TITLE: A First Race
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: April 04, 2009  1:39 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
This morning, I ran a 5K.  It was my first "race" since
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2007-10.html#e2007-10-28T19_03_25.htm">
   my last marathon</A>,
with last year lost to not feeling well enough to run
more than a bit.  Today's race was organized by a
student group on campus that includes a couple of my
current and former students, so I risked signing up
even though when I did I wasn't sure that I'd be
able to do more than plow through the miles, if that.

I went in with no expectations, literally -- I had no
idea how fast or far I could run all-out, or even what
all-out means for me right now.  I figured this would
be an opportunity to gauge myself a month before my
big goal right now, the 500 Festival Half.  Even still,
I wasn't able not to daydream about times as I stretched
before the race...  My best guess was that, if I could
break 25:00, I should be a very happy man.

This was a race by college kids, for college kids.
Most of the runners were undergrad students -- some of
whom run, and many of whom probably don't run much.
You know college-aged guys...  They broke from the gate
fast, and within a mile many had fallen back.  The
early pace felt good to me, so I hung on and passed
a few guys, figuring they'd take me in the last mile
when I was gasping for air.

First mile split: 7:18.  My first thought:  They have
the marker in the wrong place.  We couldn't have run
a mile yet.

Second mile split: 7:25.  My second first thought:
Really?  Probably not.

Either the mile markers were wrong, or I faded a bit
in the last mile.  As I got within a quarter-mile of
the finishing line, one of the guys I had passed
caught me -- but only one.  I picked up the pace, to
see if he was for real.  He did, too, and stayed a
stride ahead of me as we entered the chute.

Time: 23:33.  I guess I have to be happy now!

The next test is how I feel tonight and in the morning,
when I hope to run an easy 8 miles en route to
Indianapolis.

Another sign that this was a race by college kids,
for college kids was the age grouping for prizes:
17-under, 18-29, and 30-up.  After the race, one of
my former students suggested that I might have won
my age group, but I was pretty sure at least one of
the guys ahead of me was also in the old-man group.
I was right.  Unfortunately, the race offered only one
prize per age group, so I don't know if I finished
second yet.

My best guess is that I finished in the top 20-25
overall.  It wasn't a fast group.  But it was nice
ti run against the clock for real again.  Here's
hoping I feel good in the morning.
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