My first race after a long drought of not racing. When did I race last, you ask? It was the BAM Triathlon in August 2010, where I ran the 5k to cap off that race. Why did I race, you ask? Great question. Well, I guess I felt like my mileage has been decent enough that it was worth getting on the road and seeing where I was at. That's what I was thinking a couple of weeks ago when I signed up, anyway. Having been on vacation all last week, my motivation was not terribly high. In fact, I didn't firmly commit to running until about 10pm Friday night. But once I decided, I was pretty much all in. I would run to my potential, whatever that might be.
Turns out it wasn't much. I ran this race in 55:19 in 2007, 5:32 pace. I knew I didn't have a chance to run that fast. Maybe I could crack an hour. Maybe not!
I had a nice little warmup at the start but then had a long portapotty line to navigate. The race started slow, as it should, considering the first two miles have a big climb. I was trading places with some folks. I ran with Kevin Tuck for a while, then he dropped me at the top of Little Mountain. I then ran with Allie Scott -- who is awesome -- until close to mile 6 or so. Walter jumped in and joined bandit for a while and they both dropped me . . . nicely, but still. So I was just hanging out crusing down the canyon, watching my 6:20 splits reel off my watch. I was just taking the temperature of things, seeing how I felt. I had plenty of cardio strength from my semi-decent fitness base, but no leg speed at all. I just have not had the hard miles to earn it. That's the way it goes.
My wife and boys were waiting near the finish and it was great to see them. I was happy to cross the finish line feeling somewhat strong. I hoped most of all to have some fun, and I think I did. It was enjoyhable to know I could go out and get my body to move somewhat rapidly down the canyon. I can't take it for granted.
The most symptomatic thing of my lack of real fitness is the soreness in my legs after the race. It's almost like marathon soreness, due to the downhill quad pounding in Emigration canyon.
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