Just home from my first ever competitive 5k, and I have to say that it was by far the most fun I ever had running. Without question.
I did everything my running friends all told me not to do, and common sense dictated, last night and this morning -- last night I had a big panini for dinner, and then gin drinks at home, and a big bowl of cereal and milk this morning. I figured I'd be best off keeping my normal Friday PM/Saturday morning AM routine intact. Got there ridiculously early -- about 50 minutes before race time, and just milled about. I was hoping to encounter someone I knew, but apparently most of my Syracuse friends are doughy fucks. I did knock back a cup of coffee.
Big crowd at this race, I saw registration numbers up into the 1300s. I fell into the starting group about 20 rows or so back from the start.
Got going into a nice pace about 15 seconds after crossing the starting line, felt awesome. Sweet running weather -- overcast, a light breeze. A little humid but nothing oppressive. Hit the first mile split at 7:55 net time (I used my own watch to track my time). Had a half a cup of water and nearly choked on it... I don't usually drink anything while running so I wasn't sure how to drink out of a cup and run at the same time.
Hit the second mile split at 16:05 net time, about what I've been doing in my practice runs.
Last water stop, just shy of mile 3, I took a few sips and dumped the rest on my back (I can't dump them on my head without getting a lot of water on my glasses). Third mile I hit at about 24:15. Again, not my best ever pace but the course was pretty hilly. A nice run, along the inner harbor of Syracuse. Lots of kids and adults cheering the runners on as the race went, which was cool.
In the home stretch I noticed a little girl, running at a good clip. I asked her how old she was. "Nine and a half." I told her she was awesome and I was going to try and keep up with her to the finish line. It didn't happen -- she dusted me in fact. Not only that but two guys caught me in the last 10 feet, even though I turned on the jets at the end.
Finished with a gun time of 25:37, net time 25:18. They posted the first 900 finishers (which only went up to about 33 minute times, so they had a LOT of runners out there). I was 252nd overall, and 17th in my M35-39 age bracket. One of the two guys who caught me was 16th in my age group. Drat.
Still, it was really fun to run with other people, in what is usually a very solitary thing for me. Even though I didn't know anyone out there today, I still felt a kinship with the other runners. And, of course, all of my online running buddies who were with me in spirit.
After I finished I knocked back a bottled water and watched other people finish for 10 minutes and then split after they posted the results.
I would do this again in A SECOND. Nice of my wife to take Nate to karate class this morning, and take Isabel along for the ride, so I could do this race. Need to figure out my next race to run.
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