I have now run my third 8k race and my first outside of Chicago, IL. The day before was a time of preparation but a little bit of fun. I worked half a day, having a salad for lunch and then we had happy hour in the office. I was pretty sure I would have one or two glasses of wine. Well that turned into four along with a Corona and two shots of Fireball on ice. I felt rather relaxed, but by no means did I feel a hangover or headache coming on.
After relaxing for an hour or so, I left at 4:30 to drive an hour from Newport News to downtown Virginia Beach at the Convention Center to pick up my race packet. The drive was typical for daylight, there was a three mile backup just to get through the tunnel. But I got to the Convention Center and got my packet. As an 8 k runner, I got a bright green long sleeved t-shirt. I would have liked a tech shirt, but that's for the crazy runners. I explored a few of the vendors, but there was nothing I felt like I needed to buy.
So I drove straight home and had a salmon fillet with smashed potatoes. I got maybe six hours of sleep and got up at 5:15. The temperature was just above freezing, so I put a Jets hoodie on over my racing shirt and a neon green winter hat on my head. I ditched the hoodie before the race, but I'd need the winter hat for the whole race. I parked about ten blocks south of the starting lane, but it was free and the ten blocks gave me a chance to start warming up. I downed a pre workout drink and it felt like a shot of adrenaline. I felt alert and awake, even though the cold had me shaking just a little.
I probably had about an hour between my arrival and the race. Most of that time I spent stretching and doing a few quick jogs. It actually took me a while to find the starting line; I guess I just had to walk one block west. I was pretty surprised to be placed in the first corral with the fastest runners; by no means did I believe I was worthy of that spot.
At 7:45, the airhorn sounded, signaling our start. I played "Born to Run" to get me started before switching to "Mama Said Knock You Out." After the first mile, I played "Keep On Chooglin'" by CCR. Two things I love about this song. One, it's eight minutes long, so it covers me running a mile. Two, Doug Clifford's drum is perfectly synchronized for me to at 8.0 mph. It's my pace setter.
The first two miles, I was feeling fine, my biggest issue was the numbness in my right hand because of the cold and the steel Ipod in my hand. It took until about mile 3 and switching the device to my left hand for my hand to start to feel normal again. But of all the body parts to not be doing well in a race, I guess hand is a pretty preferable one. I never had an issue with my calves and barely had a side stitch, aside from about halfway through the race, but it didn't last more than a minute. I think it was because I didn't start out springing. I made it a point to find a pace that I could maintain for about four miles after I spent the first mile getting going.
By about the 3.5 mile spot, it was becoming a struggle. I grabbed a cup of water and threw as much of it in my mouth as I could. I wasn't in pain, but I just didn't know if I could maintain running around 8.0 mph, if not faster, for another mile. The longest stretch of the race was running from 2nd St up north to 37th, before running one block east to the boardwalk and then finishing with a six block stretch and ending just before 30th St. On the long run north, by the time I got to about 31st or 32nd St, I wasn't looking at street signs. I was just praying I would see runners in front of me start to turn right. It could not happen fast enough.
Eventually they did start to turn. I think I was playing "Rock n Roll Is King" followed by Eye of the Tiger." When I made that turn onto the boardwalk, I could see the bright green and white sign that signaled the finish. Those six or seven blocks looked so far away. But after running over 4.5 miles, there was no way in hell I was going to stop. I knew I'd regret stopping. I wanted to kick in a sprint, but I just couldn't seem to get it going. I was letting out screams. I could feel my shins starting to pound. Finally, I found the extra gear. I sprinted out maybe the last 15 seconds, crossed the finish line, and crouched against the metal guardrail to catch my breath.
I grabbed my finisher's medal, water bottle, banana, Shamrock cookie, and drawstring bag before collecting my dry bag which had my phone, keys, and hoodie. Then it was downstairs to the beach and the celebration. I wolfed down a bowl of Irish stew and even had a couple of mini brats which Smithfield was providing for us. As for the Yeungling beer, well, I more than exceeded four. I went through about seven. One regular, one light, and five golden pilsners. A band called Moer played some great jamming music, mostly R&B , but a little bit of country and pop.
Oh and as for my finishing time. It wasn't my fastest race by any means. I finished at 37:49, about 7:37 per mile. Out of over 7,300 runners, I finished 387. As for my division of 35-39 males, I finished 21 out of 329. One of the things I've noticed is that a lot of runners start fast but cannot keep it up. At the 2 mile mark, I was running at 15:36, or 7:48 per mile, good enough for 474th overall, and 28th in my division. But I came back hard at the end to drastically improve those numbers.
So what's next for racing? I really don't know. I'm sure I'll do the Crawlin' Crab 5k in October. I will definitely get another race in by July. With my cruise in late August, training will be especially difficult then. Ultimately, I want to complete a 10k, which is 6.2 miles. I know I can do that, I've done it a number of times on the treadmill. The key, again, is finding a pace I can keep. But I believe I can build up more speed. And if the Lord has it for me to run this race again, I'm definitely going to beat 37:49.
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