Race Day's A Comin'!

It is now less than five days to race day - the Trail and Treads 5K Run! I have been training for the last five weeks, following fairly closely to "The Plan". As I said in my previous post, I am still sticking to my time goal of 26 minutes. I know it will be difficult for me to achieve but I am going to shoot for it. The Trail and Treads 5K is mostly flat with only the wind to worry about. It is a barebones race with little fanfare. No water stations, not that you need them in a 5K. Last year there was no goody bag but they gave away a lot of door prizes before awarding the winners. Thinking about the race reminds me of some of my past race efforts.

My first race was the Independence 5K Run in Nettleton, MS about 15 years ago. I don't even think they have this race anymore and there were only a couple hundred runners then. I had a weak age group and actually came away with a third place trophy, even though I only ran it in 23:38. In typical first-race inexperience, I ran the first two miles too fast at about a 6:30 pace and bombed the last 1.13 miles. I felt sick at my stomach and tried eating a banana immediately after the race. BAD MISTAKE. BAAAAAAAAAAD. I had to rush to the porta potty and threw up for several minutes. Pretty sad for a 5K! The trophy made it through several moves before finally biting the dust.

I drifted away from running after returning to college in Florida and meeting my future wife. It wasn't until several years later that I got back into it as I found myself creeping toward (and slightly passing) the 200 pound mark. We were going to a church outside of Memphis, TN who started a 5K Run for foreign missions called the Heart and Sole 5K Run. I volunteered the first year and we had a great first run. Afterwards the youth minister told a hilarious story about how the last mile of the race he struggled, yet eventually lost, to a one-armed 80-year-old man. He joked about how he was going to train all year to beat that guy!

The following year I decided to sign up and began running a few months prior to the race. My goal was just to break 30 minutes, which I did accomplish. With less than a mile to go in the race I was struggling, and that's when I saw him. Yes, the one-armed old guy. He was methodically churning along, one arm swinging along with his steady rhythm. I said to myself, "I gotta beat this guy!" Let's just say it was a TOUGH finish but I did come out on top! Barely! The funniest thing is, the guy STILL handedly beat our youth minister!

I ran a 4-miler the next spring, still my longest race to date. It was a St. Patrick's run with green beer and the works. My goal was to break 40 minutes but I came up 2 minutes short. That run was more than 10 years ago! I wouldn't run again until last year, in my quest to lose weight and become a runner again. (Read one of my first posts: "How I Got Started" for more on this quest.)

My first run after this long highatous was a 5K in New Albany, MS last summer. My goal was just to break 30 minutes and it is a good thing I didn't have anything more lofty than that in mind. This race is one of the most hilly you will find in North Mississippi and it was a tough run. I think the hills shocked a lot of people, including one of the high school cross country teams participating. With less than a mile ago, I was running behind a teenage girl wearing high school cross country attire when she suddenly collapsed in the middle of the road! I stopped for a second and asked her if she was okay and she looked at me kinda shocked and nodded. I kept going but felt TERRIBLE I didn't stop completely and assist her. A couple of minutes later I was still considering turning around and going back when she blazed past me like I was standing still! I tried to speed up and keep up with her but I couldn't match her pace. So much for feeling sorry for the little squirt!

The last race I completed was the Race for the Cure 5K. I met my goal of running under 28 minutes and felt like I was finally starting to make progress. In less than a week, I will be trying to take 2 minutes off that time! Just a few more days of running and its race day. Even now I am scanning the web for my 10K race plan for my next race!