Things I never expected from my first 5K race:
1. They don't have complimentary coffee, despite the 7 AM sign-in. The heck! (It was also a very small race, but still. I generally attend events expecting coffee. In hindsight, that was probably my first error.)
2. Not everyone is gonna run. And the non-runners are pretty darn content with just that.
3. Not everyone is gonna run the whole way. And even if you do? Some of these guys are gonna beat you. (In my case, um, more than some.)
4. Talking about losing and winning and beating just casts a pall over your whole day. From now on, far as I'm concerned, I win as long as I cross the finish line, and so does everyone else, from the Iron Men to the old lady walking her German Shepard who crossed long after they stopped the clock. Just... the Iron Men win long before I do.
5. There is no designated stretching area. Nor are there any stretches that look too foolish. Improvise and be proud.
6. It's cold at 7 AM. It gets warmer. Quickly. Consider keeping your car keys somewhere other than the pocket on your sweatshirt, because you're gonna want to unzip that thing, and stopping to pick up your keys and tie your shoe and drink water, that... that takes up time.
7. Yet, it's possible to unzip your coat and drink some water and tie your shoes and pick up your keys and still finish so much more quickly than you have been that you're absolutely sure that someone, either MapMyRun.com or the race organizers, is shaving feet off somewhere. Or maybe that's just because...
8. You WILL try to pass people. Tell yourself otherwise all you want, but after the umpteenth time that someone leaves you in their dust at what seems to be barely-a-brisk-warmup pace, you get antsy.
9. The apples are HUGE.
10. Doesn't matter how many months you've been running 3 miles on the treadmill or even outside. When you get up at a quarter to 6, drive yourself over the Ben Franklin bridge, spend ten minutes weaving through Fairmont Park looking for the parking lot, walk from the farther possible spot to the registration area, and pace for an hour before they call you to the starting line, you burn up way more energy than you do sipping a cup of coffee and stepping out the front door. Plan for a nap.
(Incidentally? The race was the first annual Cherry Blossom 5K, a precursor to the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Which I ended up opting out of due to a burgeoning caffeine headache impeding the problem-solving skills I required to find a parking spot after the Please Touch museum kicked us all out. Maybe next year.)
1. They don't have complimentary coffee, despite the 7 AM sign-in. The heck! (It was also a very small race, but still. I generally attend events expecting coffee. In hindsight, that was probably my first error.)
2. Not everyone is gonna run. And the non-runners are pretty darn content with just that.
3. Not everyone is gonna run the whole way. And even if you do? Some of these guys are gonna beat you. (In my case, um, more than some.)
4. Talking about losing and winning and beating just casts a pall over your whole day. From now on, far as I'm concerned, I win as long as I cross the finish line, and so does everyone else, from the Iron Men to the old lady walking her German Shepard who crossed long after they stopped the clock. Just... the Iron Men win long before I do.
5. There is no designated stretching area. Nor are there any stretches that look too foolish. Improvise and be proud.
6. It's cold at 7 AM. It gets warmer. Quickly. Consider keeping your car keys somewhere other than the pocket on your sweatshirt, because you're gonna want to unzip that thing, and stopping to pick up your keys and tie your shoe and drink water, that... that takes up time.
7. Yet, it's possible to unzip your coat and drink some water and tie your shoes and pick up your keys and still finish so much more quickly than you have been that you're absolutely sure that someone, either MapMyRun.com or the race organizers, is shaving feet off somewhere. Or maybe that's just because...
8. You WILL try to pass people. Tell yourself otherwise all you want, but after the umpteenth time that someone leaves you in their dust at what seems to be barely-a-brisk-warmup pace, you get antsy.
9. The apples are HUGE.
10. Doesn't matter how many months you've been running 3 miles on the treadmill or even outside. When you get up at a quarter to 6, drive yourself over the Ben Franklin bridge, spend ten minutes weaving through Fairmont Park looking for the parking lot, walk from the farther possible spot to the registration area, and pace for an hour before they call you to the starting line, you burn up way more energy than you do sipping a cup of coffee and stepping out the front door. Plan for a nap.
(Incidentally? The race was the first annual Cherry Blossom 5K, a precursor to the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Which I ended up opting out of due to a burgeoning caffeine headache impeding the problem-solving skills I required to find a parking spot after the Please Touch museum kicked us all out. Maybe next year.)
2 comments:
Should totally have played disc golf at Sedgely Woods too. :D
This is a great post, thanks for sharing it.
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