Race Review: 2009 Strawberry Stride

Noah and I before his 1st Kid's Race

****Official time is 25:04 and I finished 6th out of 11 in my age group****

Well today marked my 1 year racing anniversary. The Strawberry Stride is the 1st 5K that I ran last year. My nephew conned me into running it last year on the night before at his high school graduation. I guess I should thank him for giving me the racing bug!!! Anyway, I was ready for this race this year and hoping to improve on my 28 min 5k from last year. My son, Noah, also decided this would be his 1st race of his running career. They hold a 1 mile fun run and a 1/2 mile Kid's Run at the Strawberry Stride. My daughter was going to run too, but she woke up in a baaaaaad mood and decided she didn't want to run this year.

I ran 3 miles with Rich yesterday morning due to us missing our run on Tuesday and having to switch to Wednesday. This put our 2nd run of the week on Friday instead of Thursday. This concerned me a bit since the last time I did back to back runs, my IT band acted up. But the run yesterday went fine and I was feeling good this morning. We got to the race and registered. My 1st disappointment with this race happened here. NO BIBS!!!! They decided to go the cheap way this year I guess and didn't get each runner a bib. I was looking forward to another bib going on my office wall at work, but not this race. Anyway, about 30 minutes before the race, My nephew and I began to stretch out and get ready to run. At about 10 minutes until race time, I went for a warm up run and progressively worked up to a sprint by the time I was done. It got me warmed up good and I felt pretty good. We lined up with some friends of mine right behind the front row of runners. The gun sounded and we took off. I checked my watch at about0.25 miles and seen we were running a little over a 6 minute mile. I voiced my concern and slowed a bit. I didn't want to run out to fast at the beginning and have nothing left. At 0.5 miles I checked my Garmin again. It read right at a 7 minute mile. I know I can't do 3 7 minute miles, so I backed off again. I had a 7:24 minute 1st mile. I had found a good pace at about 8;15 and tried to stay on it. I usually run at between a 9:00-9:30 pace, so I was alittle out of my comfort zone. I felt confident though, so I kept at it. The next disappointment came here. At about 1.5 miles, you run to the end of a cul-de-sac and turn around. Last year there was a truck there and race people to monitor the turn. This year, there was nothing!!!! Anyone could have just turned and headed out of the neighborhood and cut out the cul-de-sac. When I got to this point, I was unsure how deep to go along with everyone else. Some cut it short and turned around and some went to the curb and turned around. I just split the difference and went to the center. I think they should have atleast put down some cones to split the road and keep people from cutting the course. Anyway, I hit mile two and checked the Garmin. It read an 8:12 2nd mile. I was pretty happy with this and knew if I could do another 8:00-8:15 mile, I would be close to breaking 24 minutes!!! The 1st two fast miles got me at the end though. I struggled some on the 3rd mile and did a 8:35 mile. I seen I was not going to make 24 miles and was kinda bummed. I just stuck to my pace and really didn't push it over the last half mile like I had planned. I wish now I had pushed the last 0.1 miles and I would have been under 25 mins. But as it stands, I finished in 25:08. I was pleased with the run and it was a good effort. My nephew finished just ahead of me at 24:19. I was 45th overall and I am still waiting on the results to see where I was in my age group. I am thinking 5th or 6th, but I am not sure. It sprinkled on us the whole run, so it was a good day to go for a PR. I don't think I could go under a 23:33 right now though.

After my run, Noah ran his 0.5 Kid's Fun Run. He was a little nervous. I told him to pace himself and don't run out too fast. They ran down the side street beside the high school and then turned into the bus pick up lanes and ran the length of it to the finish. I told him when he turned into the parking lot to kick it in and start sprinting. My wife stayed at the starting line to encourage him and I went to the finish line to snap some pics. I heard the gun go off for his age group and watched the group go by. There were probably 25 or so running in the 3rd grade group. He looked to be about mid-pack when they went by on the road. I had sent my nephew to the turn into the parking lot to encourage him and to have him start sprinting. Well, when Noah turned into the parking lot, he started walking. I don't think he realized how far he had to run. He walked for about 12 strides and then my nephew got him going again by telling him he was getting passed by other runners. He kicked it in and passed the 2 that passed him and then one more before he finished. He ended up finishing 15th!!! I was very proud of him. He even got a trophy and his picture will be in the paper. HE WAS TIRED AFTERWARDS THOUGH!!!! He wants to do another one though, so I think all is good. I told him we will start training for his next one though. His heels were hurting him later when we were watching Star Trek, so I need to pick him up some new shoes too. All in all, I was very proud of him!!!!

Well, I finished the week with 10.1 miles. Not that many, but over the next few weeks, I hope to be back to 16-18 miles a week. I plan on hitting 20-25 miles by July.

Happy running to all!!!!