swim/bike/run -- at least 5 days a week since i started and actually getting into it. The coaches have it all mapped out and all I have to do is follow the schedule. I even bought those diaper bike shorts today for my first outdoor ride on saturday. They're SUPER hot. But I have a long way to go and looking forward to it. More updates to come!

Please help me meet my goals and contribute to the fight against cancer by making a donation at http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/bigreddoesatriathlon.


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