Smith Family Weblog

Well, I did walk, but it didn’t feel like a failure.

I left home at 5 am this morning, stopping along the way to pick up my friend Sarah. I soon discovered that I arrived at the park about 75 minutes earlier than necessary. But, we had a nice time talking to other race participants and checking out the staging areas for the duathalon. There were about 275 participants, and I lined up near the back of the group. By the time we were out of the park, I was tired and wishing I was back in bed.

I tried to focus on very short distance markers—even just thinking about the next power line pole, or in some cases of extreme desperation (or a seemingly mountainous hill), the next fence post. I lengthened my stride downhill, taking advantage of the easier segments to improve my time. I decided to walk just before the first mile and a half, and I gladly accepted two cups of water at the turnaround point. I would guess it was roughly 13 steps before I began to regret that.

I walked a couple more times on the uphill portions of the course on the way back, though I did try to keep my speed up as much as I could. However, most of my energy was spent trying extremely hard not to lose all that water. Come to find out, it would have been less traumatic to lose it on the course, than, oh, say 100 meters from the finish line…

As I ran down the last turn, I saw Sarah, and then promptly puked. SIX TIMES. The incredibly bored medics all jumped to my aid—I had to fend them off while trying to avoid my shoes and actually finish the race. Once that was out of my system, I felt like a million bucks.

I crossed the finish line at about 41 minutes, meaning I must have averaged just under five miles an hour. I may have some photos to post later tonight—the photographer seemed to think my behavior near the finish line was worth documenting.

Overall—and even despite not meeting my intended goal—I enjoyed the whole process very much. The group was friendly and collegial, and that alone made it a pretty great experience. So much so that I’m planning to sign up for two more 5Ks—July 24 and August 28. And, believe it or not, I’m looking forward to Monday’s run.