Reflections on My First 5K

I walked/ran my first official 5K on Saturday. 

It was for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life.  I participated in honor of my friend who has Stage 4 Lymphoma.  (I visited with her after the race, and gave her the sign I wore in her honor.  She was touched.)

My goal was to finish.  To finish in under an hour.  To finish ahead of the mommies pushing babies.

I did it!  Here are my stats:  (Remember that I am 53 years old...)

5K Time:  48:29

Pace:  15:36 minutes per mile

I finished 71st out of 109 participants.

I finished in the top half of my age group.

It was a beautiful, sunny day.  Temperature at 8 a.m., race time, was in the mid-70's.

I decided to sign up on a whim, on the last day of sign-ups.  I had little time to "train" for running/walking 3.2 miles in the middle of July.  But I knew I have been walking outside for months, have push-mowed the yard for years, have "run" to keep up with the dog, and have lost 35 lbs of what was holding me down.  I knew that the course was certified by USA Track and Field,  and I used to live in that neighborhood, know the hills,  and have walked the area before with friends.  I knew a lot of the other participants, so I was confident that if I had trouble, or didn't make it to the end, I would not be among total strangers.

The group of run/walkers was between the runners and walkers at the Start line.  At that point in time, I planned to do more walking than running, but knew I would do a little jogging, too.  Well, it took about 2 blocks for me to realize there was an older lady in front of me, who I am acquainted with but don't really know very well, and she was running!  Well, jogging at least.  So I knew I HAD to do more running.  I knew that she was the leader of her son's Boy Scout troop for many years, and has hiked and biked and mountain climbed with the Scouts.  She has always seemed very athletic to me, and I couldn't let an obviously "older" woman finish way ahead of me.  (I found out later that she is 68 years old!)

She and I were neck in neck for the whole race.  I think she knew I was in one of the "older" categories, and thought the same about me as I did about her - that she didn't want me to come in ahead.  So it turned into a friendly competition.  I will say that she outperformed me by MILES, although she only finished 9 seconds ahead of me.  About 2 blocks from the Finish line she turned to me and asked, "You're in a younger category than me, aren't you?"  and I replied that I was in the 50 to 60 group.  She said she was in the 60 to 70 group and last year finished 3rd in that group.  I was very impressed and said how wonderful that was, and I didn't have much hope of coming in at that point in my group.  I knew she wanted to finish before me, so I walked this time while she ran.  There was another man in my age group ahead of me, and a couple of ladies my age somewhere behind me, so I knew I was somewhere in between.

Now about the physical part.  If there is a second 5K for me, I will concentrate on what I eat for a couple of days before and after the race.  This time I focused on the day of the race, but it was not enough.  I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich on multi grain bread for breakfast on race day, about an hour before the race, along with a 1/2 cup of coffee and a bottle of water.  I carried my water bottle with me during the race, along with a granola bar.  I took 2 of the little cups of water at the halfway point, drank one, and poured one over my head.  At about the 2 mile point, I hit the wall.  I ate my granola bar while running, but started feeling dizzy and chilled before it kicked in.  I don't know if it was hypoglycemia or dehydration hitting me, or some combination, but I kept going and kept sweating.  Somehow I made it to the Finish line, where I grabbed another banana and bottle of water.  I poured about 1/3 of the water onto my towel and put it over my head to try to cool down.  I ate the banana slowly so it could be absorbed properly.

After the race I was ravenous!  I kept a bottle of water in my hand for the rest of the day.  I drank one small bottle of Gatorade about an hour after the race.  I ate a couple of bites of Husband's gravy and biscuit at a local downtown restaurant.  Then for lunch I had a turkey sandwich on a bun with slaw and mayo (310 calories) and was still craving something, but I stopped eating and kept drinking water.  Later in the afternoon I ate a few chips with salsa, and for dinner I had my regular 2 oz of meat, along with 1/2 cup of baked beans, and a romaine and carrot salad.  My total calories for the day were 1490.  My normal daily calories come in between 1100 and 1200.  I definitely need to learn more about what to eat before and after a race.  Any suggestions?

As far as soreness, Wow!  Later on race day my hip joints were hurting, as were my knees, shins, and ankles.  The next day it was more muscle aches than joint aches.  And the next day everything was improving.  Today (3 days after the race) is the first day I would want to attempt any walking for exercise.  I did expect the muscle soreness, but the joint pain surprised me, except for the knee pain, which I have sometimes.

I don't know if I will keep doing official 5K's.  I hope I will, as it's something to plan for and work toward.  But I didn't expect it to take so much out of me.  I'm going to learn more about nutrition for runners and how to properly "train" for these races. 

So there it is, the good, bad and ugly.  Bottom line:  I finished.  Under an hour.  Ahead of the baby strollers.

GO ME!!