My first 5K

..and I got 1st place! Yeah, apparently no fast people showed up and I led 11 men in my category to take the prize. My time for the 5K was beyond my wildest predictions, under 20 minutes. Actual time was 19:58.4, or 6:26 per mile pace. Four races left for this year! [Ed. note: Upon further inspection, the course was short by about 0.2 miles, due to a course marking error. My time would have been around 21:30 or less, still well within my goal.]

Apparently I'm nuts

I decided why stop now? I'm going to squeeze 5 more races in before the end of the year. That would bring the total for 2006 to three 5Ks, three 8Ks, six 10Ks, two half marathons, and two full marathons. I'll try to put my 2006 schedule in the margin, if I can steal the code from another blog.

At last..

~44:29~
at the Kids Alive International Third Annual Turkey Trot 10K Run

This was a pretty good race. Weather was beautiful, and the course was somewhat scenic. Once again, I seem to have left the house way too late. This was my last chance to run under 45 minutes in 2006, since it was the only 10K left this year in the immediate Chicago area (if you consider Valparaiso a suburb of Chicago). I Google mapped it and took the back way in, past some impressive looking mansions. Where is everybody? I drive toward the high school entrance and start to see signs of life - runners doing some short sprints, stretching, etc. Some have their bib numbers already on and are heading to their cars to put away their goodies. Inside, it's quite warm. I head into the gym and get my bib number, briefly chatting with the guy handing out the t-shirts. This is the best year yet for the Kids Alive 10K, with over 400 partcipants. I have time to do all my stretches for once, then head to the start which is thoroughly unmarked, just a couple of cones as a rough guide. Before the race, one of the charity leaders from Sudan says a brief prayer, which sounds quite impressive. And a few seconds later, we're off! The race starts with a slight uphill, then an extreme downhill (which is bound to turn into an uphill later, and it does). The race seems to be a nice loop with some staggered turns through some quiet neighborhoods, and flattens out some toward the end. I'm feeling pretty good, watching my heart monitor and lap times. I think I may actually make my goal! They did make some last minute course adjustments, so I'm hoping I can gauge my kick properly. The six-mile mark comes up really fast! I manage to conjure up some reserves toward the end of the race and come in around 44:30 (official time). My chrono said 44:29, so that's what I'm going with. The mile time was 7:10, pretty decent for an old guy. After the race, I talk with the Sudanese man, whose name is Francis. He is visiting for 10 days, and says he has friends in Chicago, a "very beautiful city. No other city like it". I have to agree with him. He shows me the kids he is sponsoring back in his country in one of the brochures for Kids Alive. The coffee and donuts after the race are like heaven. I stick around to watch the awards (I came in 9th in my age group, 50th overall out of 440). They were giving pumpkin pies for some of the prizes. And did I mention the weather? An amazingly wonderful 55 degrees! I drive out of town with the windows and roof open, pawing at the warm air, replaying the race in my head.

and going.......

Last Sunday I ran the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot, hoping to make my goal of 45:00 for a 10K for this year, but it was not to be. The best I could do was a 45:15. I was full of tapas and sangria from the night before, so this may have slowed me down some.

Left the house around 8 am for an 8:45 start. Realized I took the wrong tollway to get there, so had to do 60 down Touhy Ave to get there on time. Arrived about 8:30, and there's no parking to be found! I manage to stash the car in the lot of a restaurant near the start line and run to go get my race packet. The line is huge. But, it turns out this is the line for the 5K race which starts later. I get to the right line, get my packet, hastily pin my number to my shirt, attach my championchip, and go to drop my goodie bag at gear check. The staff are very slow and just ran out of staples! I hand them the bag with my numbered envelope folded over the top and say "good luck"! And I'm off to the start. It's pretty cold out here. I line up somewhere in the front third. I have only enough time to do a quickie IT band and hamstring stretch, and the race starts promptly at 8:45.
I tried to find some pacers, but no luck. Felt slow, and my soundtrack was off because I started it too late. (I have 45:30 worth of songs in my iPod for 10K timing purposes.) The race went ok, except for a blast of wind during the last 1/2 mile. After the race, I met up with Gary, my finance instructor from my MBA program, who I saw earlier as I was frantically searching for a parking spot. He said he does the race every year with the family, but this year he hasn't been running, but weightlifting. I told him my time, but he thought I was running the 5K, and I thought he was running the 10K...
I went to get my gear check bag, and threw up on the way there. The scallops and red sauce looked awesome in the grass..stuck around for some snacks, hot cocoa, raffle, then headed to breakfast with TNT crew (blueberry crepes).

Splits: 6:59, 7:28, 7:03, 7:36, 7:22, 7:16, 1:31.

I decided to sign up for a few more races before the end of the year. Six, to be exact. More to come...next up, 10K in Valparaiso to benefit Kids Alive. And my last chance this year to break the 45-minute barrier.

and going...

Ran the Westchester Veterun this last Sunday, Nov. 12. Although I had a goal of 45 minutes, I didn't make it! I was actually 3 seconds slower than my Sycamore race, or 45:57.

Splits for the 6.21 miles:
7:09.16
7:40.47 (what happened??)
7:28.78 (I do the math here and realize I won't make it)
7:28.89
7:25.12
7:17.19 (I do more math here and realize I may not beat my last time!)
1:27.31 (6:48 pace)
Total: 45:46.92

I was disappointed because this was a flat course and I thought my time would be faster than the last one. I still have one 10K left, the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot, where I'll try to break the 45 minute mark. Still the 6-minute mile goal remains!