Week 3 Day 3: Hoover Run For Hope 5k

Date: 11/7/09
Time of Day: 8:00 AM
Location: Ravenwood High School
Conditions: 54-55 degrees F, sunny
Music: New Yorker Fiction Podcast
Clothing: Long sleeve wicking shirt, Compression Shorts, Adidas Shorts
Shoes: Puma Sierra Trail II

When I got to the elementary school where the race started yesterday, I was feeling good about myself. I was well rested and I had a good 3 weeks of running under my belt.

Then I got out of the car.

The first problem I ran into was when I got to the registration table.

"What size t-shirt would you like?"

"2X, please," I responded.

"The largest we have is an extra large."

"As in you are out of anything larger...or that is the actual largest shirt you have?"

"It's largest one we have."

Okay...so that's not a good start. I've entered numerous 5ks...this is the first one I've been in that did not have a 2XL t-shirt. It's a small complaint, as I didn't enter this race for the t-shirt...but it is kind of a good feeling to pop out of the shower when you get home and put on your ugly 5k t-shirt (they're almost all ugly) and wear it around for the rest of the day. So I got an XL...maybe I'll wear it sometime in the future.

But I digress...you want to know about the race.

As usual, I flipped on my iPod, started my New Yorker podcast and got ready to start my C25K app and waited. And waited. And waited.

Finally, the 8:00 gun went off at about 8:10...and I was in for my next surprise.

I had mapped out the run via Google Maps and had done the street view for the whole course. What I gathered from street view was that I was going to be running a mostly flat course with a small hill in the third mile.

Google Maps lied.

After running about 100 yards, we made a left turn...and went down a very long hill. In my mind, I knew...if we're going down, we have to come back up.

My first 90 second running interval kicked in about halfway down the hill. So I took off running. At the bottom of the hill, the course flattened out for about 30 feet while we ran across the street between the school and the neighborhood. Then we started climbing. For about 45 minutes of the first run, I was climbing.

Then...after 90 seconds, my 3 minute run kicked in...and we were still climbing. At this point, I was starting to wonder if it'd be easier to just repeat W3D3 on Sunday.

Finally, about halfway through the 3 minute walking interval after the run, we hit a flat portion...and I had my 90 second run again...this time, slightly downhill.

When I hit the second three minute portion, it was mostly in a downhill...and I finally hit the end of the three minutes at the bottom of the hill.

At this point, every muscle in my leg was killing me. My original plan had me continuing for the rest of the race...but my race strategy had been based on a flat course. This was not a flat course.

The course continued down the street and turned into another neighborhood. At this point, a car came zooming by...and it wasn't the safety car. There were also a few people cutting across the course to take shortcuts...I honestly couldn't believe this...but I did come upon a group of volunteers crossing race numbers off a list, so they were clearly anticipating that someone might try it.

The street we turned onto was another hill. Therefore, I decided that it would probably be better for my progress if I walked the rest of the way instead of continuing to run. It's too early in my journey to worry about my times...and I had finished Week 3.

So...I walked the remainder of the way...and it was quite literally uphill both ways. Of course, another couple of cars came zooming down the course...which I again found very bizarre.

Finally, I hit the line at 54:33...but hey, I was tenth in my age group!

Next year, I'll probably run it again, because I feel like this course completely kicked my butt...and I want to get sweet revenge on it. Until then, however, I have to continue my C25K journey.

And I've finished Week 3...which makes me 1/3 done. And that's what I really have to remember. One-third done means that I am not done. I shouldn't get that discouraged from how the race went when I was working on essentially 1/3 fitness. Again, it's a baseline...and it shows me that once I get through with C25K, I need to start tackling hills.

Luckily, I know that the Habitrot 5k on Thanksgiving is mostly flat.

Onto Week 4!

Pre-Race: Hoover Run for Hope 5k

Now it's time to talk a little race strategy...

As I have mentioned, tomorrow morning, I am running the Hoover Run for Hope 5k.

Since I'm only in week 3, it's not very realistic to think I could run this entire event. However, as the Oktoberfest 5k taught me, I should be able to run a large portion of the event.

I will begin the race by completing the W3D3 exercise. After the last interval, I will restart my iPod application and walk 3 minutes, run 1 minute and walk 1 minute. After this five minute portion, the running portion of the app should kick back in, which means I will finish with my 90 second run, 90 second walk, 3 minute run and 3 minute walk. I am not anticipating having to go all the way through W3D3 twice tomorrow, but I know it's a possibility.

Also, should this become too hard (after I have finished the running portions of W3D3), I will not hesitate walking the rest of the way in order to avoid injury. At the moment, though, I'm heading in with the thought in my head that I will be able to merely extend W3D3 all the way through the race.

My primary goal tomorrow is to finish Week 3. My secondary goal (should I complete all of my running) is to beat my PR (and only time) from 10/10 of 49:47. However, if I beat Week 3, I will come home feeling satisfied.

Race starts at 8 a.m.!

Germantown Bier Run 5K

It was still dark when I woke up on Saturday. That's never a reassuring sight.

I rolled out of bed, took my shower, fed my cat and searched through my dresser for one of my two pairs of compression shorts (I have chaffing issues). Before heading out the door, I grabbed a granola bar and my water bottle - I learned a long while back that working out on an empty stomach is not remotely fun.

When I met my friends and arrived at the course in the Germantown section of Nashville, the sun still wasn't out, but I decided to put on my sunglasses anyway. I wasn't going to be fast, but I was going to at least be stylin'.

Most 5Ks give you a t-shirt for signing up and this one was no different. While most of the time you'll get one that's at least acceptable enough to work out in...every so often you'll get one you can wear out in public. At the same time, every so often you'll get a shirt that should never be worn by anyone in society...ever. This shirt was one of those. Falling into the realm of the tuxedo t-shirt, the Bier Run 5K shirts were liederhosen t-shirts. It's a shirt I might wear to sleep in...but it's something I don't see myself ever wearing to a place where people can actually see me. Simply put, it's hideous...but that's not really the point here.

I turned on my Garmin Forerunner to acquire the satellites (a useful tool if I ever saw one) and we headed to the starting line. I cranked on my iPod and turned it to the new Pearl Jam album, which I had downloaded from a wireless signal I had acquired while standing next to the Germantown Cafe. Then, I opened up my Couch to 5K app, which provides audio cues while running to tell me when to run and when to walk so I don't have to constantly look at my watch. The app only runs 31 minutes...and I knew that I'd be taking far longer than 31 minutes (my goal, for 5K number 1, was to finish in under one hour), but I figured I had 31 minutes to come up with a solution.

The first week of the Couch to 5K plan consists of a 5 minute warmup, and 8 alternating 60 second jogging and 90 second walking intervals. The plan was to do a few more intervals until I finished the race...and then use Sunday and Monday as rest days before doing a normal 8 interval workout on Tuesday.

Anyway, the three of us (Amanda, her friend Flynn and me) got in line at the back so we were well behind the runners when the gun went off. Flynn had run a marathon earlier this year and Amanda had been running since January, but they were both a little out of training, so they were going to be taking it slowly as well...although not as slowly as I was. It took 3 minutes (according to the results sheet) for me to get from where I was standing to the actual starting gate. I clicked the little start button on my Forerunner and the start button on my iPod app and away I went.

The first portion of the 5K was mostly flat, through the area of Nashville that is called Germantown largely because of the architecture in the area. The entire neighborhood is really only about 3 blocks, but it's really beautiful and very scenic. When my app told me to run, I was almost directly behind a group of walkers...I took off at a very slow jog (my jogging pace was always around 13:30)...I pretty much blew by them...and got a little excited by it. So excited that the next time the app told me to run, I went a little faster, which was a mistake. My feet and my legs started hurting...I contemplated taking the next few intervals off, but the old adage of "no pain, no gain" came to me...and I just decided to slow down my intervals. I powered through and it took about 5 minutes for my legs to feel comfortable again, but I didn't encounter any more pain issues.

When the app ran out, I was running past the Bicentennial Mall...I decided to take one extra long 150 second walking break during the "warmup" portion when I rebooted the C25K app (unfortunately, it won't let you skip the warmup)...then I timed myself on the run and the walk before the app took over and started giving me cues again. Also, unfortunately, at this point, the video that came with the Pearl Jam album started playing. Since you can't exit the C25K app without shutting it off completely, I was stuck listening to that for the next 9 minutes or so.

The course took a bizarre turn once we ran through the Bicentennial Mall and actually ran indoors through the Farmer's Market (and through the food court...because you want to smell curried goat on your 5k run). I got a little frustrated by this because I came upon a group of walkers taking up the entire path during a running interval and it slowed me down...it took about 4 "excuse mes" to finally get around them.

After that, it was pretty much clear sailing. I came out of the Farmer's Market, up a small hill and back to the start finish line (thankfully during a running interval, which left me with a nice finish photo).

I finished in 49:55, beating my goal by a good 10 minutes and 5 seconds.

I grabbed a bottle of water past the finish line and got in line for my free 9am finisher's beer (for it was the Oktoberfest Bier Run).

All in all, an extremely rewarding run. Unfortunately, it left my legs so sore that I haven't been able to pick back up this week. I finally feel good enough to give another go tomorrow morning.

Until tomorrow!