Surprise Improvements

This is the second year I've run the Jerry Maher Sr. Memorial 5k for Parkinson's Awareness. Last year I finished in 27:46. It's weird to think of that as a good time now.

This year I went into the race not remembering what I ran last year. I remembered the race and the course but I couldn't remember what I ran and I didn't really care. I have run about 40 miles so far this week and my legs are trashed. I'm four weeks out from Burning River 100 and all I can think about is tapering. So I hoped I'd pull a 25+ minute run out of my behind today. I would have been thrilled with 26-27 minutes too.

When we arrived I noticed every fast local runner was there. Heath, Emery, Dom, Rich, and Dana were all warming up and chatting around the starting area. I saw plenty of women that had that lean, hungry look that usually signifies speed that I didn't know by name as well. I figured I was well out of the awards at this point and just hoped I'd survive without walking.

Shane and I collected our bags and hung out in the car until 15 minutes before the 9am start. Then I did a quick warm up run up the road and back to see what my legs were going to give me today. I had an easy 9 minute mile pace on the uphill and no problem flashing 7's on the way back down so I decided to go out like I was actually racing and let my legs dictate the pace from there.

At the last minute, literally on the starting line, they announced that a tree had fallen on the course and a bridge was out so the course had been diverted and would be almost entirely new. I was a little ticked that this couldn't have been posted earlier, whether online or by sign at the race. I had definitely arrived early enough that I could have run the whole course as a warm up but I assumed I knew it already. Now I was flying blind.

After a couple false starts (no kidding, they actually pulled us back for that) we were finally off. The lead pack was gone in minutes and I was pretty much by myself. There was a group of young kids all around me and I kept waiting for them to die off but they never really did. Every time one fell off the back another one caught a second wind and took their place. I tried to ignore their uneven pacing and labored breathing and focus on running as evenly as I could. I figured even 7:50's would get me a PR but it was still a long shot.

Mile 1: 7:53

The second mile turned out to be a long, gradual uphill. I kept chugging along and hoping for it to end. And it finally did right as I hit mile 3.

Mile 2: 8:51

The third mile was pretty gentle and I picked up the pace. There were a few small out and backs with sharp turns to eat into my steady pace. By 2.5 I wanted nothing more than to stop and walk but there were some older guys urging on the young kids that were still hanging with me and I did not want to get beat by any of them. I started focusing on picking them off one at a time until the finish line was in sight.

Mile 3: 7:56

I didn't have much of a kick and just tried to hold on through the chute. I ended up with an official time of 24:40 for 43 overall and 2nd in my age group. Considering this was on dead legs and in 80 degree heat plus on a hilly course, I'll take it. If it weren't for that darned second mile of uphill I very well might have PR'ed. I can pretty much guarantee that, if I survive Burning River, my first 5k post-recovery is going to blow my previous times out of the water.

For The Love Of Lindsey

Shane and I ran this 5k today. We did it last year too (but apparently I never wrote a recap?). I wasn't too keen on doing it again but Shane thought they would have improved the issues since last year. I wasn't so sure. I also didn't get much sleep. Gem was up and down until 10:30 last night and then at 11:30 Ash started waking up every hour. I ended up sleeping on the couch next to her from 2:30 until 6:30. Needless to say getting up and running a race wasn't on my wish list this morning.

Last year this race had about 200 runners and it was HOT. We took Gem with us and it turned out to be a nightmare. The youngest age group was 0-14 so there was no way she could get an award. The race started late, ran on busy roads and the sun baked everyone. It was so bad that Gem begged a popsicle off some spectators watching from their yard! If I remember correctly Shane got an age group award but neither Gem nor I had a chance.

Sporting my (cotton) shirt post-race.

This year the race had about the same number of people and was only a little cooler with temps in the mid-80's. Once again it started late and cars were still travelling the roads. It's a winding course that takes you through a lot of tight turns and side roads before depositing you back on the main road. The last mile or so is on the main road next to railroad tracks and is a perfect straight away. It tends to burn runners out because they think they're close to the finish line but they aren't even close. I knew better than to push on that section this year.

I finished in 27:40-something (official results aren't up yet) and Shane ran a 22:xx. I was pretty happy with that considering it's only been a week since the Baker and I didn't push myself at all. We got our water and wandered over to the door prize winner sign. We didn't win anything so we checked for result postings. The first 25 or so finishers were up. Shane was 13th overall but still didn't get an age group award because they changed the awards from 5 year spans to 10 years. Why races do this I will never understand. The more runners who get a medal at your race the more happy participants you'll have. That will get you more runners the next year and the cycle continues. Don't be cheap on medals darn it! (Okay, rant over!) I wasn't listed yet but I searched for women in my age group. There were already three so I told Shane we should just go.

All in all, this race is for a great cause which is usually enough to get me to run. But the open-to-cars course, crazy turns, bad heat for the past two years, and now 10 year age groups means I probably won't be back. There's just too many other options available that are actually fun and scenic.

What makes a great race for you? Do you usually give a 'bad' race a second chance?