Reflections on my Labor Day 5K Race (August 25, 2012)

(I'll add some more pictures to this post when they become available.)

Beating my 5K PR (personal record) continues to remain elusive. I anticipated that today would be the day that I could break the 24:21 time (7:51 pace) I attained at my first 5K back on April 7, 2012. Well, it didn't happen. Here's how the race played out:

I did a short, easy pre-race run with Neil, a friend I met on dailymile. (The encouragement and insight he has provided since I got into running has been invaluable.) In doing that pre-race run, I got my legs loosened up and my heart rate elevated. I checked that off my list.

Then, I took my position at the Start line at the front of the pack. (There seems to have been a couple hundred runners.) The path was about 10' wide which makes passing difficult when runners cluster together so I wanted to get up to the front. I checked that off the list.

The gun was fired a couple minutes past 8:00am and we took off. That's when I made my big mistake. The front pack was filled with teenagers and 20-somethings. They hit it hard and I tried to stay with them. (One of the most interesting parts of a race is the minute after the gun is fired. Everyone is crowded before the start and then as everyone begins to run, it takes a lot of mental effort to keep from tripping over each other and find your personal running space.) I did well for the first mile. But, then I noticed the clock at mile 1 and it said 7:15. I began to panic a little because I knew that I was in uncharted territory. I've never run that fast.

Maybe it was partly mental but in miles 2 and 3, I began to fizzle. I stopped to walk a couple of times for no more than 5-10 seconds ... but I had to walk. Bummer! About half a mile from the finish line, I felt like I was depleted of energy and I stopped for the second time. A runner, who I've never met, gave a word of encouragement as he passed. "Don't give up now! You're almost there!" I resumed running and booked it to the finish line.

One of the highlights of this race was halfway through when I ran past the crowds. There was a lot of cheering going on for the runners. Those cheers didn't do anything for me. But, then I saw Kim, Zach, Sean, & Joseph. They clapped, smiled and yelled out words of affirmation and encouragement. It felt awesome! It made me feel like I could have kept running ... well, almost!

I'm unsure how many runners were in my gender/age grouping. I was in the male/40-44 group. For the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place medals, I was only up against runners in this group. I was pleasantly surprised that my finish time of 25:22 (8:10 pace) got third! It's my first medal and hopefully won't be the last.

After the race, my wife took a picture of Neil and me. He's in the 35-39 age group and took first place with a time of 19:17 (6:13 pace). Too fast for me ... at least for now.