PR Weekend

OK, setting personal records wasn't something I had in mind when I started this running thing. It was done as part of trying to get healthier, to work with what I had achieved losing weight with WeightWatchers. Yet I find myself enjoying the sport and participating in several races now. This past weekend I signed up to do something different from the other races. I signed up for two races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. The Saturday race was the Old Agoura 10K, and regardless of what my time was it was going to be a personal record as it was my first 10K race. The one on Sunday was the Coaster 5K down by Knott's Berry Park. This race was on a flat course so I had a chance to see whether all of the track workouts and LSD will help me get my fastest time to date.

The Old Agoura 10K was part of the Great Race of Agoura, which includes two half marathons, the 10K, a 5K and two other races intended to involve younger children. My friend Becky ran this race as well, and I was glad to see her before the start and hung out with her until we had to go running. The 10K ran through some neighborhood streets at first before turning in to a hilly neighborhood. Then about 2 1/2 mile in the route goes over a mile total on Chesebro, a nice gradual uphill which to my surprise I was able to complete without stopping. Between miles 4 and 5 were some pretty nasty hills, in my opinion. Very scenic neighborhood but those hills were a challenge. I was able to run on some of them while there were some I had to walk up portions, if not the entire hill. At mile 5 the people at the water station were telling us that there were no more hills, only one more mile to go. What a bunch of liars. There were a couple of hills left. Not too steep but one was pretty long. And then we had to go on a muddy section thanks to the recent rains. I emerged through it relatively unscathed and the last third of a mile was back on pavement, partly downhill before ending with a dash on the grass of Chumash Park. The official clock had me at 1:00:43. I didn't think I could complete the course in under an hour, not with all of the hills, and was thinking of a window of 62 to 72 minutes. But thanks to all of the recent workouts and LSD I was able to manage my race and not go out too fast in the beginning, saving enough for the hills.

Today's race was down in Orange County, right at Knott's Berry Farm. I specifically signed up to do this race with my friend Ron. It was very cloudy and rain was threatening to come down, but the temps were in the upper 50s lower 60s so it was quite comfortable. The Old Agoura 10K was ran in overcast skies and was a bit colder but rain stayed away. Right before the start of the 5K it actually started to sprinkle and it continued until about 5 minutes after the starting gun. There was some character from Knott's who shot off a rifle to signify the race start. Speaking of characters I was able to snag Snoopy for a pre-race picture. The Coaster Run consisted of a 5K and a 10K and they started at the same location and at the same time. This created for a very busy start, mostly because the race coordinator didn't request that walkers start at the back. I went to the middle of the starting area as usual, and this meant that I had to wade through a whole lot of people who were walking. I don't mind walkers in races as I walked my very first 5K, but it does create a traffic jam. With 2500 people registered for the two races it was quite a traffic jam. The one positive thing it did was it help me start off slowly and reminded me to keep an even pace. The course was fairly flat except for the portion where we went in a tunnel that went underneath a street. With the recent rains there were some puddles, some which I was unable to avoid but such is life. I crossed the 1 mile marker at 9:48, a lot slower than I wanted but I knew I had some reserved for the end. The crowd thinned out slowly and I tried to maintain a good pace. At what I thought was around the 2 mile mark I was able to see more daylight between people and I picked it up a little. Kept reminding myself to not go too fast until we were in sight of the finish line, about a half mile to go. With it in sight I kicked it up a notch and slowly picked off some people. At the last turn I saw a boy about ten years old who had stopped and was slowly running again. I tried to motivate him, telling him to kick it in gear. I heard someone from the crowd yell out, "Don't let that old man beat you!!". Had to laugh at that one and I kept telling the boy to pick it up, and he did, and I did and we were in kinda full sprint mode when we finished. He may have nipped me at the end but seeing the big smile on his face as he finished was worth it. That and high five exchanged is what it's all about. My time was officailly 27:19, which shatters my previous best of 28:09 but that was before I joined the running club and getting more miles and experience in this body of mine. Not sure how much faster I can do the races as all that really matters is that I am enjoying it. Yeah, that's the ticket ;)