Tag: 5K

Throwback Thursday Race Report – RR #3, St. Vincent’s Spring Sprint 5K

(I’m a member of the Running Fools board over on The Motley Fool, and when I started running again they were the ones I went to to talk about it.  I’ve made it a point to do race reports after my events … and I’m going to be posting those throwback reports here to get us up-to-date.  This was my third 5K, in Harrison, NY.  This report was written in May, 2013.)

As of my last RR, my next scheduled race was the 10K in June. However, I got to reading old posts on the board and came across the discussion of prime13’s streak of running in an event every month for 10 years. Now, I’ve got no crazy illusions that I’ll ever have a streak like that – but if I didn’t run something in May then I’d have removed the option, which was bad. So I looked, and this 5k was about 15 minutes from the house. Done and done.

Pardon the negativity here. It rained this morning, so that sucked. The course was more difficult than I expected – an out-and-back with a loop at the end, and it sure seemed like we spent more time going uphill than downhill for an out-and-back. So that sucked. My training runs had been going very well – almost smooth – but, alas, ‘twas not to be today. My legs felt dead all morning. So that sucked. And the visual clock wasn’t working at the finish line, so I had no idea how I did until I got home and was able to look online. So that sucked. In general, this one sucked more than the others.

BUT … I PR’d by right at 40 seconds, so THAT’S good. I’m happy with progress, that’s for sure. I’m scheduled for my long run tomorrow on the ramp up to the 10K, and I imagine I’ll be doing it pretty slow based on the way I feel right now. And it was cool to get my mileage in on a rainy Saturday in a race, not just slogging through a soggy solo run. So, I’m happy with it, and I’ll be putting all of that negativity behind me.

I've gotten better at looking up...
I’ve gotten better at looking up…

Notes:

1. Really good SWAG for a local $20 5k. Technical shirt, nice water bottle, actually useful coupons – was happy with that. And nice food spread, too – oranges, bananas, yogurt, pastries, bagels, muffins, danishes … good stuff.

2. A lot of the runners were employees at the hospital that was putting on the race, and they had made the race packet pickup available starting Wednesday of this week – so there were a lot of people wearing the race shirt. Which wouldn’t have stood out so much except that these shirts are probably the brightest fluorescent orange I’ve seen in a long time. Just stunningly orange. There was no missing people ahead of us making turns.

3. Designated people at the finish line to yell and “whoo” and say “great job” are awesome. They help.

4. I’m already signed up for races for June, August, September, and October – and I’ve got my eye on a 4K (automatic PR!) in July – so my streak should get to at least 8 straight months. So it begins.

Next up, for real this time: Phillips 10K Trail Run / Walk.

Throwback Thursday Race Report – RR #2, JFK Runway Run

(I’m a member of the Running Fools board over on The Motley Fool, and when I started running again they were the ones I went to to talk about it.  I’ve made it a point to do race reports after my events … and I’m going to be posting those throwback reports here to get us up-to-date.  This was my second 5K, in Queens, New York.  This report was written in April, 2013.)

 

JFK Runway Run, 4/14/13, Finish Line #2
JFK Runway Run, 4/14/13, Finish Line #2

Summary: I’ll take it.
The JFK Runway Run is one of (if not the) oldest runway runs around – they’ve been doing it continuously since 1972. They shut down the main runway at JFK Airport in Queens and the race happens right there. From the starting line, you run about 200 yards, then take a hard right and it is a perfectly straight, perfectly flat shot down to a turnaround into a (duh) perfectly straight, perfectly flat 2nd half.

After packet pickup at an administration building, they loaded us onto a bus for a 15 minute shuttle out to the runway, including a pretty serious looking security stop. We sat out there waiting in the wind (and, holy crap the wind) for all of the runners to be delivered for a 9am start – which they are supposedly pretty strict about, because any delay could screw up the airport for the rest of the day. The biggest problem was wind – about 5 minutes before the scheduled start time, a gust of wind blew the entire start / finish line setup down … the clocks, the pace signs, everything. We wound up starting 15 minutes late.

I was concerned about this race because I’ve done very little real training since my last race three weeks ago. It turns out that the injury to my ankle that I sustained at the finish line of that one was more severe than expected – even my toes turned purple. So between that and travel for work (and I got lazy – there, I said it – I got lazy) I wound up doing less than half of my planned miles over that time period, and many of those were not quality miles. Knowing how my mind works, the worst possible thing for me would have been to beat my previous time … that kind of positive reinforcement encourages my laziness. I finished about 45 seconds slower than my previous race, which is still significantly farther along than I expected to be at this point when I started running. Also, I’m pissed off that I let myself get lazy and go backwards on a perfectly flat course. All in all, though, given how poorly I’ve trained over the last three weeks – I’ll take it.

Quick notes:

1. Several people in this one didn’t follow the board’s collective wisdom. There was a pink tutu, a guy running with boxing gloves on, race t-shirts everywhere, etc. Plus, this is Queens – you can imagine the humanity. Lots to see.

2. Which is a good thing, because … perfectly flat and perfectly straight is not all it is cracked up to be. I’m used to running on hills and mixing up muscles. And scenery that changes. It was tougher than expected.

3. Because it was an out and back, I got to see the leaders coming the other way – holy crap, I cannot imagine ever running that fast. Holy crap.

4. The FAQ on the website said something like “it tends to be windy – don’t wear loose fitting caps”. Biggest understatement ever. I have no idea how they land airplanes in that kind of wind. Also – in an out-and-back, tailwinds will eventually be headwinds. Yeah.

5. Wings and beer on race day are AWESOME.

Next race: Phillips 10k Trail Race, June 9th

Throwback Thursday Race Report – RR #1, St. Bartholomew Academy 5K Run / Walk

(I’m a member of the Running Fools board over on The Motley Fool, and when I started running again they were the ones I went to to talk about it.  I’ve made it a point to do race reports after my events … and I’m going to be posting those throwback reports here to get us up-to-date.  This was my first ever 5K, in Scotch Plains, NJ.  I was nervous as hell going into it … this report was written in March, 2013.)

Summary: First 5K = automatic PR!

So – I left my tu-tu, rainbow wig, & fuel belt at home. I did not wear the shirt after I picked it up. I was pointing in the right direction when they said go. And if I did any farting I wasn’t paying enough attention to really notice.

This morning was upper 30s and sunshine, and a beautiful day for a run. We got there early, picked up my packet, and got my bib and chip in their appropriate places. The pre-race ceremony was all you would expect from a small-ish town race run out of a religious academy – city mayor, city police chief, long prayer, etc. Then they sang the national anthem and we lined up (me at the back) and took off.

The course was basically flat with only one decent sized hill right at the 2-mile marker, and things felt decently good throughout. Because I was ahead of the pace I expected to be at I did a bit of walking around that hill, but otherwise maintained what seemed to be a pretty consistent pace. As we neared the end, it turns out my wife and son were able to get set up about 200 – 300 yards from the finish line to cheer, which was awesome. Even the guy running next to me said “wow – that’s a real shot in the arm, isn’t it?” So I began my kick, and was shocked when I saw the clock at the finish line – I finished a solid 4 minutes faster than I expected to, and nearly 2 minutes faster than what I felt was my “hope to get” goal. It was great.

Until.

Apparently I got over-zealous at the finish line and extended my stride on the last step over the chip mat. When that foot landed it immediately buckled and rolled, and I wound up hobbling out of the chute. My ankle is currently fairly swollen, but no discoloration – and ibuprofen, ice, and elevation have helped quite a lot. I was frustrated with my lack of gracefulness at first, but that has worn off – I don’t think I hurt myself too bad.

Observations from someone who hadn’t done this before:

1. People of all stripes all over the place. Though I felt like I had a neon sign over my head that said “newbie!”, in actuality I stood out not at all. So that’s good.

2. Clocks at mile markers are cool. I currently don’t run with a specific running GPS – I use an app on my phone to track my runs. One thing that doesn’t do is give real-time feedback. So when I saw the clock at the first mile marker I was able to gauge how I felt versus how I was doing (much better pace than anticipated) and adjust accordingly. Which means, as I told my wife on the way home, that I’ll shortly be buying a Garmin.

3. I had underestimated how much difference having people around you affects your pace. There was one guy that I marked early on in the race (the one that remarked about the “shot in the arm”) and then one lady that I was around most of the race that I just mentally marked as people I wanted to finish in front of. Because of that I couldn’t let them get away, so I wasn’t able to let up like I might have on a training run. I really think that contributed to my faster-than-expected time.

4. Even cheap swag is cool to get. My race t-shirt was one size too small, but they were giving out a different round of donated shirts when you turned your chip in – so I got two shirts for the price of one. And the cheap little bag with the cheap little cup and cheap little coupons – those are cool.

5. Burger and beer for lunch on race day tastes AWESOME.

They haven’t posted official times yet, but I’ve already started plotting my goal for the next race. In the meantime, I’m going to ice my ankle and drink beer tonight.

Next race, the JFK Runway Run 5K, April 14th.