I ran another race! And I did it speedily too!

Yesterday morning, a big team of our friends ran or walked the Run for the Rose 5K race to raise money for brain cancer and children’s cancer research. (A brief news story I wrote about the history of the race is here.) The race is named after a woman who died of brain cancer at age 27. In its 9th year, there were over 4,000 participants to raise millions for two hospital foundations.

We ran as part of a team to honor the memory of one of our friend’s father who died less than two years ago of brain cancer.

Race Recap:

To happier things, let me tell you about the race! First, I didn’t exercise much this week because I had some early morning things, so I had fresh legs (or un-trained ones, you choose). I have been running pretty slow for a while and had no expectations of anything great this morning. I started like all races with one piece of toast with a small amount of peanut butter and half a banana. It looked like this picture, but just one piece of toast.

Why this shouldn’t have been a good race: The course was kind of boring (around Reliant Stadium up and down parking lots), I don’t like running in t-shirts because I get hot, and I didn’t even wear shin sleeves or tape. It’s already summer here, no cool Springtime weather.

However, I realized when I hit the first mile marker that I was going pretty fast for me at 9:50. I had a great pace, felt good even though the t-shirt felt like running in pajamas, and kept on going. The second mile marker was 11:00 minutes later, and the 3rd was 10:19 later. I didn’t even know what I ran the last 5K race in (actually, when you have a blog, you do know these things), but I knew it wasn’t as fast as I was going. I finished 3.1 in 31:48, an average pace of 10:30! This is two minutes faster than a 5K I did last October.

Let me compare to the 4 mile race I ran one week before–47 minutes. That’s only .9 miles longer, and I ran this 5K at a pace to finish five minutes faster. That’s amazing for me!

I also took about a 20 second walk break in the 3rd mile up a ramp hill but then saw paparazzi so I had to start running again!

I am so thrilled with my time. I guess I need to sign up for more races before it gets too hot!

My right knee was bothering me slightly in the last mile, but I have come to accept it will never go away and I better get used to short distance races.

We didn’t take too many pictures, but here are a few:

The Team Donny family.

Three pregnant girls on our team bringing up the caboose! A finish is a finish!

Also, I have a new story about Spring cleaning your kitchen for CultureMap. Check it out here.

Finally! A race recap on the blog! The last race I ran was on December 5, 2010 in Dallas for the White Rock Half Marathon. It’s been almost four months to the day since I ran 13.1 miles, time to get back to races! My right leg is still giving me problems, but I’m getting used it. On Wednesday, I signed up for the Memorial Park four-mile run called Four For the Park. With three days until the race, obviously I wasn’t really “training” to run four miles.

The training is a large chunk of what makes racing fun, but I am truly just happy to be running. I’ve spent a lot of the last four months either not running, running with pain, or at the physical therapist’s office to work on my legs. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been able to run further before the IT Band pain starts, and earlier this week I had a great run outside so I decided to sign up. You can always walk, I told myself.

The great part about this race is that it’s so close to our house. Memorial Park is in the center of town, easy to get to, easy to park at, and it started at 8:30. Pretty nice, we woke up at 7 and left at 7:45. No corrals, no long walk to get to the start, just 2,500 people lining up to run. The race also benefitted the park, and we go there often to run, so why not give back and get exercise?

Breakfast was the same as all races–toast, peanut butter, banana, coffee, water. I sometimes eat cereal or yogurt or milk before normal exercise, but I just don’t think dairy sounds like a good idea before a race, especially in the heat. I laid out my clothes the night before, and also wore Zensah calf sleeves. I wore these for the first time at the half marathon, and hadn’t even tried them out before. My leg problems are probably all related to my shins, and the calf sleeves are like compression socks that kind of hold everything in and help circulation. It doesn’t hurt, it might not help, but I wore them anyway. I did not tape my knee/IT Band area or ankle, I just stuck to the sleeves for this time.

The morning was very humid and hot, and there was a short light rain before the race started. Enough to make it extra steamy outside.

The course was really nice, flat, and scenic. Big homes for the beginning through a neighborhood, and then along a major street (Memorial Drive) for the middle part, and then into the park for the last mile.

My right knee and ankle were ok during the race. My knee area, same spot as always, became tight around the three mile mark, which is typical. I kept running and never walked even though it hurt like normal. I’ve realized unless I stop for a long period of time, it probably isn’t going to get much better. Luckily, I can do everything else I enjoy, like CrossFit, walking, yoga, etc. I usually don’t run as much in the summertime anyway, except on the treadmill.

The good part is that my ankle is much better than it was about a month ago. Somehow while I was healing my knee, my right ankle started to hurt even worse than the knee, even when I would just walk. That was more frustrating than my knee because it seriously hurt to just walk.

I finished the race in about 47 minutes, and I was very happy with that. I was really just happy to be running, I was happy to finish without any walking, and I did the best I could. Home by 9:45 with a cool down walk around the neighborhood with the puppy, and the morning’s exercise and first race of the year was complete.

This is Michael. He ran twice as fast as me today and is making his second appearance on the blog. He came in 3rd in his age group and 17th overall! He also ran the Houston Marathon at a very speedy pace!

Coming in for the finish.

Another thing about the timing–I mentioned earlier this week that I calibrated my Garmin hoping it would read more accurately. During the race, it was still off by .1 per mile, which is very frustrating when you buy a watch for distance accuracy. When I finished the four miles, it said I ran 3.6. Don’t buy the Garmin FR 60. The heart rate feature is great and accurate (I think?) but the distance part is not.

My splits were probably equal at about 11:45 min/mile each. I used to be faster I think, but oh well!

What are you training for?

Today I spectated my first race. Usually I am the one participating, but this time, I was reporting for CultureMap and watching for fun. Spectating is just as fun as running, but you don’t have to take a nap and a shower after! And you can walk without pain the next day.

Race results story: Rain didn’t stop the run at Houston Marathon

If you ever get a chance to watch or volunteer for a local race, it is very rewarding and inspiring. I recommend it! Watching 22,000 runners go past you really makes you want to run with them. It’s an awesome experience for the runner, and just as fun to watch too.

Last year I watched the marathoners go by outside my gym and the next day I signed up for my first 10K race. Two months after that, I started to blog. And 9 months after that, I ran my first half marathon. Watching runners is powerful. (Here’s a background to my running story.)

Here are some pictures from today:

Jeffrey is not so great at taking pics on my iPhone. He lacks a steady handedness. This is me before the race, ready to snap pics. I ended up in a rain jacket and rain boots.

My friend Allison and I waited around Mile 8 for her husband, Freddy, to run by. It was his first half marathon. Go Freddy!

A rainy and humid day in Houston, but Houstonians expect this weather sometimes.

The male winner, an Ethiopian, broke all records. Sub 4:30 minute miles is faster than I can put on makeup.

The winning woman crossing the finish line.

At the post-race press conference, three Americans discuss the race. The one on the left had a bad race (came in 6th). The middle guy came in 2nd, and the end woman came in 3rd and did better than she expected.

This is a close-up of her from Friday’s pre-race press conference. Her name is Stephanie Rothstein and she is 27 years old. She ran a sub-2:30 marathon today for her first time to come in 3rd place. Her story is interesting because she discovered she had Celiac Disease last March. Her running was not doing well and she struggled to run longer than 25 minutes. After she started changing her foods, she bounced back.

She will come back to Houston next January to try to qualify for the 2012 Olympic team.