Kilgour 5k
I must have written about this one before. It's the little community 5k that supports the elementary school my daughter attended. I try to do it every year. At this point, I am one of the oldest people in attendance and, in fact, I didn't recognize a soul there this year. Last year was better because My sister was in town and Susan joined us and I ran into my former coworker and running friend, David. This year, I didn't even see David.
I like to run up early to the start, grab my number and shirt and run home to drop off the shirt, and then run back to the start as a warm up. Wasn't going to do that this year since I'm in such rough shape but I did it anyway. Just slower. It probably helped. I had some idea that maybe I'd wear a throwaway shirt to the start and then switch to the race shirt, but I'm glad I didn't because the race shirt seems hot. And it was a very warm and humid evening.
I found a bench to sit on while I waited. We started pretty much on time. I tried to line up a little further back then usual and resolved not to elbow anybody out of the way. The challenge of the first half mile is to avoid getting tripped up by any of the erratic young kids alternately sprinting and stopping dead in front of you. And sometimes they just veer sideways all of a sudden.
As we ran up,the first hill, I felt comfortable with my positioning. I even managed to pass a couple of younger and fitter looking women. Mile one went by in 10:27. That's about how it goes these days for me.
I slowed for just a few seconds at the water stop. No need for a walking break when I am going so slow. A little boy and girl were just ahead of me. As we approached the intersection of Uright and Ault View, the boy told the girl that the "short cut" was coming up. Yes, if you turn off down Uright you can cut off at least a tenth of a mile.
The little girl said "Isn't that cheating?" And I told them that it absolutely was cheating, and managed to shame them into not taking the short cut.
There are several places on the course where it is possible to cheat, and it pains me to know that the parents are not doing a better job of keeping the kids on the honest path.
I waved to Tommy when I saw him at the trail head. And then I began climbing the hill into the park. I was passing some women pushing huge running strollers, and some little tiny kids accompanied by parents who were trying to encourage them while giving all kinds of bad advice.
The 2 mile mark is in the middle of the big uphill. My time was 10:33, so not much slower, although this was the mile that also contained the most downhill so it was a bit dispiriting to see this time on my watch.
There's one more nice downhill stretch before the uphill finish in front of the school. In this part I was running alongside a little girl and her dad. She was struggling and he was encouraging her. I told her she was doing a good job, and ultimately let her kick ahead of me at the end, because in a race this slow I am not going to shame myself by tring to outlook a kid for no reason. The third mile took me 11:26. Jeez. And then I tried to kick for the last .1 and that took 59 seconds. It's really horrifying.
I grabbed a cup of water from the table after they cut off my timing chip, and immediately started walking home. I didn't want to linger, in case I stiffened up so much that I couldn't get home under my old power. And my bags of frozen peas and glass of chocolate milk awaited me.
My final time was 33:26, perhaps a new PW at this event. I was 2 of 4 in the age group. And 146 of 358 runners overall. Five minutes slower than last year! Although, in addition to my injury I was not helped by the late lunch (3 pm) of wild rice and asparagus with a poahed egg!
My. Airy trail race
Susan joined me for this one. We got there a little earlier than usual, so I got my closest parking sport ever, almost inside the oval.
It was hot and humid already by the time our 5.4 mile race began at 9:15. Susan is trying to make "the Dirtiest Dozen" and she is a good bit faster than me since my recent injury, so she lined up closer to the front while I started from the back.
The back was where I belonged. I passed a couple of people on the out and back before we hit the trail, and then basically held my position the rest of the way. I had to step aside for a few folks and got passed by a couple others (not counting the 3 guys leading the ten mile race who passed me near the end).
It was a little slippery in parts due to some recent rain, but I managed to avoid any mishaps. My foot hurt really the whole way but I survived. Trail running is hard!
I ran much of the second half in front of a guy who was also doing the Rugged Red, and he was telling me how hard that race was. But I just kept thinking, well no wonder it was hard for you, dude, if you're back here with me in slowpoke land. I' hoping that I'll be I better shape by then, but who knows.
I carried my phone, so I got a little audible alert when Susan finished, and I could tell she she ran a good time. I still had a ways to go. When I thought we had a half mile left I asked the guy how much farther he thought it was and he said it was more like 2kš.
I left the guy behind on the last climb out of the woods. In the last gassy section, I saw a woman ahead of me who was walking, and by keeping my steady pace I managed to pass her. So that was something. Then when I got to the last little uphill to the finish I kicked hard so she wouldn't pass me, although I think she was quite a bit back and not trying.
My time was 1:13:35, and I was 44 of 57 women and 104 of 124 runners overall. Susan finished around 1:02, which would have been a solid placement back in the day but these races seem to have grown in popularity so she's kind of on the bubble. She actually fell down 4 times during the race, so clearly she needs to get better shoes. She might have been a couple minutes faster without the falls, I bet.
No comments:
Post a Comment