Run to Cooperstown 5K Race Report

Well I’ve slacked off the last couple weeks with respect to posting my progress, but I will get back in the saddle. What better way to do that then to file my first race report?

As the 3 people who read this blog can see, my first race was the Run to Cooperstown 5K in Aberdeen, MD this past Saturday morning. It was an ambitious goal for me because I just started running seriously only about 5 weeks ago. I know that most training programs are geared around that timeframe, but they don’t really say what sort of results you can expect from such a short training program. That was just one of my concerns going into this race. I was also worried that I would finish last in my age group because 20-29 is really tough as many runners are fresh out of college and thus, college cross country or track teams. Basically, I have no chance at actually placing near the front of the pack for another decade, in my estimation. By then, more of those guys will have stopped running or gotten fat or found joy in kids or something else that will allow me to at least have a chance in hell of placing in my age group. Maybe. Anyway, I was also worried about running on a road for the first time since I started running. Up to that point, I had only been on the treadmill, as it was the easiest and safest form of running for me. I’d never really handled hills or the asphalt surface before. So, basically, I was hoping to run the race without embarrassing myself.

I arrived at the race about 7:30 AM with the race scheduled to begin at 8 sharp. Since I had pre-registered, I was supposedly guaranteed a cool technical t-shirt. However, I guess this is one aspect of racing that you only learn by doing because by the time I got there, they were all gone thanks to lots of people registering day of. However, I should be receiving my short in the mail. I’ll give them until next Monday and then I start e-mailing and being a pain in the ass. I want that shirt! To me, it’s patently unfair to give some asshole who didn’t have the forethought to sign up two weeks ago my shirt, which I was GUARANTEED. Instead I was the one who got screwed. Bunch of B.S. Like I said, if I don’t get my shirt I will either hassle them until I do get one, get my money back, or otherwise be a pain in the ass.

Anyway, it was a perfect day for running: Sunny and warm but not humid at all. About 70 degrees at race time and not cloud in the sky. There were 570 runners, which I take to be a decent sized race for something local like this. Most of that was because this was to celebrate Cal Ripken’s induction into the Hall of Fame and I think only Jesus Christ could beat Cal Ripken in a popularity contest in Maryland. Even then, there’d be a recount.

About 7:50 they asked people to start making their way to the starting line. Cal himself was there and thanked everyone for coming to the race (all the proceeds went to the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation) before starting the race. As we passed, Cal high-fived some people so I went ahead and high fived him, even though I’m no O’s fan. Cal Ripken is a different kind of ball player from a better time in baseball and I wish he were still playing, even if he did end up playing for Baltimore. I still remember seeing him hit the homerun in his final All-Star game at bat. It’s hard to call yourself a baseball fan and not wax poetic about moments like that.

So, I was off on my first race. Per the instructions from several articles, I lined up near the back of the pack, which was good because the guys in front took off like a shot! The first portion of the course went down a hill and then around a turn onto a long road. By the time I got to that run and could see down the road, the frontrunners were all the way down at the end! Anyway, I couldn’t worry about that, as I was trying to get to a comfortable and sustainable pace. I ran without my iPod, and have made the decision to always race without it and to usually run outdoors without it. The winding road was fine and there was a small hill towards the end of it. We passed by a golf course and then into a small neighborhood where the turnaround was. After that, the course backtracked.

My goal was to simply finish the race in a respectable time: under 35 minutes. As we passed the one-mile mark, the timekeeper yelled out “9:18” as I passed. Holy crap! I was running faster than I had thought I would. And I felt OK. Not great, but not too bad. However, I wanted to save my energy for that last mile. So I tried to slow down just a little, which must have worked because I got to the 2-mile mark around 19 minutes. As the course came back towards the stadium, the hills I had run down going out I now had to go up! We hit a medium hill around 2.75 miles out, although at the time I thought we were almost done. This is why I need a Forerunner! Instead of digging in and taking my time, I pushed it and accelerated up the hill. Big mistake because as soon as I got to the top, I turned and found myself at the bottom of that big hill I ran down at the beginning! And with no finish line in sight, I had to stop and walk. I hated doing it and only took 30 seconds before forcing myself to run again. I pushed it hard this time and ran the final portion of the race around the parking lot and through the finish line in front of the stadium.

After grabbing a water, bag of pretzels and free raspberry Italian ice, I roamed back to the finish line to watch some other people finish. One guy did the race in a wheelchair, which was awesome. And he wasn’t last, either. Pretty amazing. After the awards ceremony, I checked out my official time because I had no idea how I did. I thought that I had done well and roughly assumed that I had maybe even broken the 30-minute mark. I looked for my name and found it…in 315th place. 315 out of 570 isn’t half bad for a first race. OK, so statistically it’s more than half bad, as 55% of the racers finished ahead of me. BUT, my time was 29:09, which was awesome! I was very satisfied with that result.

The only bad thing to come out of the race was that I was so caught up in the excitement that I neglected to properly warm up and cool down. I didn’t do my usual stretching afterwards that helps keep injuries away and as a result, after taking a two hour nap Saturday afternoon, I was left with a twinged hamstring on my left leg and tight calves. Live and learn, I guess.
But what a fun experience! I can’t wait for the next race. I’ve already picked it out. August is a pretty paltry month for races around here, and I’d like several more weeks of training before racing again to get some real improvement in. So, I’m going to run in the Great Strides Against Prostate Cancer 5K in Towson, MD on September 30. I’m hoping I can talk Annie into doing it with me, but we’ll see how that works out. I can’t wait!