5k Prediction Run for Ground Hog's Day
Our running club does a prediction run to kick off the season; it's traditionally been a 4 mile prediction run, but we were run off our former site due to construction and had to find a new home. The new place could only give us 3.1 miles of asphalt, so it should be even easier since most of us are used to running that distance.
I was really itching to do a 5k--I can't even remember the last time I did a 5k...probably last summer. My recovery has been going smoothly so I just wanted to see what I could do on this relatively flat course. Last year it was 0 degrees at race time with blowing wind and snow to make the course look like Alaskan tundra. I raced with frozen blocks for feet...I hadn't discovered my handy dandy flipped topped mittens, either, so my hands were a mess. So, it was 30 degrees warmer today, with overcast skies, but the course was a glazed sheet of ice from yesterday's ice storm. So, I added another minute to my predicted speedy 5k 26:30 time to a more realistic 27:30 time. There were about a hundred runners which is pretty good for this race as it attracts an inner-club set. It hasn't been heavily promoted, but we might try to broaden out with this race, since it's hard to find short winter races.
Debi and Roger were running. Debi was sporting that svelte Buckeye 50 jacket and was smart to remember her prophylactic yak-traks protection. Again, in my over enthusiastic Irish Setter puppy way to get to the naughty racing business, I had once again left the house without adequate prophylactic protection...I had only bare road shoes. Debi and I did a few warm ups on the glazed course. You could literally skate. I'd have to shorten my stride and hope for the best. The road conditions were ripe for torn hamstrings, messed up hip flexors, or at the very least--an embarrassing fall on your ass. Gosh...I was aggravated with this! After running 31 miles of frozen ruts, I was in the mood to feel dry smooth asphalt beneath my feet; I wanted to run like the wind, not skate to the finish. Debi said in her June Cleaver cheery way, "But I'm here for the friends and the memories!" I swear I could see wholesome blue-birds circling her head. She's right of course...this is a prediction fun run, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Debi predicted 27 minutes. This was the first road race that combined elements of a road run, an ice-skating session, and also a cross-country race because some stretches were flooded areas of black ice, so if you wanted to remain vertical you had to skirt the course and run in the grass bordering the road. I was able to talk to some people, so I knew I wasn't doing near a nine-minute mile. It was stressful though, thinking that I was going to fall every few feet, and bracing every few steps. My hamstrings were straining. Several people took total spills, but mostly just little aggravated slips every 20 feet. Just in sight of the finish line, Debi caught up to me. I told her she better get ahead of me since she predicted faster. Jim C. had the finish clock turned backwards so we couldn't see our time till we had crossed the finish. I thought the clock said 27:19, so I was just off 11 seconds of my time. I gloated a good bit. One of the other board members came within a second of his predicted time...not fair...this guy just wins everything. He's a financial guy, so he's all about the numbers. I had brain drain again. Ted D. was trying to tell me to write my name down on the card, but I insisted on writing my time. He reissued the instructions using more simple language; finally he told me he lived with three redheads so he knows the extra assistance they need when running addled.
Then Debi said, "I thought the clock said 29 something." Hmmmm....are my eyes that bad...or was I just seeing what I wanted to see in my obtunded state? Shoot! Now, I was doubting myself. Now, we'd have to wait for the awards ceremony at Rockne's. Turns out the clock did say 29 something. I was nearly two minutes slower than my predicted time and it aggravated me. I was in the mood to run fast and the ice slowed me down! I'll have to wait for another 5k to test my speed, but for now, it's a slow slide through February till we get to spring.
I don't care if that damned Punxsutawney Groundhog saw his shadow when they pulled his butt out of his Pennsylvania burrow, not a runner out there on the course saw their shadow, so I'm declaring an early start to spring training season!!
Our running club does a prediction run to kick off the season; it's traditionally been a 4 mile prediction run, but we were run off our former site due to construction and had to find a new home. The new place could only give us 3.1 miles of asphalt, so it should be even easier since most of us are used to running that distance.
I was really itching to do a 5k--I can't even remember the last time I did a 5k...probably last summer. My recovery has been going smoothly so I just wanted to see what I could do on this relatively flat course. Last year it was 0 degrees at race time with blowing wind and snow to make the course look like Alaskan tundra. I raced with frozen blocks for feet...I hadn't discovered my handy dandy flipped topped mittens, either, so my hands were a mess. So, it was 30 degrees warmer today, with overcast skies, but the course was a glazed sheet of ice from yesterday's ice storm. So, I added another minute to my predicted speedy 5k 26:30 time to a more realistic 27:30 time. There were about a hundred runners which is pretty good for this race as it attracts an inner-club set. It hasn't been heavily promoted, but we might try to broaden out with this race, since it's hard to find short winter races.
Debi and Roger were running. Debi was sporting that svelte Buckeye 50 jacket and was smart to remember her prophylactic yak-traks protection. Again, in my over enthusiastic Irish Setter puppy way to get to the naughty racing business, I had once again left the house without adequate prophylactic protection...I had only bare road shoes. Debi and I did a few warm ups on the glazed course. You could literally skate. I'd have to shorten my stride and hope for the best. The road conditions were ripe for torn hamstrings, messed up hip flexors, or at the very least--an embarrassing fall on your ass. Gosh...I was aggravated with this! After running 31 miles of frozen ruts, I was in the mood to feel dry smooth asphalt beneath my feet; I wanted to run like the wind, not skate to the finish. Debi said in her June Cleaver cheery way, "But I'm here for the friends and the memories!" I swear I could see wholesome blue-birds circling her head. She's right of course...this is a prediction fun run, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Debi predicted 27 minutes. This was the first road race that combined elements of a road run, an ice-skating session, and also a cross-country race because some stretches were flooded areas of black ice, so if you wanted to remain vertical you had to skirt the course and run in the grass bordering the road. I was able to talk to some people, so I knew I wasn't doing near a nine-minute mile. It was stressful though, thinking that I was going to fall every few feet, and bracing every few steps. My hamstrings were straining. Several people took total spills, but mostly just little aggravated slips every 20 feet. Just in sight of the finish line, Debi caught up to me. I told her she better get ahead of me since she predicted faster. Jim C. had the finish clock turned backwards so we couldn't see our time till we had crossed the finish. I thought the clock said 27:19, so I was just off 11 seconds of my time. I gloated a good bit. One of the other board members came within a second of his predicted time...not fair...this guy just wins everything. He's a financial guy, so he's all about the numbers. I had brain drain again. Ted D. was trying to tell me to write my name down on the card, but I insisted on writing my time. He reissued the instructions using more simple language; finally he told me he lived with three redheads so he knows the extra assistance they need when running addled.
Then Debi said, "I thought the clock said 29 something." Hmmmm....are my eyes that bad...or was I just seeing what I wanted to see in my obtunded state? Shoot! Now, I was doubting myself. Now, we'd have to wait for the awards ceremony at Rockne's. Turns out the clock did say 29 something. I was nearly two minutes slower than my predicted time and it aggravated me. I was in the mood to run fast and the ice slowed me down! I'll have to wait for another 5k to test my speed, but for now, it's a slow slide through February till we get to spring.
I don't care if that damned Punxsutawney Groundhog saw his shadow when they pulled his butt out of his Pennsylvania burrow, not a runner out there on the course saw their shadow, so I'm declaring an early start to spring training season!!