Heart the City (5K)

Heart the City (5K) - May 16th, 2015
time = 24:30
pace = 7:52
placed 1st in my age group (40-44) out of 2
placed 1st in women out of 40
placed 2nd overall out of 53

i had no intentions of running a race so close to ice age yet here i am running a race the weekend after ice age.  i ran this race as part of supporting milwaukee foot and ankle specialists which is where i work.  i enjoy my job and i enjoy my bosses and co-workers so what better way to spend a few hours on a saturday morning?  to add the best part is that this race supports (in part) the balm shelter which is a non-profit organization helping those in need obtain basic necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing.  being that this is their inaugural race there were definitely some bumps in the road, but that in no way detracted from the fun.

the husband and i arrived at the park an hour before the race with our dogs (a 40min drive from home) to overcast and drizzle.  the park was nearly empty which i thought was strange given that there was a race occurring within the hour.  i've never been to a new race so it all makes sense in hindsight.  we parked easy peasy which was awesome and i used the bathroom.  there were no port-o-potties to speak of which was also odd for a race.  again... once considering the size of the race this all makes sense.

the race wasn't very organized but given the number of people this didn't pose any sort of problem and i received my t-shirt and bib uneventfully and with ample time to prepare for the race.  i found my work peeps and we talked some.

pre-race ~ photo by brant mccartan

when it was go time they lined up the 10K runners first and wanted the 5K runners behind.  i thought that we were going to be starting out staggered, but that wasn't the case either.  we all started at the same 10am start time.  i took off and was ahead of almost everyone before we got out of the park and onto city streets.  the feel of the race was so casual i was wondering if anyone was actually racing it.  when the 10K runners turned right and crossed the street and the 5K runners ran forward i realized that I WAS THE FRONTRUNNER!  i am NEVER the frontrunner!  THIS IS AMAZING!  i really should run dinky brand new races more often. lol!

the course was marked with periodic spray painted "5K"s and arrows on the ground so i was a little confused after about 1/2 mile because the markings disappeared in a residential area.  i kept looking behind me to see if i was alone (i wasn't), and had gone the wrong way (i hadn't).  it was then that i noticed the water stops on the other side of the street so i knew with certainty i was on the right track.  the fact that they were across a street with traffic caused me to briefly wonder if this was an out and back before i remembered it was a loop.  they were just set up on the wrong side of the street... yikes!  so that was a bummer if you need to stop for water because the streets were not blocked off...  i assume because we were running on the sidewalks.  i never stop at water stops on a 5K anyway so this wasn't an issue for me, but i imagine it would be for some of the other runners in the race.

there was this guy with a stroller (containing what i can only imagine to be a 40lb child) gaining on me!  let me tell you... my rubber necking this whole stretch proved to be my downfall because the constant looky looing slowed me down something fierce.  by 1.5 miles this guy was passing me while praising my pace.  i muttered something about having run a 50K the weekend before (to save face of course) and then i spent the remainder of the race trying to catch him and his kid in the stroller.  he effortlessly created more and more space between us.  much like what is asked of a person in a yoga class... you know what i mean... create space in your body with your breath?  yeah... only he was doing it without breaking a sweat between us on the bike path.

i watched him get smaller and smaller as i got slower and slower.  such is the way my 5K cookie always crumbles.

positive splits... bane of my 5K existance

the upside is that the loop around allowed me to see that there wasn't anyone behind me to worry about.  my right quad was burning and didn't feel good.  not sure if that is something i should be concerned about or if it's just residual from not being fully recovered from last saturday yet.  i'm going to assume i'm just not fully recovered yet and move on.

i just wanted to be done and i was so happy when i only had 1 mile left.  home stretch...

back the way we came down drexel to the park and then round the park path i can see everyone in front and behind me... so basically just the guy with the stroller and then another man pretty far behind me.  no one else to speak of.

there we are.  overall winners!  ~ photo by brant mccartan

yay!  first woman and 2nd over all... this is a first and i don't care how small the field is... I'LL TAKE IT!  hahah!

they did a fantastic job for an inaugural race.  they didn't have water right at the finish which i would suggest is a change to make for next year.  that's really important.  i had to go searching for water which wasn't awesome.  otherwise everyone involved with the event seemed really invested.  they seemed to really care about what they were doing and why they were doing it.  i had a good time and i was happy to spend a few hours with my work peeps supporting our podiatry practice and getting our name out there.  what our doctors do is fantastic work and they really love their patients and love what they do.  everything about today was all in the name of helping others and isn't that what it's all about anyway?

it is notable that yesterday lucy (aka dr. meier) pulled out the toenail on my left foot third toe since it was detaching and loose from ice age.  it hurt and feels better now that it's gone.  still hurts but feels better... you can view the video on my instagram if you're so inclined to watch that gross stuff... it's pretty great.  i lost some followers because of it. haha!
the toe held up fine and is just a little sore now.  all is well that ends well... yes?