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I arrived at the Elks Lodge at 8:30 AM so that I could help with registration, set-up, or anything else the race director (RD) needed. I feel that if I get the privilege to run these great races, the least I can do is volunteer when I can. I was put in charge of a portion of the 5K registration. There were many familiar faces that I have met over my first year of running and it was great to see everyone so excited to start another year of running.
It was already shaping up to be a beautiful day with temps in the mid-40's predicted for the 11 AM start. The weatherman did not disappoint us today. At 10:40, Linda and I ditched our leftover registration numbers with the other volunteers and dashed out the lodge to get in a quick mile warm-up with Marli before the start of the race. I knew I was going to need some loosening up after Friday's 12 miles dates from hell.
We arrived back from our warm-up with about 5 minutes till the gun was scheduled to go off. We found our places in the starting mosh-pit and waited for the gun, or in this case, the siren followed by our RD yelling "GO, GO, GO!"
I took off from the starting line with the only goal of finding a comfortable place to run. With 1,010 runners running between the two races, it was no wonder the course did not thin out enough to run comfortable for at least a half a mile.
As we approached our first right hand turn, we ran past Jim Rhoades snapping photos which you can check out HERE. At this point, all I was thinking was just RUN! With the adrenaline coursing through my body, I ran past mile 1 at 6:27! This scared me as I have not run a 5K at race pace since Good Times this summer. I decided to slow down a hair and save it for the final mile.
With the toughest part of the course complete (mile 1 has a nice hill portion), I knew I would be able to recover over the downhill portion of mile 2 and get some good turnover while running the final mile plus. As I got closer to mile 2, I could here music being played by Steve Moland (Thanks Steve!) and hit cruse control. I crossed mile two at 13:39 and all I could think was "that clock must be wrong." I was not going to look at my watch to check though. I just put my head down and pushed myself to the finish.
I was now beginning to feel the effects of yesterday's 12. My legs were beginning to feel heavy but the sound of the crowd allowed for me to "try" to keep pace. I pushed hard around the second to last turn knowing that there was only one last straight away remaining followed by a hard right turn and a 50 yard dash to the finish. I crossed the finish with an official time of 21:39.59 (7:00 min/mile) and couldn't of been happier. Well, maybe if it were a PR I could have been happier but considering the timing, training, and lack of recovery, I'll take it! I finished 39th overall out of 581 runners and 6th in the 20-29 age group.
But as every runner knows, after a good race (in this case, a great race!) there is always good post-race festivities. Runners gathered back in the lodge and shared their races experiences, have a "recovery" beverage, ate some food, and waited for the winners to be announced. While we waited, I debated about whether or not I wanted to run the second race that I had registered for the day, The Millennium Mile in Londonderry, NH.
I decided that I was going to run the race and do the best I can knowing that I pushed myself hard for the 5K. I said my good byes to my fellow GLRRs and made my way to Londonderry.
I got to the high school (race HQ) at about 1:10 PM for the 2:00 PM race, grabbed my bib number and ran into Jason who was helping time the race. He just got back from Boston where he was running the BOS Marathon course for a "Fun Run." You can read about his interesting adventure HERE.
I then spent the next 20 minutes stretching. It only was a half-hour drive from Lowell to the high school but my legs felt like 2x4's and did not want to do any more of this crazing physical activity. It was at this point I decided that if I ran a sub-7 minute mile, I would have succeeded for the day.
Soon after I finished stretching, Fil and Deric arrived for their round two of "fun." They registered and got ready for the race.
It was now 1:45 PM and I left for the mandatory warm-up or "splintering of the wood" in hopes of not hurting myself on this run. I got a few laps around the parking lot, stretched, did some 50 yard sprints, stretched, a few more laps, stretched, and headed to the starting line.
While we waited for the gun to go off, the announcer had just announced that this year, there was a record 1,100 registrations. I don't know why, but all of a sudden I got all amped up to run again. There is nothing like running a big race. I found my place about 3 seconds from the start and waited.
The national anthem played and we then continued waiting for the . . .
BANG!
There it was! The race began and the adrenaline began pumping again. I took off not knowing my pace except that it was fast. Now, I know I am not the fastest runner out there (or try to be), but I knew I was setting a record for myself.
1/4 mile . . . Done!
1/2 mile . . . Done!
3/4 mile . . . Done!
1 mile . . . 5 minutes, 35 seconds! DONE!
Keel over and die in 3, 2, 1 . . . Crap! Now I have to walk back to the start. It's kind of like the "walk of shame" as you don't want people to see you [dying that is] and you just want to get home. We made it back to the school, had some Stonyfield Yogurt (the best) and some granola bars while we stretched and laughed at how crazy Fil is for running 366 days straight (rule #3).
Overall, it was a beautiful day with temperatures reaching 58 degrees. I can't remember a New Year's Day where I was in shorts and short sleeves but that doesn't matter because today I was! :)
Well, Happy New Year to everyone and as the slogan for the Millennium Mile states: "May all your miles be downhill!"
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