First Race Report of the Season

Is it Spring yet? It sure does not seem like it in Richmond. We have had cold, snowy, rainy weather for some time now. It seems like Spring will never come. Despite the bad weather, I have been able to get some quality training in this month.  In March I started a new schedule:

Monday - AM Swim, PM Cycling Class
Tuesday -PM Pro K track workout
Wednesday - AM Swim, PM Cycling class
Thursday - PM Cycle at home on trainer with Melissa/Sometimes run instead
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Long Bike
Sunday - Long Run and Long Swim

Needless to say, with all the training and my job, I have not had much time to sit and write. I spend all day in front of computers and sometimes the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a screen when I get home.

Last week, Melissa and I participated in a small 5K at a local elementary school. Our teammate was the race director and the race was a fund raiser for the PTA at the school. There were about 50 people at the race. When the gun went off, I took off at a reasonable pace. Right from the start, I found myself up front with 3 other runners. We ran the first mile in tight formation before one young kid and myself started to put distance on the other two runners.

After a little while, it was just the two of us running side by side around the turns. While I was pushing it a little, the young high school aged boy seemed to be out for a morning jog. His running seemed effortless. At one point, I said "Are you just toying with me?" He admitted that he was which I thought was pretty honest and sort of funny. It really seemed like he was running my pace. I decided to back off ever so slightly to save myself for a possible kick at the end. He slowed with me which verified what I thought. I told him that I did not have a kick. It was a lie. I had a decent kick for someone my age. I thought perhaps when we saw the finish line, I could surprise him. Actually I knew this was not likely but it was worth a try if the opportunity arose.

With about a quarter of a mile left, he said, "not much further now" and proceeded to speed up and pull away from me. I countered but I could not match his speed. As the school came into sight, I knew I would never catch him. I pushed it a little but did not wipe myself out. I had second place sewn up which was just fine with me. 

After crossing the finish line in second place, I congratulated the winner and asked him if he ran track. He confirmed my suspicion. When I asked him what distance he ran, he told me he ran the 400 and 800. So even if I did have a good kick, I never would have beat him. I can't complain though. At 44 years old, second place to a 17 year old high school track athlete is not too shabby in my book.

Plus the 5K was really just a warm up. After the race, we did a 38 mile team bike ride followed by a 13 minute T-Run. It was a fine day in Richmond, despite the cold.

Next week is my first Triathlon of the year. Melissa and I will be doing the Smithfield Sprint Triathlon. It is a very short race: 300 Meter Pool Swim, 10 Mile Bike, 5K. There are some other folks from Richmond racing as well. It will be a nice little jump start to the season.

Thanks for reading.