Schonning 5K

Looking at my racing schedule this summer, it is tempting to say that I went a bit overboard. After all, from July 4th through August 20th, I ran six races at 100% effort. That's six races in six weeks, all out. But I couldn't help myself. Summer racing is just too darn tempting, with so many fun local events that I haven't tried before. Who knows how many more years I have in these legs. I might as well take advantage while I'm reasonably fit and healthy. As a side benefit, the heavy race load served to get me back into shape after the ankle sprain in May. Of course, racing into shape isn't as efficient or safe as following a proper training plan, but it's a whole lot more enjoyable. My plan for the rest of the year is to be more purposeful about my training in preparation for some late fall races. I'm thinking about consulting my old college training logs, so it should be fun to relive some of those memories (and get depressed about how fit I once was).

The final event in my summer racing extravaganza was the Roger Schonning 5K, held in downtown Westerly. I was told by some of my teammates that this is a fast course with PR potential. This seemed like a good time to see what kind of speed I had in my legs, given that baby #2's arrival is imminent, and my training and racing schedule over the next few weeks/months is a bit up in the air as a result. My road 5K PR is 16:21.8 from last year's CVS Downtown 5K, and I thought that might be attainable after last week's WTAC "Fun" Run. The plan was to go out at 5:10 pace and see how long I could hold it. Even if I came reasonably close to hitting these split, I should be able to grab the PR with room to spare.

Lining up at the start, I mostly saw familiar faces up front (Tom, Jeff, Matthew, Mike). I didn't know many others, but the fact that no one was toeing the actual starting line was a pretty good indication that there wouldn't be any front runners in the group. I tried one last time to convince Tom to run with me as long as he could (he was still recovering from last week's half-ironman), but he politely declined. Come on, Tom! Forget about your health, this is about ME!

Already looking kind of serious. Lighten up! (Also, look at Jeff's face.

I'd love to know what he's thinking.) Photo by Jana.

At the gun, I took off hard down the road and through downtown Westerly. Within a minute or two, I was alone with the police car. I found my pace and hit mile 1 on target in 5:10. (I should say that this is what I assumed to be mile 1, as there were no actual mile markers on the course. This is probably my only gripe about the race.) Mile 2 has a couple of mini-hills that feel rather tough when they fall in the middle of a pancake-flat course. In preparation for this race, I perused my teammates' Strava entries from previous years and saw that the pace typically tends to slow significantly in the second mile due to these hills and the momentum-killing cone turnaround. I was conscious of this as I tried to keep pace with the police car (who was all over the place redirecting people attempting to drive on the course). I hit mile 2 in 5:18, a little slower than I would have liked but within the realm of my expectations.

Mile 3 is a blur in my memory except for one part. As I crossed Route 1, the police car stopped to make sure the intersection was safe. He stopped for a bit too long, and I ran past him. Is this acceptable racing etiquette? Was I supposed to wait for him? That seemed like it would have been excessively polite, so I proceeded on, running right down the middle of the road as if he were still there. Suddenly, I heard a car behind me, I moved to my left and waved him by on the right. Just as I did this, he flew by on the left! Yowzers! I nearly got clipped by his mirror. I crossed mile 3 in 5:13 somewhere during these theatrics.

Keeping an eye on the clock and wishing it would slow down.

Photo by Jana.

I turned left at the top of the park and really should have known that I had a short sprint to the finish at this point, but I must have been too distracted to make the connection. I turned on the jets way later than I would have preferred and agonizingly saw the clock tick up to 16:20 as I crossed the finish. This agony turned into disappointment as the official results were published with a time of 16:21. Everyone's times were rounded to the nearest second, so I don't know if I could confidently say this was faster than the 16:21.8 of last year. Bummer, but at least I still have something to shoot for this fall.

For the record, my hands are not raised in a gesture of triumph. I wasn't sure

of the proper way to cross the tape. Do I grab it? Run through it? Avoid touching it? (I went with the latter.)

Photo by Jana.

There were nice races by a number of WTAC members, including Tom and Jeff, who were coming off last week's tough race, Mike B,. who cruised to a fast time, and Shara, who dominated the women's race.

Official results are here. Newspaper write-up here.

Here is Seb pondering the best way to break this new toy.

Photo by Katie.

Post-script 1:
The night of the race, my left knee got VERY sore to the touch in a spot that hasn't hurt since 2011. I'd normally not be too worried about this, but this particular injury kept me on the shelf for almost two years the last time it struck, and I'd really like avoid ever having a layoff like that again. So, what did I do the next morning? Went on a 12-mile run with some of the guys, of course. The pace was casual, but the knee hurt every step of the way. I decided about six steps into the run that I'd be taking a week completely off from running...as soon as the run was done.

Post-script 2:
I arranged to go on a long-ish bike ride with Jeff and Mike the morning after the long run to see how cycling affected my knee. If this thing is real, I'd need to find a suitable cross-training alternative. I had a rough night of sleep, complete with chills and sweats, but I wanted to go for the ride anyway. (Are you getting a sense of the dumb decisions I make when it comes to my training?) I actually felt OK on the ride, but got very cold when we stopped for drinks and then again when we got back to my house. The other symptoms - weakness, skin sensitivity, headache, neck pain, fever, chills - started to kick in shortly after the guys left. I should also mention that, two weeks ago, I pulled a tick off my lower abdomen that had been there 2-3 days. How do I know how long it had been there? I'd seen it and stupidly assumed it was a tiny scab of some kind. Once the skin got red and the "scab" started to grow, I came to my senses and removed it. I never developed the characteristic bullseye, but the symptoms combined with a definite tick bite was enough for a doctor to come up with a Lyme diagnosis. I started the antibiotics by noon yesterday but have continued to feel awful (103-degree fever will do that, I guess). So, it looks like this period of rest will be less optional than I'd envisioned. Stupid ticks.

Hope to see you guys out there soon.