Race Day
Well, we did it. Two and a half months of training paid off. We both ran 6.2 miles when at first we couldn't run 6.2 feet! Kudos to the YMCA training team for getting us off our lazy butts and getting us out there to give it our best shot. Mission accomplished! Let's go to the highlights:
It was cooler than expected last Saturday morning. We were nervous for different reasons. I was anticipating VCU's Final Four game against Butler later that evening while wifey was just plain nervous about making it around the course. Once I did a weather check, I decided to wear my VCU Lycra short sleeved shirt with a warm-up jacket on over it to guard against the morning chill. If I got too hot, I could always take that off. Staci wore her matching long pants and warm-up jacket sans any VCU attire since a hat would only make her hotter. We awoke at 6:15 am in anticipation that we would need to get there by 8 but decided to wait until to leave the house until 8. Bad idea. Parking for the Monument Avenue 10K is a nightmare when considering you are fighting with 80,000 other people with the same idea. We ended up parking 4 blocks from the Jefferson Hotel parking lot where we did our weekly warm-ups. Add another 4 blocks and we finally made it to Monroe Park where all the festivities had conjoined.
It is a real party atmosphere so early in the morn, let me tell you. Bands were playing, food was being served. Runners had already finished! And here we were still over an hour away before we had to get to the starting line. Now we waited for a friend of ours to join us for almost 45 minutes, sneaking in a quick prayer in the Sacred Heart Cathedral and avoiding the wind. Once she found us in the morass and five potty breaks between us, we headed for the "corral" which gathered all the runners in their particular group along Broad Street. This thing is well organized. There were big signs being held up for each group with ropes breaking the groups apart. One group moved up to the starting line with the next group 50 feet behind moving up once allowed. We each had little electronic tags wrapped around our shoe laces so that we would be timed as we crossed the starting line, then at 3 miles, then again at the finish--very cool technology! Our friend ran in my group since she had signed up for the wrong one--theoretically you're supposed to go in the group as fast or as slow as you. I guess walkers don't count because they were mingled in every single group!
I heard the starting line thing beep when I crossed over it at 9:47 am, said goodbye to my friend as the runners began to thin out to begin the race, and off I went. We ran west along Broad Street for just a couple of blocks before turning left onto Lombardy next to Stuart Circle then headed west again along Monument Avenue toward Chantilly Avenue 3 miles away. What a sight! Lines of people on either side of the roadway with their Bloody Mary's and Mimosa's nestled in between local bands jamming away at every block it seemed. No one was sleeping in this morning if you lived in the neighborhood! As usual I found my 4.7 mph pace pretty quickly and settled into the run. Almost immediately I became aware that I'd be doing a lot of walker dodging. They were supposed to walk to one side to allow the actual runners a clear path, but that memo must have been lost in the shuffle. There were walkers from the very beginning of the race, walking ten abreast across the road making me have to jump up on the curb or grass to get around them. So much for a casual jog. I had to be fully alert and anticipate my path around these strollers almost constantly. I thought this was just gonna be a temporary situation but it was fairly constant throughout the "race".
Well, I did enjoy the scenery and the spectacle of seeing 40,000 runners running/jogging/walking up and back Monument Avenue. The crowds were great; very supportive and entertaining to say the least. This is basically Richmond's unofficial start of Spring, a right of passage for the young, a tradition for everybody else that lives here. Seems the whole city turns out for it as the parking situation can attest to that! My so called "strategy" was to start out slowly and run consistently throughout the race, only stopping for the briefest of moments to slug down water as it came available. Thank GOD that came at mile 2. Although the weatherman threatened intermediate showers throughout the morning the sun shown down brightly and the wind cooled down my beast-sweat which started running freely after the first mile (that went by REALLY fast I thought). The water kept my mouth from puckering from over parchment and my lips from peeling completely off from wind-borne chapness. This altered my strategy somewhat to ensure I was well hydrated throughout, although I had downed a big thing of Xtend before I left the car--no wonder I had to pee so much!
I never thought about my calf or Achilles acting up even when my legs started to get sore. I just kept up my steady pace passing way more than getting passed. The turn around came way down past 195 and Carytown on Chantilly Avenue which is a quite tree lined neighborhood that I suppose is deemed the beginning of the West End of Richmond. More water at the funny 3.1 mile sign gave me a boost with the knowledge I was half-way home and thinking that all this preparation was only for an hour of my time on this Saturday morning. So I soaked in the sights as best as I could trying valiantly not to let my achy legs or tiredness distract from the moment. I skipped the water stop at mile 4 thinking I didn't want to be water logged or have to stop and pee before I was finished. I should have stopped! By mile marker 5 I was dreaming of water. The wind made for a two-fold problem: if it was blowing, it cooled me down from my monster sweating, but it also chapped my lips to the point that I was using all my spit just to keep them semi-moist. If the wind died down my temperature rose like the gauge on an overheating radiator. I liked the jacket on my arms to keep me warmer when the wind blew, but when it stopped I was ready to strip down to my soaked undies! Hence the water break at mile 5 was a godsend.
Anyway, my next thought was simply to finish. I wasn't going to break any speed records and all I really wanted to do was break an hour but that didn't quite happen. I was back on familiar training territory for that final mile. We had run this route many times before on many prior Saturdays. Now I was counting the hills I had yet to traverse before I could see the Academic campus and the finish line. It was there soon enough though I had no reserve kick to really try and beat an hour. I finished in 67 minutes which was the time for the grouping ahead of the one I originally picked. Perhaps that one won't have so many walkers? I'm thinking I ran close to 7 miles due to all the weaving I had to do, well, at least that's my story to explain my under an hour failure!
I was never so relieved to cross that finish line after the race, only to be herded like a cow to slaughter toward the water table and a nice cold bottle. Heaven. I remembered to keep moving so not to cramp so I made my way over to the food stand to down a banana, Poweraid and a dry bagel (for carbs?). Then I found a dry spot on a slight hill next to the A-E meeting sign to sit and eat and ponder. Our friend that started in my group with me finished 15 minutes after I had begun my rest where I had started to stretch out some stiffness. We made another round through the food stand and timed when we thought the wife would be finishing. She showed up about 15 minutes afterward and just like that, we had completed our first 10K. More food and wandering followed but almost immediately, the sun disappeared and the clouds gathered just on cue for us to begin the long walk back to the car. Perfect timing for the crowd was getting annoying or rather, I was over it. Time to celebrate with a beer and Sushi! We dropped our friend off at her car which was parked deep in the Fan near Sticky Rice then made for the bar and a well deserved respite. Our other friend who started us on this journey in the beginning met us there (she had ran earlier and had went home to shower) and we all extolled our efforts of crossing off a bucket list item. Home, bath and a nap were never more welcomed when we finally got back around 2 that afternoon. My legs were most definitely sore and my back felt like I'd been beaten. My feet were fine though, thanks to wrapping the blistered areas in moleskin and athletic tape.
So now what you may say? Well, we've got the bug to continue this type of exercise for the foreseeable future. Staci already has us scheduled to run in a 5 K and another 10K in May. Add to it the Warrior Run in October and it looks like we're on our way to being "runners". I guess this is working. A friend of mine asked me the other day where the other half of me went! Wifey has me on a diet and a schedule to go to the gym and/or run in the evenings after work. I just need to recoup a bit more, eh? Does that mean I'll continue to write on this? Perhaps. I accomplished what I set out to do and I didn't die in the process. I managed to discover new aches and pains I thought I couldn't or wouldn't get from simply running, but the old bod just ain't what it used to be. It's getting better. Maybe not to the point of being a teenager but much better than it was back in December--a 250 lbs oaf! We'll keep this up for sure, for it's made for way better sleep, a healthier bank balance and just a better mood all around. I suggest you try this or something similar. You won't die. I promise!
Peace!
