Anthem 5K Fitness Classic race report

Good lookin' statue behind that
chubby dude

About a mile into the race, I decided I wasn't going to do a race report. "What's the point?" I thought. I'm bonking this race. I'm about to start walking, and this is just a 5K. A 5,000 meter run on mostly flat asphalt, and I am dying. Who wants to read about that?

Well, obviously I got over it.

This was not my best race ever, but I had a good day regardless. I started out too fast. My first mile was almost an even nine minutes.  Even though I'm woefully under-trained, I had it in my head that I should shoot for a PR. I set my Garmin for 25'05" and started huffing. I should have run solid 10-minute miles, but I can be stupid sometimes. As I mentioned above, I had barely made it a mile when I decided that my strategy should have been to merely finish. Following a terrible second mile, I finished the race reasonably strong for a chubby guy.

Nearly 10K people ran today

What this race burned into my brain is that I am overweight (again) and being inconsistent (again) with my training. My weeks have looked like this 0 miles - 4 miles - 6 miles - 2 miles - 15 miles - 2 miles.  That's crazy. How am I going to run 10 miles in four weeks with that kind of commitment? I've gotta turn this mutha out.

Eating too many cows has been part
of my problem

Tomorrow, the diet starts up again. [Jeez, listen to me.] The training resumes in earnest. I'm going to get back in shape and rock the 10K in two weeks. Then I am going to finish, admirably, the 10 miler in four weeks. After that, I'm going to seriously burn up some miles ahead of the trail half marathon I have planned over the summer. Time to get serious. Again.

I should finish by saying that the race was remarkably well organized and executed. The staff and volunteers did a perfect job. Recent rains caused part of the original course to flood, but the organizers re-routed it. If you didn't know that, you could never had guessed they were scrambling at the 11th hour to put the race on. This is one of my favorite 5Ks here in town. You should try it.

Running culture

I've been on a sabbatical from running culture for several months now on account of my wife's pregnancy and the subsequent birth of my son. Taking care of family matters hasn't left me as much time as I formerly enjoyed for things like racing and two-hour long runs on weekend mornings. I've had to be handy, and that's OK. I'm happy to take care of my family. But I have missed being part of running culture.

What do I mean by running culture? Take, for instance, the long run I did last Saturday with my YMCA running group. We ran through Seneca Park. If you know anything about Louisville, you know Seneca & Cherokee Parks are full of runners most weekend mornings but especially on Saturday mornings in the weeks before the Derby Mini-Marathon. Running there, as opposed to my neighborhood, is akin to running through NYC's Central Park, comparatively speaking. There are hordes of runners everywhere, running in groups and individually, struggling up and down the hills. Every few steps, you enjoy (or endure, if you're hung over) the wave or nod of another fellow runner.

And in a couple hours, I am going to my first race packet pickup since April. The Anthem Fitness Classic 5K is this weekend; and I'm going to pick up my t-shirt and bib, like I have done dozens of times before for so many races. There, I will see chubby first-timers and lean, FRBs (front-running bastards.) I'll see vendors hawking all sorts of gear and gaggles of cheery volunteers answering the same questions over and over.

All of this is part of what I call running culture. Shared rituals, experiences, symbols. The shared rituals like Saturday morning long runs in an idyllic, hilly suburban park. Like picking up your t-shirt before a race. Like pinning your bib on the night before. I've missed being a part of this larger community. And tomorrow morning, at 8 AM, I will line up with a few thousand dear friends to run another race together. I can't wait.

Reflecting on Christmas 2010

Yesterday, I ran six miles with my YMCA training group. This fine bunch of people are training for the Triple Crown and/or Derby Mini-Marathon. The course took us through the hills of Cherokee and Seneca Parks, and for this flatlander, it was murder. I ran the first half of the out-and-back course with Helga and did OK. By OK, I mean that she carried on a conversation with me, and my contribution was a series of grunts. On the way back, she wanted to stretch her legs more and so off she went. I finished the course by running a run-two/walk-one minute pattern. I thought I would be incredibly sore today. I'm feeling well, actually. I'm thinking about running a couple miles if it ever stops raining.

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Santa Fernando

I realized I forgot to mention the awesome Christmas I had this year. Related to running, Santa Fernando brought me some Brooks running pants, which were much appreciated. Now I can layer my pants with tights and run in colder weather. Also, I don't have to run around in tights all the time, which I find embarrassing in any weather. 

One of the best gifts I've gotten in years is something my wife made for me -- a racing bib scrapbook. Embossed with various photos and inspirational sayings, this simple cardboard ring-bound keepsake keeps all my racing bibs in one neat place, perfect for reflecting on or showing to bored house-guests.

Isn't that cool? And as I finish more races, I just un-clip, insert, and re-clip. Scalable and attractive.

Next week, I have lots of miles to run, and at the end of it, I have my first race in a long time -- the Anthem Fitness 5K.

Runaways

I watched The Runaways today, and so that's what I'm calling this post.

Jack Eli 

There's not been much activity here on account of this guy, and the run-up to his arrival on January 28th. My running has been sporadic and passionless for months now as my wife's condition grew less ambulatory. I won't bore you with details except to say that I had a lot on my plate with taking care of her and our seven-year-old. It's paid off in dividends, however. I mean, look at the little guy. We make beautiful babies.

So, I haven't been running much, but this week, I have been bounding back. Helped by some unseasonably mild weather, I have done a couple two or three milers around the neighborhood when mom & Jack haven't needed me. My legs, atrophied from disuse, usually feel like tree trunks, and I find myself out of breath before a half-mile has past. Once again, I find myself starting over with my running. And me with a 5K coming up next weekend.

This weekend, I have my running group. Due to family commitments, I have missed the first three meetings of this YMCA-sponsored training club. I hope they'll forgive me. [If they don't, I'll show them baby pictures until they lighten up.] The plan, Saturday, is to do six miles in the hills of Cherokee Park. The weather is supposed to be nice-ish, so I ought to be able to run in Vibrams. [I don't run in them if the weather is below 45 because my feet get too cold, even with Injini socks.]

So that's what's going on. I am training for the Triple Crown, so I have the Anthem 5K next weekend, the Rodes City Run [10K] two weeks hence, and the Papa John's 10 Miler two weeks after that. Y'all come out!