25:12
My “official” time was 25:12. Accounting for the delay until I actually crossed the start line after the gun went off my real time was right at 25:00 if not a little below that, I’m pleased.
We arrived at the race site early. The race didn’t start until 7pm but I had my bib and timing chip by 5:45. We spent the time leading up to the race walking around and checking stuff out. We had Nicki with so of course she got tons of attention from other runners commenting on how cute she was. Most of these people attempted the obligatory pat on the head but Nicki responded to almost all of the attempts by seeking shelter either behind Ali or myself.
I figured turn out for the race would be sort of light since Tuesday night is not exactly an ideal time for such an event. Prior to the race, especially after my disaster at my last run in March, making sure there are no bodily function issues prior to a race is a top priority. The anticipation of a race naturally makes me paranoid about such things. The last thing you want while running is to have that “distraction”. Luckily taking a leak at the onsite port-a-potty was the only action necessary.
So the crowd massed before the race. I positioned myself in the back third of the pack. Doing so means that my official time would be somewhat inaccurate since it takes a little while till the crowd starts forward. I’m sure it was a good 10 to 15 seconds after the gun until I crossed the start line.
The start of a race with a lot of people is always a pain. You are shoulder to shoulder and foot to foot with everyone else. Trying to successfully navigate around slower runners is a challenge. I’d say it took about a half mile into the run until I had clear paths to run in. The run has a big gradual rise in it that you cross going out and back. During the first mile or so I was passed occasionally by some people that were obviously stronger runners than I was. However after the 1.5 mile mark I was not passed by anyone. I was the passer.
A lot of times during a race you will find there are a few runners that you run with for most of the race. This wasn’t such a race for me. Running by myself as opposed to with Ali can be a bit maddening. When I see someone in front of me that I don’t think should be in front of me it fuels me to pass them. I remember feeling that way constantly during the last half of the race. I had thoughts that if I can do a 300, I could and should certainly beat such and such a person. Whatever the twisted logic was it seemed to work.
There was a little kid, no older than 11 or 12 that was ahead of me most of the race. Unlike a lot of little kids you see in races that run like hell for a short distance, stop and walk for a bit and then start again on another quick burst, this kid consistently ran, at a pace to keep him ahead of me. However I finally caught him and many others during the last mile or so. Instead of quickening the motion of my legs, I instead tried to take advantage of my long stride to pick up speed. During the majority of the run my legs felt somewhat tired but my breathing was very regulated and normal, unlike many runners I passed that were madly gasping for air. That changed for last 1/4 mile dash to the finish line. I both accelerated my pace and lengthened my stride further. There were a number of runners relatively close to me in front. I wanted to beat them all. I passed a good half dozen people in that stretch, including a number of men in my age group. I took down all of my targets except a young girl that beat me by a stride at the finish. My effort at the end paid off in the final standings. There were three other 40-44 year olds that finished within 7 seconds of me. I grabbed ninth place out of the 30 runners in my division.
I heard Ali cheering for me as I finished which made me feel good. I wasn’t fall over exhausted like in some prior races but I was plenty tired. After removing my timing chip I was greeted by Ali and Nicki enthusiastically. Ali knew it was a good time for me, the best I ever ran by a fraction of a second. I have never run a flat course 5k by myself yet, only courses that involve bridges. I am pretty sure I can dip into the 24’s on something without inclines. I had on Ali’s Garmin GPS running watch for the race. My lap times were very consistent, right around 2 minutes for each 1/4 mile.
After the race we headed back to the common area for refreshments. One of the things we always have counted on with Fort Myers races is they have a great spread of food. Maybe the hard economic times have hit them as well because the spread this time was rather bare bones. They had chips, bagels with no condiments for them like peanut butter or cream cheese and oranges, that’s it. In the past they would have tons of food with much greater variety. We didn’t stick around for the awards. Although I didn’t know my official place in my age group, I knew there was no way I finished top three.
Ali was nice enough to drive home while I used the ice pack on both knees. It was more of a precautionary thing, my knees actually didn’t feel bad. My biggest ailment during the race was my left hip flexor that was painful for the first mile or so. That subsided though as my body warmed up. I really enjoyed the race, I half joked I wish I could have caught that one girl at the end. Ali commented how I just can’t be happy with what I just accomplished. She’s right. You can see the few pictures Ali snapped at the race here.
During my day off yesterday I trimmed up another clump of four cabbage palms. One of the trees was a bitch because it’s height required pole saw only trimming. I worked an hour or so on it. I have four or five more trees to go. The trees look so much better with a “hair cut”. The rest of my day was relaxed. I played some WoW, watch Heroes and Terminator Chronicles. Terminator may have overtaken Heroes as my favorite show currently. It is just extremely well done. Unlike Heroes that forces you to keep track of 20 concurrent story lines, Terminator only focuses on a few and does a damn good job of making it interesting and compelling as hell. I rounded out my day by taking my flying wing out and running through 4 battery packs of flights. It was a good day.
You can see the pictures from our latest venture into the swamp here.