Bays Days 5 miler

I decided to do an impromptu running race because my training in that department has been less than satisfactory and I needed some motivation. So I was supposed to bike to the race (20 miles), do the running race (5 miles) and bike back. When I woke up at 5am and the thunder was crashing I knew the bike wasn't happening. But there really isn't a good excuse not to run in the rain, so I emailed Charlie (who I was planning on biking with) and decided to pick him up in my car to drive to the race.

Right after we got registered the heavens opened up. It was pouring for a good 20 minutes! It was a very well attended race ( about 700 I would guess ) and most people were hovering in their cars waiting for the time to get lined up at the start. And then just before it was time to get together, the clouds parted and the sun came shining down. This isn't quite as good as it may sound since a good sunshine after a good rain = unbearable humidity. But we just had to suck it up.

We had a very good CTC turnout with Rob, Paula, Christina, Eric, Alan, Charlie, and several others. That was definitely fun and I got to run with several club members throughout the race. I started the race at an easy pace. I always try to go out reasonably slow. I was surprised that my first mile was 8:20 which was decently fast because I started a bit behind the starting line. Then my left knee started hurting. Pretty bad. For a minute I thought I wasn't going to finish the race. But then by about mile 2 it loosened up. At mile 3 I was running at 23:30 and was very happy with that. My 5K PR is 25:40 so I was already ahead of that. But about mile 3 my knee started to hurt again. A little worse this time. My new plan was to run as fast as possible so that I could stop ASAP.

The last 2 miles were painful. But we finished out on a great track and it was like giving my knee a hug! It was so springy. So I kicked it up a knotch and finished at 39:03. Not too shabby. And amazingly, it was 3rd in my age group so I got this awesome trophy. That's the first and last time I ever place in a running race!

So now I'm sitting on the couch with ice packs on both knees contemplating a 45 mile bike this afternoon. Hard to pass up.

Happy 4th everyone!