Grape Stomp 5k

Well my 5k today ended up being an interesting experience.

The whole thing was terribly disorganized. A new company was organizing the race this year, I guess, and I was pretty disappointed all around with the way they ran things, and very glad I was only running the 5k, not the 10k or the half that were also being held. But more on that in a bit.

I got there about 7:30 this morning, for my 8:15 start. Jesse and I walked around a bit. We decided we really should have brought the dog, since the start and finish lines were at a park and there were tons of other dogs. I was about to wait in line for the port-a-potties when I realized there were actual bathrooms, with a much shorter line (apparently most people didn't realize the real bathrooms were there), so I opted for those instead. ;)

The 10k and half were supposed to begin at 8:00 a.m., but by that time no announcements had been made, and no one seemed sure where the starting line was. A bunch of people lined up in one spot, but that ended up being the wrong one. After several minutes, they announced that the start was going to be pushed back by 10 minutes, and finally told everyone where the starting lines were (there weren't any actual marks to show the start).

I don't think the longer race actually got going until around 8:15, and then they announced that the 5k would begin at 8:30.

There were around 250 people running or walking the 5k, so it was a small race. I tried to find a spot not at the front, but not too far to the back, of the pack, and that worked out pretty well. I passed a bunch of people the first half-mile or so, and I'm pretty sure I went out a little too fast. It was exciting, though--because I was realizing there weren't too terribly many people in front of me!
By about the halfway point, I'd settled in with a few other runners--I passed a couple more women in the last half of the race, I think, but was also passed by two more. There were really only a couple people ahead of me that I could see, although I was pretty sure there was a faster pack that was out of sight.

It was a beautiful day for a run, sunny and clear. I'm glad it didn't start any later than it did, because it was starting to get pretty warm. And the course itself was really nice--almost completely flat (I did speed past someone on one of the very few slight uphills--yay for all the hills I run), with some parts on a nice trail.

Overall, I think I held a reasonably steady pace throughout, although I do think I was a bit fast the first mile and had to slow down a little. I don't have any real way of knowing, because the only mile marker was at mile 3. I did enjoy feeling like I was actually *racing* as opposed to just running in a group of people. I haven't felt like that in all my races, and it was fun trying to pass people ... and trying not to let them pass me!

I ended up finishing in 27:16, which is 4 seconds slower than my PR. It would have been cool to beat my PR, but it's a time I can live with, at least. I'm shooting for under 27 at my 5k next month.

When I crossed the finish line, I asked Jesse how many women had finished in front of me, and he made it sound like it had been quite a few. I didn't think there had been too many, but started to wonder if maybe I'd been further back in the pack than I'd realized. But we waited around for a bit until they posted the results, and I ended up in 3rd place for my age group! So then we decided to wait around for the award ceremony, which was supposed to begin at 9:30 for the 5k runners--like I told Jesse, this may be the only time I ever place, I'm enjoying it. ;) There were a bunch of problems with the timing, so they kept printing out revised times, but I hung onto that 3rd place.
At 10 a.m., they announced the award ceremony wouldn't begin till 11. At this point, Jesse started getting a bit antsy--he'd been wanting to get home and get some homework done. But we decided to go grab some breakfast and come back.

The awards ceremony, when it finally began, started with a long apology. Apparently, in addition to all the disorganization starting times and places, the course markings had been "vandalized," so a bunch of people running the longer races had gone the wrong way and gotten lost. I guess they put the course markings out last night, and apparently no one double-checked to make sure they were there this morning. And they also apparently didn't have race staff at all the turns, so people just ended up going the wrong way.

Oh--and one thing I forgot to mention earlier--when the 10k runners were coming in, so before the half runners were even in, they made an announcement asking people to put back post-race drinks if they'd taken more than 2, because they had run out of drinks. Now ... I only took one, but I did see people with bags full of goodies, so there were definitely some people being greedy. But it seems like there was a serious problem in the planning if they hadn't even provided enough to get through two of the distances.

Anyway, despite all the disorganization, I had a pretty good race, and I think it's pretty cool that I placed. Part of me feels a little weird about it, because I didn't even set a new PR, and against a tougher group of opponents I would have been nowhere near the top. But at the very least, it was a nice little confidence boost.

Pushing myself

I've been thinking a lot about speed lately--wondering how much of running fast is genetic and how much can be trained, and trying to figure out what realistic expectations for my own performance should be.

My husband says I don't push myself hard enough. Or at least he says that when he isn't chiding me for developing an overuse injury or groaning when I tell him how many miles I'm running on a given Saturday. He thinks I push myself quite far enough when it comes to distance, he just thinks I'm not running as fast I could be.

And he's probably right. It's possible that I'm a lazy runner. I have gotten faster over the last year and a half, but probably not as fast as I could have gotten if I'd pushed the speed more.

Anyway, this morning he and I ran intervals. We didn't go as far as I'd initially planned--just 2.5 miles, including the cool-down, with two 800-meter intervals and one 400-meter interval. The 800s came first, and I ran a 3:56 and 3:58, which aren't quite my fastest 800s ever, but were very close. I was pretty beat after those two (bear in mind that this is my second speed work session since the month off), but I pushed through the 400. By about 150 meters in, I was starting to gasp for air, and by 225ish my legs were burning and I could feel myself really starting to slow. Normally I would have let my pace slow a bit, but I kept pushing, and even managed to accelerate through the last stretch. I ran it in 1:46, which is nine seconds faster than I've ever run a 400. Not too bad.

You spin me right round baby, right round

So while I was spending most of September not running, I finally bought a gym membership. I've never in my life had a gym membership, unless you count belonging to the Y in high school. I don't count it, because I almost never went. And because I didn't have to pay for it.

I did frequent the gym at Ft. Benning for the last 6 or 8 months I lived there, which was great because it was maybe 2 miles from my house, and free. Free is a good price. It was also great because my friend Jessica (aka the coolest deployment buddy ever) and I went together and worked out while giggling at all the oh-so-tough Army guys strutting around the building.

The gym I am now a member of is definitely not free. But it is close to home, which is good. And it has a 6 a.m. spin class three times a week, which I've discovered is a really wonderful thing. There are not many things I consider worth getting up at 5:30 a.m. for, but this class has become one of them.

The first day I went to my new gym, I used the elliptical, trying to get some low-impact cardio work in, what with not being able to run. After 30 minutes with one of the "hills" workouts, I was a little bit sweaty (which can largely be attributed to how darn hot it is in the gym), but not at all out of breath. May heart rate may have risen slightly, but I'm not sure. It was frustrating, to say the least. All I wanted was a good workout--was that too much to ask?

So the next morning, I dragged my butt out of bed and went to the spin class. My friend Jen, who is a kick-ass triathlete, said it would kick my butt, which is exactly what I was hoping for. And sure enough, it did. And I was hooked.

So after a year and a half of running almost exclusively, I'm thrilled to have some real cross-training in my routine. I'm doing spin class twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays, and it's been great. The class is fun but tough, I always leave feeling both exhausted and exhilarated, and I'm pleased to be doing something that is so perfectly suited for a runner's cross-training (running works the back of the legs; cycling the front). Here's hoping the results will be seen in my running.

And 10 months later ...

I'm blogging again! Just a little hiatus, right?

So in the past 10 months, I've ...

- Run a 10k relay race with my husband ... I finished my 5k in 27:12 (8:47 pace), he finished his in 26:02, for a combined 10k time of 53:18

- Run Bay to Breakers, the quintessential San Francisco race. Conquered the Hayes Street Hill, in all its 11.15% grade glory, and completed the 12k in 1:11:55 (9:29 pace). Had a blast, will be making it an annual tradition.

- Trained my butt off all summer for the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, only to be sidelined with knee/leg pain several weeks before the race. Doctor thought it was a stress fracture, and 3.5 weeks without running and several hundred dollars in medical expenses later, it turned out to be patellar tendinitis. With 10 days left before the race, I decided to go ahead and sit it out. *sigh*

Next up: a 5k, hopefully this month. Need to decide for sure which one I'm doing.

The Big Goal: A 24-minute 5k by this time next year.

Another Big Goal: A half-marathon in the spring (I have my eye on this one ), considerably faster than my first.