[ScratchType1]

A year ago on the 4th of July, I think the last time I would have run a mile of distance was back in high school. Then I tried running a bit last November, got bit hard by the running bug and for all you kicksters here who aren't familiar with all the backstory, I ran myself into a broken tibia.<br><br>
It was 6 months to the day today that my left leg was put in a cast and I spent the first 6 weeks of the year hopping around on crutches. The 30 Somethings over at Coolrunning had to put up with me while I bitched and moaned my way back to getting out of the cast, starting therapy, starting walking again, and finally resuming a bit of running on April 21.<br><br>
So anyhow, a few weeks back, I set a personal best of 34:28 at a 5K and eventually noticed there would be a 5K near me on the 4th of July. I decided I wanted to run it, plus I would go into it with even better fitness and a better idea of how hard I might be able to push the legs. So I was all cranked up today to run this hard, run all of it, and set a new landspeed record for this slow novice runner.<br><br>
I'm also a type 1 diabetic and those of you here who know Notey probably know a bit about what it's like for diabetic runners. Although Notey presently has it easier than me, he's still a recent and late-onset type 1 sort of diabetic, he still has some beta cells down in the pancreas to help stabilize his blood sugars. I have to do it all on manual control with exogenous insulin and lots of test strips.<br><br>
My blood sugar tested at 137 mg/dl 20 minutes before the start. I injected 1u of Novolog to help with what I anticipated would be a bit of a sugar dump by my liver with the race stress.<br><br>
It was a crowded start. Lots of people. I managed to find a decent midpack spot and fortunately didn't have to do too much weaving around slower runnners or walkers at the start. Still, it took me about 15 to 20 seconds to reach the actual starting line. So off I went. I had a target heart rate in mind for this race of ~160 bpm. I suspected that my fitness could sustain that for a little longer than 30 minutes and that would be the number to get me to the end as fast as possible for a 5K.<br><br>
Reached the 1 mile mark at around 10:30. My heart rate was in the upper 150s, and most of the first mile had been flat or slightly downhill. I knew that after the halfway mark, there would be some uphill for the next 3/4 of a mile. So I tried dialing up a notch and worked on keeping myself going forward.<br><br>
The 2 mile mark passed by with me showing 20:45 on the watch. I knew then there wouldn't be any super magical sub 30 in the works, but I was easily on pace to beat 34:28. And I went to crank my legs harder, keep driving. I wasn't going to leave anything behind.<br><br>
As my watch ticked past 30 minutes, I saw the bridge to cross over and enter the park and where the finish would be. I was feeling good and kept going as hard as I could. Upon reaching the top, I'm looking ahead to see the finish line and chute. There it was, off to the left of the starting line, and behind the huge crowd of mid-pack 5K racers who were waiting and walking slowly forward to go under the finish banner.<br><br>
Yes, you read that right. The race organizers had screwed up the finish area so badly I was forced to come to a halt and get in line. 31:30 showed on the display. Tick tick tick. Creep creep creep. All of us in this line were a bit dismayed at this development. Tick tick tick. Creep creep creep.<br><br>
I saw the clock tick by 34:26. 27. 28. 29. Thanks, thanks a lot. I wouldn't cross the finish line until the clock had gone by 36 minutes.<br><br>
I'm not going to do the 5K at this race ever again. I stayed for a while and got to see that the 10K racers were few enough that there wasn't a backup. But man, I'm a bit pissed about the finish here. I was running a great race for myself today, I had come much closer to maxing out my effort in a 5K and still be running all of it. And now I don't have an official time that's accurate. Bleah.

 

[ScratchType1]

I took a long hot shower, so now I'm just going to try to remember that I ran a good race for my level and that my projections about heart rate and time were almost dead on the mark. I might be able to push my heart rate a little higher average for 5K, I averaged 161 bpm here, and I thought that I was going to do around 10:15 min/mile. Those are the fastest paces I've run yet, and it felt like I still had some more to give here at the end.<br><br>
Next target -- July 21st, should be a flat course along the riverfront in Wilmington, DE. Also, I know the races2run people know how to do a finish line and chute.<br><br>
In the meantime, I'm just going to cool down, take a couple days of rest and go longrun on Saturday.

 

[ScratchType1]

I don't know exactly what happened either, but somehow the chute got backed up and way out back into the course. I don't know when that started but when the results are posted eventually you'll be able to see a stretch where 5K racers are all coming in one second after another.<br><br>
By this time next year, presuming I stay injury free and running, definitely will do the 10 or 15K instead, lots fewer racers. It seems like the course itself is pretty nice, not super flat but no really nasty hills, although as I get in better shape I'm glad that I do most of my training on hilly terrain. That really helped me with yesterday to keep going at a good pace for me when the uphill area started after the halfway mark of the loop.<br><br>
I've been getting to do some thinking about it all yesterday, and I realized I sure should be glad I wasn't trying to break 30 minutes for the first time. Could you imagine what that must have been like for perhaps a few 5Kers there yesterday who might have been seeing their first chance to break 30 minutes, only to have to have to creep in with the pack and see the clock go ticking by?<br><br>
But like I've said earlier and to myself many times now, I'm pretty happy with the way I ran yesterday. It was by far my best effort out of the 6 5Ks so far and I was pleased as punch that my projections about heart rate and pace were so close to the mark. Unless something unforeseen happens in the next couple of weeks, I know I'm set to smash my PR and can go into that race with a lot more confidence in my ability to pace myself.

 

[ScratchType1]

They must have done some sort of WAG adjustment. They've got me coming in at 29:17. I don't think I had even crossed the bridge by 30 minutes, IIRC. And no way I covered the last 1.1 miles in 8:32. I would have barfed out all my internal organs trying to go that fast.

 

[ScratchType1]

Thanks, <b>Tom.</b>.<br><br>
I figure next year I'll have a lot more running under my legs, and it'll probably be the 10K or 15K that I'll do. Probably the 15K because so far that's the only 15K I've ever heard of that's nice and local.<br><br>
I've also realized that doing this run, which had so many runners, was a good preview for me of what it'll be like some at the half-marathon in Philadelphia November 18th, although I'm sure that'll be even more packed. But with me moving at a bit faster pace now, and so many more runners, it gave me some more experience at what it's like to run in a larger crowd.