Downtown 5K Race Recap

Little bit of the little bit of an expo...

   Yesterday, I ran in the Downtown 5K, here in London. The Downtown 5K is the second race in the series of six races sponsored by London Honda, in affiliation with Runners' Choice.
   I was initially a little worried about what the weather might be like as the forecast was calling for rain right about race time but, as luck would have it, the rain did not materialize. The temp was about 8C, pretty overcast so, all in all, a pretty good morning to run.
   The race both started and ended downtown (naturally

Was my race bib a foreshadowing...?

enough) in Victoria Park. It involved about an eight block loop on city streets which we ran twice (there was also a 2.5K category and they ran the loop once). It was kind of cool because they had traffic stopped for us at all the major intersections. As a driver, this would have annoyed the hell out of me but, as a runner this one time, it was sweet!
   As I always do, I lined up for the start of the race at the back of the pack. This somehow or other only seems like the right thing to do---even when I was back in school I always headed to the back of the class when picking out seats for the first time. Anyway, it's a heck of a lot less claustrophobic back there!
   I woke up that morning feeling pretty good and ready to run. The previous couple of days I had substituted walking for running as part of my #RunToCanadaDay streak and this had left me with a little extra energy. The only thing that had me worried was the fact that it had been ages since I had actually run 5K. On top of that, during the streak we are required to run only 2K and I was finding that I was pretty tired after just that, so hard to say what a 5K might do to me!

The start of the Kiddy Trot.

  

The bandshell in Victoria Park.

At any rate, I started the race and was feeling just fine for the first couple of blocks. I very quickly noticed a speedwalker up ahead of me, a tiny elderly lady, dressed in neon, with brightly coloured compression stockings. I thought to myself "how cute", as I prepared to pass her. Well, I had quite a while to prepare as I soon realized that that she was speedwalking at the same rate I was running! I was running at what I thought was a good pace for me at the beginning of a race so that I might have something left at the end but this pace would not allow me to get past this little woman. Slightly against my better judgement, I picked the pace up a notch and was soon even with her. I complimented her on her pace and she thanked me sweetly, as I slowly pulled away.

Crowd at the starting line.

   Further along, I came across another runner who had stopped for a walk break. I passed her and then a little ways up the road, I stopped for my own little walk break. At which point, she passed me. We then started taking turns passing each other as our walk breaks alternated and soon we were joking about it. It was only at the end of the race that we realized we actually knew each other through work connections many years ago! Small world!

My Sweetie, seeing me off.

Nearing the finish line, forcing a smile. Nice
pic by my Sweetie, Doralyn!

   Toward the end of the race, I was feeling pretty whipped. I had ended up taking way more walk breaks than I thought I should really need. By this point, the neon speedwalking lady had actually passed me for the last time and did, in fact, kick my ass at the end of the race. With the finish line way up ahead, I had decided to take one last walk break so that I could at least finish the race running. It was here that she pulled so far ahead of me that there was no catching her. As it turned out, I took that last walk break a little too soon and almost had to stop and walk right in front of everyone at the finish line! Fortunately I was able to tough it out but it wasn't pretty...

The start of the race. Me at the back, yellow shoes, white cap. Up ahead, near
the curb, neon top and coloured stockings----Demon
Speedwalking Lady!!

   Anyway, here are some observations: 
                                                                                                                                  Someday, somewhere, somehow...I need to get a little more serious with the training. I ran this race in a touch over 35 minutes and that just doesn't cut it. Big goal, for me, would be to get that down below 30. (tee hee) (and that "tee hee" might be part of the problem)
                                                                                                                        I thought it would be kind of cool to enter this race series because, at my age (61), I figured I would be near the top of my AG. So, so, SO wrong on that account! The handful of other guys in this AG who run this series are all experienced runners who do 5k in the mid-twenties. Laugh's on me!

  I need to calm down a little before a race. The last race, I couldn't remember how to start my Garmin. This race, I wore a short-sleeve tech shirt over top of a long-sleeve cotton one. Bad form, I realize. WORSE form, however, is that I put the short-sleeve one on backwards....(giggle) (and that "giggle" might just be part of the problem)

Finally!

  
  

Spring Is Here!

   Yesterday was a glorious day for running!
   The temps were in the mid-teens Celsius, the snow (except for the one narrow strip I found) was all gone and you could

A stretch of sidewalk I ran a couple of
months ago

actually run with just one layer on!


The same stretch of sidewalk yesterday,
but from the opposite direction.

   I headed out for a run with no real firm plans as to how far and where to. The only thing I knew was that I needed to get at least 2K in and keep the #RunToCanadaDay streak alive.
   For the last few days, I have been bothered by an un-diagnosed, periodic pain in the upper leg-hip-groin area. There is occasionally a strong jolt of pain deep down inside, at the front pretty well where those three areas of my body join up. I have to pivot in just the right way for the pain to hit and then, generally, it goes away. The pain will cause me to limp a little for the first half kilometer or so and then just works its way out and I'm fine to run after that. This is what happened yesterday.
   The run yesterday was just fine right up to the 2 and a half kilometer mark and then I made the possible mistake of stopping to take a pic. When I turned around to start running again, the pain returned.

The only little skinny strip
of snow I ran across

   I have a race coming up on Good Friday this week and the fact that I occasionally find myself running in pain is a little distressing. I decided I would just walk the rest of the way home yesterday and not take a chance on aggravating anything. While walking I tried to come up with a strategy for being ready for Friday and keeping the streak alive at the same time. The rules of the streak dictate that 2K must be accomplished every day but a little leeway is given to people who might need to walk it, rather than run. I think I might end up making copious use of that little "loophole" for the coming week, in the hope that I can finish the 5K I need to run on Friday.


Bike Sale anyone?

   Along the way, I ran into all sorts of people who were taking the opportunity to dig into some yardwork and tidy up garages. When I got back from the run/walk, we were in the middle of doing the same thing. Doralyn and the boys were hard at sweeping out the garage, throwing out stuff and re-arranging for the summer.


Doralyn's look of disapproval---
scary, isn't it?

   In the process, Doralyn found a dustpan she'd been missing for months and, surmising from the circumstances in which she found it, figured I was the likely culprit. The stern look of disapproval was hard not to capture, digitally.
   I love this time of year and I think most Canadians do. After one of the most brutal winters ever, it is even doubly sweet! Round about this time last year, I was on the shelf with a medical condition I have sworn never to mention again and was unable to enjoy the Spring weather to its fullest, running-wise. Not this year!

Streak Week!

   Woo-hoo, just finished my first week of the #RunToCanadaDay running streak!
   This 90-day running streak is the brainchild of Crystal Rhyno, founder and fearless leader of the Canuck Running Bloggers. The idea is to run at least two kilometers every day between April 1 (surely she must have been fooling) and July 1, Canada Day (Yay, Canada!)
   Last night (and I was cutting it close), I finished off Day 8 with a 2K run. I have very conveniently found a side street which is exactly half a kilometer away so, in a pinch for 2K, I simply run back and forth twice between my house and that street. Over the eight days, I found myself doing that more than I anticipated simply because of time constraints and the fact that I found myself running at the end of the day a lot. Doing it this way keeps me off the roadways after dark and, therefore, is that much safer (which keeps my wife a little happier, too!)

Please don't look at this lame picture of me streaking....

   I have never run eight days straight in my life! I'm not too sure I've ever run more than three days straight, for that matter. This, then, is uncharted territory for me. It has also led to re-defining a "rest" day---I guess a "rest day" is any day I only run 2K.
   A couple of times I've been out running and couldn't immediately figure out why I was tiring so fast. Then, of course, it hits me. You just ran six days straight!
   The majority of those runs have been the 2K variety, simply because of the timing, the weather and just wanting to keep the streak alive. A couple of those times, I really didn't feel like getting out there and running but did anyway. Today, as an example, I'd be fairly content to sit here on my butt but it's also a beautiful day and I'm talking myself into getting out there.
   Part of the problem, though, is that it's hard to imagine running ninety days in a row without encountering some unforeseeable circumstance which might stop the streak, regardless of my desire to keep it going. I just can't fathom being able to run every single day between now and Canada Day. In the face of a seemingly certain failure down the road, why stay motivated to keep the streak alive now.
   Cuz it would be kinda cool, that's why!