smirky dudes 5k

i just re-read this post and while this was going to be super short commentary, it turned out long; oops sorry about that.

chip time for my first 5k event today was 28:41. [[Update: chip time was actually 28:29...a few more seconds, i'll take it! place 109 of 298, 64 out of 105 males]]. it was another good learning experience.

the 10k started at 8am, and my 5k started at 9am...i got there at about 7.40am ha ha. i guess i was plenty early! i got to watch the 10k folks start and i was able to witness a great finish. the prize money seemed huge to me for the 10K: $10,000 total! the open male and female winners got $1,000 each. i saw both the male and female winners finish, and the mens 2nd place was a come-from-behind-last-minute-neck-and-neck finish. sweet! its so hard to believe that some dude can run a 10k in 27+ minutes. i was amazed.

my goal was to average at least 9:00 pace so i'm a little disappointed. dang! but my polar says i ran 3.2 miles therefore my average pace was 8:54. please? can i have it? oh well. i have to remember to focus on taking the shortest path, it adds up i guess. my chip time works out to a 9:14 average pace [update--9:11 pace]. this still counts as my fastest 3 consecutive miles ever though, so thats good times. my polar says the splits were:
8:50
8:58
9:02

this race benefited the childrens cancer research fund, so it was nice to be a part of that. we got to hear 3 success stories before the race (well i was so early i got to hear the speakers twice); not to get all sentimental on you but it is hard for me to not be moved by these types of cancer stories.

anyway, the race. i was able to reel in all of the people i didn't think should be able to beat me...the girl with the purple shorts, the guy with the "best" shirt, etc. etc. i will focus on the one funny part though. a father/son duo passed me with about 3/4 of a mile left.

they seemed to have a bit of smirky grin on their faces as if to say, look at that kid and we just passed him muahaha. i'm sure it was all in my mind but that pissed me off. i couldn't keep pace with them but yet, they weren't getting too far away from me either.

with about 0.20 or 0.10 mile left, the finish line is in sight. the dad casually raised his arms for the infamous, look at me i did it, i'm the man. i am kind of bummed because i wanted to catch him. some dude on the side of the path yelled out: "YOU CAN DO IT IN UNDER 30 MINUTES!!! COME ON!!!" as soon as he said that i absolutely hauled a**!!! to the tune of a 13mph sprint and my heart rate got up to 192..i dug deep! thank you to that guy who scared me into thinking i wasn't even going to run this thing in under 30 minutes.

the father and son were running together and i had nowhere to go but right between them...the dad still had his arms in the air and i had to sqeeze through them...i almost knocked him over! teehee i scared the crap out of him and i also beat them, take that smirky dudes! overall it was a fun race. it was interesting to see how fast i should try to push myself each mile.
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well to make the worlds longest post ever about a 5k even longer...
after the race i drove about 15 minutes to my 9-mile route. did ok through 5.5 miles but the wheels fell off in the last 3 miles. i almost walked the entire last mile. my heart rate was fine the whole time (mid to low 150's while jogging and 100-120 while walking), but my legs were so fatigued. now i must rest.
p.s. the shins don't hurt, i think by making the dr. appointment i might have scared them healthy? oh who knows.