So yesterday I did something I never thought I'd do. I ran a 10K at the annual Cowtown race in downtown Fort Worth.
A little over a year ago I was sitting in a weekly status meeting at work and my boss was talking up some 5K race and encouraging people to enter. I distinctly remember thinking what a crazy thing that was. Why would someone intentionally pay money to make themselves go run 3 miles? Why would someone even run 3 miles, except for if a bear was chasing them? Just the concept of recreational running seemed beyond my grasp. I would never understand "those people."
Now a year later, I found myself signed up and running in a 10K race (6.2 miles). Isn't it interesting how things change?
When I started the Couch-to-5K running program last year, several friends suggested that I aim for the annual Cowtown marathon. So when it got to the point where I was getting good enough to consider entering a race I went ahead and signed up. However, by that point I was running 3 miles regularly each week. It didn't seem like a challenge. I wasn't fast enough to consider running it competitively, so I decided I'd skip the 5K and sign up for the 10K to force myself to continue to push my training to where just finishing it would be an accomplishment.
So for the past few months I've been out doing longer runs once a week or so, gradually going from 3 to 4 miles and then to 5. Just to see if it was even possible, I even mapped and ran a full 6 miles a few weeks ago around our neighborhood. It was challenging, but I found I was just barely capable of it.
Saturday February 26th was the race date. I went the night before to pick up my race packet and T-shirt. Parking everywhere around the race was $5, so they told me to get there early if I wanted to park in one of the outer free lots. The race started at 7am, so I woke up at 4:45 that morning to be there in plenty of time for the race. My goal was to arrive by 6:00. I got there no problem by 5:45 or so and parked in an empty lot. So maybe I was a bit early.
But then people started showing up, and then more people, and then more, and more, and more, till there were thousands of people all lined up ready for the 7am race. The picture of me there in front of the starting line is right where they were pushing people back so they didn't crowd into the starting line. So it looks like I'm practically alone, but if you turned the camera around you'd see a huge throng of runners all getting ready to go.
There were signs on the side where they had people arrange themselves based on their running speed. 7 minute mile, 8 minute mile, 9 minute mile, etc. I walked way back until I got to the last posted sign of "Pace 11:01 +." That was me. I was the "+." I'm a faster runner than when I completed the first round of Couch-to-5K last year. I was doing 15 minute miles then. Now with more training and less weight I'm up to 12 minute miles or so, but still too slow to even get its own category.
The race started at 7. Although you could barely tell. There were so many people that it was several minutes after start before my area was even moving, and it was a little bit after the starting gate before there was enough room to actually start running. I used my iPhone to record my own run, but I also had a strap on my shoe that recorded my official time.
Eventually, once the room was there, everyone broke into a run. What surprised me most was how quickly people gave up and started walking. We weren't even much past the first street before I started to notice people slowing down and walking. Eventually, the various speeds of the runners thinned things out enough that I found myself in a crowd where I could keep pace. So all I had to do was just watch the roads and follow the crowds and keep my legs moving.
Unfortunately, Maria was incredibly sick this weekend with strep throat, so my family was not able to come cheer me on. Instead, they would call me every 20 minutes or so to find out how I was doing and to cheer me over the phone.
The morning was cool, around 42-45 degrees. I started wearing a jacket and my breath was constantly fogging up my glasses. Probably my biggest struggle through the race was being able to see and having to wipe my lenses every few minutes. Around 2 miles in, I shed the jacket and wrapped it around my waist. The sun was up and it was starting to warm up a bit.
My goal was to run the entire 6 miles. From start to finish line. After 70 minutes of running I passed the last mile marker (6th mile, with .2 to go). There was a crowd of people telling us we were almost there. I gathered my last bit of strength to run to the approaching corner anticipating the finish line right there. As I turned the corner, I didn't see a finish line. My last bit of energy having been used up for that final sprint, my body sort gave up and I had to stop running. I walked down the road for a couple of minutes, where it bent around and on the other side I could finally see the finish line. I managed to find a bit more energy with the finish line in sight and was able to run the rest of the way through the finish line.
It took me about 77 minutes from start to finish. My official chip time was 01:16:46, my iPhone program told me it was a pace of 4.95 mph or 12:07 min/mi. Here's a link to my recorded run at runtastic.com. According to the race results, I came in 2840th place and 154th in my division (which, I believe is Male, 35-36 yrs, 200+ pounds.) There were 3691 runners in total. I actually thought I did a bit better than the results make it look. But as I said earlier, my goal was just to be able to run the race, and I succeeded at that.
At the finish line they handed out special finisher medals. Here's a picture of mine.
On the way out, I met the Gee family who were getting ready to run in the kids 5K that was starting at 9. I thought it was crowded when my race started, but at this point the place was just jam-packed with people. So much so that all the racers weren't even able to fit in front of the starting line.
I made my way back to my car (which walking in and out of the race probably added another 2 miles to my total distance that morning) and then ran into the hardest part of the morning: getting out of Fort Worth when every other road was blocked off due to the races!
Eventually I made it home and found the boys had taped up banners celebrating my race to greet me on the front door.
It was a great experience running the race. I am proud to say I did it. What's next? I don't think I'll make running races a regular habit, but I can see doing it again some time. The question is, will it be with friends or family next time? Will I work towards completing a half or whole marathon? Or maybe even a triathlon? Anything's possible, I guess. I still think running's crazy. But I've always been a bit crazy.
A little over a year ago I was sitting in a weekly status meeting at work and my boss was talking up some 5K race and encouraging people to enter. I distinctly remember thinking what a crazy thing that was. Why would someone intentionally pay money to make themselves go run 3 miles? Why would someone even run 3 miles, except for if a bear was chasing them? Just the concept of recreational running seemed beyond my grasp. I would never understand "those people."
Now a year later, I found myself signed up and running in a 10K race (6.2 miles). Isn't it interesting how things change?
When I started the Couch-to-5K running program last year, several friends suggested that I aim for the annual Cowtown marathon. So when it got to the point where I was getting good enough to consider entering a race I went ahead and signed up. However, by that point I was running 3 miles regularly each week. It didn't seem like a challenge. I wasn't fast enough to consider running it competitively, so I decided I'd skip the 5K and sign up for the 10K to force myself to continue to push my training to where just finishing it would be an accomplishment.
So for the past few months I've been out doing longer runs once a week or so, gradually going from 3 to 4 miles and then to 5. Just to see if it was even possible, I even mapped and ran a full 6 miles a few weeks ago around our neighborhood. It was challenging, but I found I was just barely capable of it.
Saturday February 26th was the race date. I went the night before to pick up my race packet and T-shirt. Parking everywhere around the race was $5, so they told me to get there early if I wanted to park in one of the outer free lots. The race started at 7am, so I woke up at 4:45 that morning to be there in plenty of time for the race. My goal was to arrive by 6:00. I got there no problem by 5:45 or so and parked in an empty lot. So maybe I was a bit early.
But then people started showing up, and then more people, and then more, and more, and more, till there were thousands of people all lined up ready for the 7am race. The picture of me there in front of the starting line is right where they were pushing people back so they didn't crowd into the starting line. So it looks like I'm practically alone, but if you turned the camera around you'd see a huge throng of runners all getting ready to go.
The race started at 7. Although you could barely tell. There were so many people that it was several minutes after start before my area was even moving, and it was a little bit after the starting gate before there was enough room to actually start running. I used my iPhone to record my own run, but I also had a strap on my shoe that recorded my official time.
Eventually, once the room was there, everyone broke into a run. What surprised me most was how quickly people gave up and started walking. We weren't even much past the first street before I started to notice people slowing down and walking. Eventually, the various speeds of the runners thinned things out enough that I found myself in a crowd where I could keep pace. So all I had to do was just watch the roads and follow the crowds and keep my legs moving.
Unfortunately, Maria was incredibly sick this weekend with strep throat, so my family was not able to come cheer me on. Instead, they would call me every 20 minutes or so to find out how I was doing and to cheer me over the phone.
The morning was cool, around 42-45 degrees. I started wearing a jacket and my breath was constantly fogging up my glasses. Probably my biggest struggle through the race was being able to see and having to wipe my lenses every few minutes. Around 2 miles in, I shed the jacket and wrapped it around my waist. The sun was up and it was starting to warm up a bit.
My goal was to run the entire 6 miles. From start to finish line. After 70 minutes of running I passed the last mile marker (6th mile, with .2 to go). There was a crowd of people telling us we were almost there. I gathered my last bit of strength to run to the approaching corner anticipating the finish line right there. As I turned the corner, I didn't see a finish line. My last bit of energy having been used up for that final sprint, my body sort gave up and I had to stop running. I walked down the road for a couple of minutes, where it bent around and on the other side I could finally see the finish line. I managed to find a bit more energy with the finish line in sight and was able to run the rest of the way through the finish line.It took me about 77 minutes from start to finish. My official chip time was 01:16:46, my iPhone program told me it was a pace of 4.95 mph or 12:07 min/mi. Here's a link to my recorded run at runtastic.com. According to the race results, I came in 2840th place and 154th in my division (which, I believe is Male, 35-36 yrs, 200+ pounds.) There were 3691 runners in total. I actually thought I did a bit better than the results make it look. But as I said earlier, my goal was just to be able to run the race, and I succeeded at that.
At the finish line they handed out special finisher medals. Here's a picture of mine.
On the way out, I met the Gee family who were getting ready to run in the kids 5K that was starting at 9. I thought it was crowded when my race started, but at this point the place was just jam-packed with people. So much so that all the racers weren't even able to fit in front of the starting line.
I made my way back to my car (which walking in and out of the race probably added another 2 miles to my total distance that morning) and then ran into the hardest part of the morning: getting out of Fort Worth when every other road was blocked off due to the races!
Eventually I made it home and found the boys had taped up banners celebrating my race to greet me on the front door.
It was a great experience running the race. I am proud to say I did it. What's next? I don't think I'll make running races a regular habit, but I can see doing it again some time. The question is, will it be with friends or family next time? Will I work towards completing a half or whole marathon? Or maybe even a triathlon? Anything's possible, I guess. I still think running's crazy. But I've always been a bit crazy.
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