A Christmas Story 5k

My friend Tom setup a 5k/10k some time ago.  There is a race in Cleveland called A Christmas Story 5k (based on the movie).  The race we did it at Riverview Park was done simultaneously.  There were shirts and medals that you could get if you signed up.  I didn't do that though, so I just ran unofficially.

I was originally planning on just taking photos, but I was curious to see if I could run under 20 minutes.  Therefore, I elected to race.  I knew it would be tough to post a great time without much competition.  Mertz was running easy and doing the 10k and Flo wasn't running at all.  I don't have too many other friends that can run with me right now.

The weather was kind of crappy overnight.  I was worried that after some rain, the pavement might have some icy spots.  Thankfully, that wasn't the case.  There were no problems.  It was about 33 degrees, but at least there was no wind.  That was a huge plus.  I wore a ColdGear top, tights and gloves.  I probably should've just sucked it up and worn shorts.

Much I as I suspected, I was about the only jackass that was doing a true warmup.  I did some striders and got the legs going fast.  After a big week, I took off yesterday and it seemed to help.  The legs felt fresh during the warmup.  Most other people weren't taking this as seriously, so they were having fun and chatting before the race.

I took off ahead of everyone.  It was weird actually being ahead of Mertz for a change.  I've never led a race, so I didn't quite know how to run in the beginning.  I figured no one was too far behind me, but I wasn't completely sure.

Not surprisingly, I went out too fast.  At one point, I looked down and the pace was a 5:37.  I gradually slowed.  Still, the first mile was a speedy 6:10.  Definitely a little faster than I would've liked.  It didn't seem too hard though.

I gradually slowed down.  This is a relatively flat and fast course, but I knew I wasn't quite a sharp as I wanted to be.  I didn't feel terrible, but I wasn't exactly great either.  I tried to be steady until the turnaround point.

That came at 1.55 miles.  Tom put a pink ribbon on a tree.  Turning around was good to see how far ahead of everyone that I was and also it was just good to see everyone in general.  I thought that would be a big boost and that I might run faster, but that didn't happened.  I was already working hard as it was.

Mile 2 was significantly slower than the first mile.  It was only a 6:44.  That was a little disappointing, but I wasn't quite giving my all.  I wasn't willing to push myself into a pain zone to run fast.  I'd estimate that I was running about 85-90%.  The good thing is that when compared to my last 5k, my breathing was better.  My pace was slightly faster too.

I continued on, going by everyone that was running the other direction.  Eventually, I was back on my own though.  The pace was around a 6:33.  I figured that I would push a little toward the end.

You can see the finish line from quite far.  That was a help.  I also saw Flo and her kids cheering me on as I came in.  That was a good boost too.  I finished up with a time of 19:50.  That was great, except that my watch said 3.05 miles.  I'm not sure why, but it is kind of tough to say I ran under 20 minutes, when the watch said I was short and it was close.  I did run a little faster than a month ago.  I was actually hoping I could be even faster.  It was fine though and I'll take it.

The most fun was going back to Tom's house to hangout, watch the movie and eat.  I'm not a social person, but these are great people and I had a lot of fun with them, as I always do.  That made it worth coming out for.

Tomorrow, I need a short run.  I'm hoping for at least 5 miles, but I'd actually like to run 7.  The problem is that it will snow after the Eagles game.  Therefore, I either have to get up and get the run done, or suffer through some tough weather.  I guess time will tell.


3.05 miles - 19:50 (6:30 pace)