My brother was in town this week and I’m battling some stupid antibiotics, so it seemed like a good time to celebrate my annual “Remind Me Why I Don’t Run” day. Both brothers were doing the Northampton 5k series, a race I used to frequent back before bicycles, so I talked Andrew into making the trip with me. It took little convincing because the post-race agenda was to hit up Wings Over Amherst. If you’ve been there you understand.
Anyways, yeah, there was a running race, and I had to do that before our feast. This race is great. A $4 entry includes mid-race water support and all the cookies, bananas, popsicles, etc that you can consume post-race. Not to mention the people that run it are some of the nicest folk I’ve ever met and they’ve been at it since I first discovered the race 11 years ago. I’ve done lots of races of various types and this one is in a class of its own.
The only problem is that IT IS A RUNNING RACE. Meaning no bicycles, no wheels, no gliding. I felt so confused. During signups you have to predict your time. At the end of the day the person that is closest to predicting their time wins some free entries. I thought I was hot stuff, so I said 21:30, thinking that 7 minute miles didn’t sound too bad. After that I “warmed up” by running approximately 300 meters. My calves were super tight after that little jaunt. 7 minute miles suddenly seemed like a heck of a goal. Also checked out my racer history (which they keep on index cards in shoe boxes, awesome) and I’ve run 24 minutes like 20 times there. Somehow I remembered myself being a faster runner than that. Might explain why I can’t climb on a bike.
Obviously I needed to line up near the front so I could get a good start. You know, because I’m a serious runner and all and I need to get a good time. I thought I was being modest by putting myself in the third row. Brother Todd went on the front row but he’s actually a real runner.
I assume the position like I’m about to run a 800m or something and wait for the starter to shout GO. He says go, and I react as quickly as possible.
2 seconds later I’m in second place, and the only person in front of me is my brother. What the heck! It’s like no one else was even trying to go fast. Come on people! Don’t you want the holeshot?!
Todd got a gap of 10m before we made the turn 100m in. I was so confused. It didn’t FEEL like we were running fast and I felt like I was holding back tremendously. We go down a little hill and I try to settle in around 5th place or so. Doesn’t feel so bad. Then we do some flats. OK, that’s a little fast, so I back off just a hair and fall back to 10th place. No big deal.
Then we go up a steep hill. Of course I crush it because I’m a roadie and all. Recovering is what I do! At the top of the hill I think OGM WHERE ARE MY WHEELS HOW DO I COAST.
People start passing me. Lots of them. My legs hurt but that’s the least of my worries. I get that lactic acid feeling all through my body. Even in my arms and back. I cross the first mile marker in 6:30 which is roughly a 20 minute 5k pace.
I start doing highly complex mental math. It feels like rocket science stuff but that’s just because my brain has 2% oxygen. I figure that I’ve run exactly 1 mile so far in 2010, and I just did that 1 mile about 10 seconds ago. Miles 2 and 3 for 2010 are coming right up! Oh boy!
By the half way point I feel like death. My stomach is cramped, I can’t expand my lunges, my arms are heavy, and I’m pretty sure my stride is half the length of what it was in the first mile. My legs felt like they were shriveling up like raisins.
Brother Shawn passes me soon after. I figured he would run 22:30 so that means I’m already a minute off pace. How did I go from being 30 seconds ahead of pace to 1 minute behind pace in half a mile?!
Shawn is not your classic tiny runner type, so I catch his wheel to do some sweet DRAFTING. Oh wait, right, running, no wheels. But I did read in a book once that runners draft each other. Obviously this is the solution to all my problems and my day will soon be salvaged.
Yeah right.
I dig a little deep trying to stay with him and get right back into the red zone. All of the sudden I’m reminded of this WALL just after the 2 mile mark. The wall is OK but it nearly kills me to keep going. Couldn’t breathe to save my life.
The last mile felt like I was dropped on App Gap and overtaken by the juniors field and then the women’s field. It was like I wasn’t moving and everyone else was all fresh and happy and going by me like Contador. What the heck! I hate running!
So because my brothers finished in front of me that gave them the right to heckle me on the last 200m run into the finish. A well deserved benefit of finishing in front of someone. Shawn yells SPRINT SPRINT HE’S RIGHT BEHIND YOU. Silly Shawn, obviously I checked behind me six hundred times before the finish stretch so I could make sure that I could jog in as slowly as possible.
I finish in just about 24 minutes even. +2:30 from my prediction. Ouch. This is where I say running is so stupid. I could blame it on my legs and back hurting, my legs felt torn apart too. Like, I could barely walk around after. My muscles had that horrible ripped apart feeling that you only get when you’re super out of shape. Apparently cycling doesn’t help running muscles at all.
Today I’m so sore that I still can’t walk normally. What the heck?! 24 minutes is only like 36 TSS, that should be no sweat! Somehow riding my bike in this morning felt sort of OK, so maybe I will try and ride still tonight.
That was a real shock to find out just how specific my training has gotten. I still can’t run any faster than before. I’ll have to think twice before I do anything stupid involving running again. I'd have to say annual “Remind Me Why I Don’t Run” day was a huge success.
Post-race at Wings was awesome because the wings are awesome and so are these:
2 comments:
Good to see you Jay. Enjoyed your review of the race. I think you were awesome! Mom
This is almost as funny as that swimming leg in that tri you did. Just think though, you ran a 6.30 mile. That I think is the fastest you have ever run one.
Post a Comment