First Race

July 5th 11:56pm
I ran my first race a little over a week ago; the Sturgis Falls 5K in Cedar Falls. It was kind of a crappy morning with a light rain leading up to the race which was scheduled for a 7:00 AM start. But it was cool if a little humid so it worked out OK. Right as the race was starting the rain stopped. We started out on Waterloo Road, right next to the Rec center and there were well over 600 people there for the race. They ranged in age from young kids of around 12 years old to senior citizens in 70’s and even 80’s I think.

The main reason I wanted to do the race was to just participate in an official event and see what it was like and to see what I could do if I pushed myself for a faster pace. My goal was to finish the race in less than 30 minutes. I’d been kind of focusing on <10 miles when I was doing my regular runs, but I knew I would need to be under that to finishing 5K in less than 10 minutes since it is slightly over 3 miles. Strangely for me, I never bothered to calculate the exact pace I would need until the last minute. I was surprised to find it was so much less than a 10 minute mile at 9:39. I wasn’t sure I would be able to do it since I had beaten the 10 minute pace only a couple times and in both cases, it was longer distances, 4 and 5 miles and I got below 10 with a big push at the end, well after the 3.11 miles; which means that I had never run a 30 minute 5K before.

So I got as close to the front of the pack as I dared and when the starting gun went off, I started out on what I thought was a pretty reasonable pace and tried to keep it up. I was passed frequently, even before the pack split into the 5K and HM courses. But when the first mile marker came up, the person calling the pace out said 8 minutes and 40 seconds. I was still feeling reasonably good though I could feel that this was a faster than normal pace. I didn’t expect I would be able to maintain that pace, but I was feeling pretty good about finishing in under 30 minutes. Not long after that, we turned left into some residential neighborhoods and I started to feel like I would need to slow down. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t go so fast in the beginning that I would be forced to walk later and possibly blow the goal. At mile 2, the marker said something like 17:40 so I knew I was still running a good pace and should be able to make my goal. But it was really starting to get tough, yet I somehow wasn’t able to slow my pace much. I wanted to give it everything I had and do the best that I could besides finishing under 30 minutes. I just kept going and even though I kept getting passed by all manner of people, old men, middle aged women, children of both genders, I didn’t give it too much thought and just kept running my race.

By the time I was close enough to know the finish line was near, I was really starting to feel fatigued and though I didn’t have any real fear of not finishing, there was the slightest concern that I might collapse or stumble before reaching the finishing line and wouldn’t be able to get back up. But it didn’t happen and I crossed the finish line at 27 minutes and 14 seconds, 2 minutes and 45 seconds ahead of goal.

I didn’t have any real emotional reaction to it, I was physically exhausted and mentally numb. All I could really think about was getting to the port a potty to pee and sip the Gatorade provided by the race. I did think for a few moments that I might puke, but that was never a serious issue. I walked around for several minutes, getting my breath and recovering my strength and senses. I stretched a little and had a bit of bagel provided by Panera. I thought it was Cinnamon raisin but it ended up being chocolate chip. It took me quite a while to realize it though I was vaguely aware it didn’t taste quite right.

We got in the car pretty soon after and headed home. My legs started to hurt and I was just spent physically and still not quite sure how I felt about the whole thing. It was kind of a strange experience. But it was good to have beat my goal.