Rookie Mistakes

I ran in a 5K race yesterday. I made a couple of mistakes that I should not have been making at this stage. The first was going out too fast. I went out in 3:30 for the first kilometer. That's about 17:30 pace for a 5K. that's way too fast for the stage I'm at right now, and I was feeling it by the middle of the second mile. The other mistake I made was forgetting that mile two is the best laxative in the world. I was feeling that by the middle of the second mile, too.

All in all, though, I did pretty well. I finished in 20:23, about 30 seconds off what I was shooting for. If I had taken it ea little bit easyfor the first mile or so, I might have been able to maintain the pace, and finish in my goal time. As it was, I was the 14th masters finisher.

I talked to an old friend on Friday, the race director and president of a running club. The club requires members to "represent" the club in races at least three times a year and to work at a minimum of three races a year. Once I can get my 5K time down below 20:00 consistently, I think I'll join the club.

My 7-year-old ran in a race yesterday, too. My race finished in the baseball stadium, and all kids under 13 could run in a race with "Spikes" the mascot, who is a man in a bird suit. They broke it down into heats by age--first the under-3's (very cute), the 4-5's, etc. Oed ran his race and got a little participant's ribbon, which we pinned to his race number.


I got out for three miles this morning, making the same (first) mistake I made yesterday. I just felt so good that I went out too fast, and slowed way down near the end of the run. Electra and I are going to run together later today, and I'll probably run a few hundred yards with Oed.