Return to Racing

Well, I had to get back in the game and force myself to start running races again so I will resume my regular running routine. So I signed up for a local 10k, the Jog for a Cause. The race had many benefits, close to my house, supporting a cause (cancer) that has been more important to me lately due to my brother, it was a 10k instead of the more common 5k races offered, and it was not too far out in the future which got me off the couch and running back in mid-February. The race had some unforeseen downsides however that made it quite memorable. It ended up being the Saturday morning after I returned from France (blog with pictures to come soon) on Friday, so jet-lag had me quite messed up. Jamie’s grandmother passed away on that same Friday so we hastily planned a quick trip to Indiana the following Monday. And lastly, it was SNOWING and 22° F when the race started.

All of these challenges added to the experience and perhaps to the disappointment of the result. It’s not that I did terrible, it’s that for the first time I ran a race and didn’t meet the goal I set for myself. My hope was to run sub 50 minutes. The only other 10k I had run was a trail race last fall which I ran in the 54 minute and change range and I figured I could cut the required amount based on this being a road course and relatively flat. Of course, when I ran the trail race last fall I was in the height of my Half-Marathon training and this time around I have only been back running sporadically for roughly a month… Anyway, suffice it to say, I didn’t run sub 50, I came in at 51:43 which is a 8:20/mile pace. Not bad and a personal record for the distance, but not my goal.

The course is a 5k loop around a shopping center and subdivision that you run twice if you are completing the 10k race. I had run the course for a 5k once before with not the best of memories (remember the pinched butt episode?). But the hardest part of the run this time around was the weather. Not only was it snowing and cold but we had 30 mile an hour wind gusts and I swear I was running into the wind all the way around that loop!!! The final mile to the finish line was into a stiff wind that felt like it was blowing me back each time I took a stride. I had to squint my eyes to keep the blowing snow from getting in them. What a memory…

Anyway, it was good to get back in the saddle. I’m aiming for a race a month leading up to a Marathon towards the end of the year. I’m sure I’ll miss a few months here and there but that is my goal. As for my overall results in this race. As I said before, 51:43 was my time. That was good enough for 62nd out of 270 for the overall results and 9th out of 25 for the 35-39 year old men. I should have stopped at the 5k point as my 5k split time would have given me 4th in my age group… If you want to see me running you can go here and search for bib number 249… The pictures are copywritten so I can’t copy and past it into my blog... Happy running to all of you.