After Steps for Students got rained out, I was hounded by the unsatiated cravings for that rush that only comes from an official calling out "Take your marks!" So this Saturday morning I found myself at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, right across Nasa Road 1 from the Johnson Space Center. I registered, then set out to warm up.
Indeed, I ended up having to warm up in the literal sense of the word, as well as in the physiological sense. "Cold" running in Houston should be a thing of the past by the time March rolls around. And yet, the thermometer sat at 49F as the sun was rising on this April morning, thanks to one more cold blast from Old Man Winter. I saw a lot of runners in their long-sleeve shells and non-runners bundled in jackets and hats.
15 minutes before the main event, the Kid's K was launched from the church parking lot. I had my digital camera in hand, so I grabbed a shot of them skittering past.5 minutes before go-time, I made the decision that I'm warm enough to shed my jacket. After a short prayer led by the church's recreation director, the announcer mentions that race weather conditions could be ideal for PR. (For the layman, PR is short for "personal record.") Yeah, I was thinking the same thing too. 50 degrees and no sun is a formula for fast times.
As the run started, I had to make a conscious effort to hold back just a little, since I have a tendency to overpace at race starts. (Maybe I need a Gentle Leader Easy Walk harness myself?) The course is quite flat, and meanders through the streets that surround the church. Everything seemed to be pointing towards my actually making PR this morning, until mile 3. Right when I wanted my body to turn it up for a final kick, a wave of nausea started in my gut instead.
Uh oh.
I've never actually "tossed cookies" on a run, and I was determined to make sure that we weren't making that kind of history this morning. So I dialed down from "smoldering lungs" pace and started playing internal relaxation messages in my head. As we re-entered the parking lot, one of the race volunteers called out, "There's a woman behind you catching up. You can't let her beat you!"
I waved back. "Let her pass," I thought to myself. "I'm fine with just keeping a lid on things downstairs at the moment, thank you very much...."
After exiting the finish line chute, a voice called out behind me, "Hey, man!" I turned around and recognized him as the big built-like-a-runningback dude that had sort of been shadowing me over the last half of the course. "Nice job holding me off there at the end."With the nausea finally past, I was able to break down laughing, still trying to catch my breath. Actually "holding off" anyone has never really entered my mind during a race. I had to confess to him that I wasn't competing against anyone or anything but my previous PR. Sure, I'm self-conscious of my derriere just being an annoyance in the way of the better runners, but it's not as if its part of a devious strategy against them, I swear!
So my 5K PR still sits at 29 minutes, set at the Prostate Cancer Run back in November. But contrary to the sports-announcer cliche, this was one race where I was perfectly happy that I didn't "leave it all out there."
Splits....
Mile 1: 8:38 (!)
Mile 2: 9:50
Mile 3: 9:55
Last .17: 1:37 (9:40 pace)
Event: Resurrection Run 5K (7 April 2007)
Location: Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Nassau Bay TX
Result: 30:02 (Forerunner 101)
Benefits: Crossroads at Park Place
No comments:
Post a Comment