Yesterday was the Mid-Michigan Race for the Cure here in Lansing, and it was my first time running a 5K. I have been training for the past few months, and I’m happy to say all my hard work paid off.
I ran the 5K (a hair over three miles) in 25:25. I came in 351st place out of over 1200 competitive runners, and 41st out of 68 runners for my age group. My pace was 8:12/mile. Not terrible. Certainly room for improvement.
I’m not bragging about that time, as it is anything but record breaking, but it was a big deal for me. My personal goal was under 30 minutes, and my previous best, a training run last week, was 26:43.
But more importantly, I beat my younger sister.
She was not amused.
My sister has been training much longer than I, and even ran a half-marathon (13 miles) this past fall. I even asked her for training advice when I decided to do this crazy thing. I think I beat her by five minutes and change.
I don’t know if I could handle a marathon though. I think I’m better suited for shorter runs relying on speed, not endurance, and I’m certain she’d leave me in the dust in a half-marathon. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll start training for a half-marathon myself.
I know one thing for certain: this will not be my last 5K. I enjoyed the heck out of it, and I’m ready for the next one. Look out Race For Education, I’m commin’ your way. I may do the Capital City River Run this Sept. as well (the 5K though).
I want to see if I can get my time under 25 minutes for the next race. I probably can, as I took a few “breaks” while running today. By “breaks” I mean, I slowed my pace down to a pseudo-powerwalk for thirty seconds to a minute (I wore a stopwatch). If I can keep my endurance up for the full time and not slow down too often, I’m confident I can improve my time.
Being able to improve my performance is quickly becoming my favorite aspect of getting into running.
I never really did any kind of organized sport, save a bout of rec league floor hockey in the third grade, and, amusingly, in college. There was plenty of street hockey thrown in there, but that was anything but organized.
Today I experienced, on a small scale, what other athletes must feel: the rush of a crowd cheering you on. It was great. It fired me up when I was wearing down. It inspired me to stick with this. As my sister said, “Running is addicting. You won’t want to stop.”
What I learned:
-My uncle’s pre-race meal suggestions worked. “Light breakfast. Toast and a banana for lunch.” I had zero cramps. I ate half an energy bar about an hour before the race too.
-Study the race route ahead of time. I only got a brief look at the route about an hour before it started, but what little knowledge I gained was helpful. I knew which streets made up the final stretch.
-Going full throttle and passing people in the last few yards of the race is awesome. Amusingly enough, Eye of the Tiger was playing on track speakers in the home stretch. It was meant to be. I hauled, unleashing a primal scream all the way (not kidding). I’m sure any photos of me at this point are hilarious.
