Well, today I ran a 5K race, the Dawg Dash, after a several month hiatus. The result was much better
than I expected.
Last spring, I was experiencing a number of pesky ailments. None were debilitating or serious, but
just irritating. I had been tapering my running for a few months, but there was no improvement. So I
decided to run two last races in early and late May. Both were 8K races. The first I ran hard, while
the second race I took it easy and was timed about a minute slower.
After the late May race I decided to give my aging body a rest and took took a 2 1/2 month layoff.
In mid August I started up from scratch, doing the run/walk run/walk thing again. I was slowly
making progress for a couple of weeks. Things just didn't feel right so I laid off for a couple of
weeks, except for a 2 mile run once a week. The cause of the "not right" feeling was probably the
blood donation I made in early August. So now it's mid September and I'm back running. Since then,
I've been going out about 3 times a week for a total of 8 to 10 miles a week . Only twice since my
restart did I run more than 3 miles.
Back to the present..... Weather perfect, 55 degrees and cloudy. The Dawg Dash starts and finishes
in Husky Stadium (U of Wash). There is both a 5K and 10K race. I decided yesterday to run the 5K
race as it's an annual race that I've always wanted to run but never done, and I won't have an
opportunity to race again in my home town until spring. The course goes out the east end of the
stadium, around the south and west sides and then crosses over Montlake Blvd into the main campus of
the University. It slowly winds its way through the campus and up to one of the highest points. The
first half of the race was mostly uphill with significant spurts of level ground. the second half
was just the opposite with a different course duplicating only the last 3/4
mile. There were some stretches of gravel pathways, but most of it was paved. Lots of sharp turns
though, and probably around 50 steps, almost all in the uphill portion.
I decided yesterday that I was going to take it easy and not push
it. I had to keep reminding myself of that during the first half of the race. None of my training
runs that last 6 weeks were hard either so it didn't make sense to run the race hard. The first
mile mark was just south of Drumheller Fountain. 7:25. A little faster than I expected, but
within the acceptable range. The second mile mark was just north of the same fountain, 14:39
(7:14) I didn't expect it to be faster than the first as I thought I slowed down on the uphill
portion more than I sped up on the downhill sections. I'm still feeling like I have a lot in
reserve. Once I reach the flat bicycle trail I decide to shorten and quicken my stride. I start
to pick off one runner after the next. Now we cross back over the Blvd using the pedestrian
overpass. There are about 8 stairs to go down. I take the first three in one stride and then
jump to the bottom. Being on the downhill side of life, jumping 5 stairs is done with only some
trepidation. I continue to pick up the pace and pick off a few more runners. One guy looks like
he might be in my age group and I blow past him. We enter the stadium after the last downhill.
I'm still feeling strong so I decide to finish strong. The finish on the track is about 250
meters. The next group of runners is about 20 meters in front, so I pick up the pace again and
close the gap only to have them sprint away with about 50 meters to go. They were a lot younger
I tell myself. My final time was 21:46 by my watch, about a minute faster than I expected,
considering the kind of training I had been doing.
Ohh... In case you were wondering, yes some people were running with their dogs. One younger woman,
they're almost all younger, was running with her black dog behind me at the start. The dog was
yelping quite a bit until they moved to the outside and ran past me and a lot of other people. I
never saw them again. I guess the dog didn't like being held back by the pinch collar.