This past week, I went to the Appleton YMCA for a morning swim, when I randomly saw a poster for a 5k race at my old high school. The race was on a Monday evening at 5:30pm - HA! A perfect time for a 3rd shifter! I immediately told myself I was going to do it, just for fun. I checked for more information online later that day and saw that the 2012 results only had about 70 runners finish, which is a very small number of runners. But, I knew Tony, the guy who won it last year and knew that he is one hell of a runner so I at least knew that the overall draw for competition would be there. But, Sarah is on call every Monday, which means, I am 100% on kid duty every Monday until I leave for work. So, there goes my plan of running the race by myself to win it. But, for once, believe it or not, I was actually OK with it. Hell, I was way more then OK with it, I was actually kind of excited about it. I decided right then and there that I would run the race WITH my kids...pushing them in the stroller. This is something I have never done in a race of any distance. I have definitely pushed them on my training runs before and know first hand how much more difficult it is to push a 2 and 4 year old around. You notice every minor change in the grade of the road and you definitely notice the slightest bit of wind. So this was a new challenge for me - to see how fast I could run a 5k while pushing a stroller weighing around 75 pounds.
Training Plan
Ha! WHAT training plan!?!? Here's a sneak peak at what my exercise routine has consisted off since IM Wisconsin.
Day/Night Before
This was only my second or third race of any distance that didn't start in the AM, so it was a little different, which was alright. When you are looking to break out of a funk and take advantage of what I couldn't, wouldn't, or didn't do for the past 10 years, different is actually kind of nice. I worked my usual 10p-6a shift Sunday night into Monday morning and then went right to bed, knowing I had to wake up around 3:30pm to leave to pick up the girls from child care and then get to the race. I woke up a little after 3:30pm and was right out the door.
Getting to the Start Line
After picking up the girls, I swung by my parent's house to pick up my dad as he too was doing the run with us. We got to Appleton East High School around 4:30 and got registered. They also were holding a kid's run which started at 5pm (30 minutes before the 5k) and it was free, so we signed Maya up for the run. She was so excited, it was cute.
Kid's 1/4 Mile Fun Run
Maya's race started at 5:00 and it was a single lap around the 400 meter track. Some of the high school student volunteers helped group the kids together by age as they planned on starting the kids (2-12) by age. Once the kids were in their groups, the volunteers helped the kids warm up with your stereotypical static stretching (will that EVER change???). I was curious to see how Maya would do running a full quarter mile, especially since she has never done it. Would she quit half way and say her usual, "It's so far!" or would she be the opposite, and say her usual, "Look, Mommy, I'm running fast like Daddy!" as she runs circles around the living room at home. When she started to took off at a near dead sprint and I thought, oh boy...it's only a matter of time before she starts walking and says, "I'm tired." But she didn't, she kept running. She only stopped once to take off her shoes, as they started to fall off. Delaney even jumped out of the stroller and starting running behind Maya. I was so happy and proud! Maya ran the entire quarter mile to the finish line and Delaney ran the entire half lap since she started. They each got their first ever finisher's medal - and one proud dad.
3.1 Mile Run
After the kids run, I got both girls strapped into the stroller and went to the roads to do a brief 10 minute warm up with short strides (pick ups) to see what I was getting myself into, running a 5k while pushing 2 kids in a stroller. Then, the race started. I took off at a moderate to hard pace with the stroller. I was in a lead pack of about 5 runners, including myself. However, I knew 2 of the 5 where not going to hang around as they were your usual "come out sprinting" runners, who almost always fade back after the first 100-200 meters. After the first 400 meters, I was in third behind two runners I know from previous races. I knew it would be tough to hold on while pushing a stroller, but I figured I would do my best. By about the first mile, I passed the second place runner and was behind the lead runner, a woman, by about 25 meters. My goal was to simply hang on and try to finish 2nd. At the 2 mile mark, I was starting to gain on the lead runner and was now only about 10 meters behind her. After passing the 2nd mile marker, we saw the police escort vehicle speed up ahead and make a sudden U-Turn and her and I immediately think, WTF??? The officer, yells out the window, "I missed a turn!" At that time Her and I both slam on the breaks and run back towards the route. At this point we saw the 3rd place runner make the correct turn, without missing it, so he was now magically the lead runner. 3 other runners made the correct turn before the lead runner and I were back on the route, now in 5th and 6th place. It was at this point I decided to put the hammer down and see what I could do. I made a 5 passes and was now back in 2nd place, only behind the guy who was in 3rd, but now in 1st. The final 400 meters were run on the high school track. It was a lap to the finish line. He was about 200-300 meters ahead of me. As he approached the finish line, I saw that he wasn't crossing it. I immediately realized what he was doing. He was going to allow me and the woman to cross in our rightful order, 1st and 2nd, before he crossed. It was a true display of sportsmanship. It was honorable. I give him a lot of credit, doing that. So, now as I came down the home stretch, the final 100 meters, I really hammered down for fear that the woman would have an extra kick that I wouldn't have since she wasn't pushing a stroller, and I didn't want to loose. :) Below is my run data from Garmin.
Post Race
I finished with an unofficial time of 20:29 and had a final distance of 3.30 miles from my Garmin. A 5k is supposed to be 3.1 miles. So the woman and I ran an extra 0.2 miles when it was all said and done. Even with the extra bit, I still would have placed 2nd overall! But due to the generosity of the other runner, I took 1st overall, while pushing a stroller! Holy Crap, I would have never imagined I would have done that! Based on my data, I was at 3.1 miles at 19:10, which is a great stand alone 5k time, not even considering while pushing a stroller. Going into the race, I was skeptical that I had lost some of my fitness from training for the IM, simply due to my lack of training/exercising and my piss poor diet. Evidently that wasn't the case at all! I am surprised and ecstatic that I placed first, but honestly, the best part of the entire race was the fact that I was able to do it with my daughters. This entire past year, I had put my training and racing ahead of them and never considered including them. But, this was different, I wanted to include them. I wanted to do it with them. They were just as excited to "race with daddy" as daddy was to race with them. I got to share that moment with them. It was great!
Other Notes
I would simply like to add the fact that it was rather comical, that Maya and Delaney really had no clue what I was doing during the race or how hard I was working. Throughout the entire race, from start to end, one or the other was asking me meaningless questions. "Are we following the cop car?" "Are you running fast?" "She spilled her water Daddy!" (in reference to the woman ahead of us dumping her water on the street at a water station) And my personal favorite, "Why did the cop go the wrong way?" It kept me entertained throughout the tough parts of the race and made it seem easy and quick.
Lessons for Future Events
I am not saying I am going to do every race now pushing a stroller, although..... No, I think it might be something I do more often for sure, but there is still a joy in going out and just running as fast and hard as you can by yourself, until your lungs hurt and you feel like your heart is about to explode, but you tell yourself, "just another half mile!" I enjoy the competitiveness of it all. But when I am looking for an "out" or a race to just do to do, I'll definitely bring the girls along for the ride and share my passion of racing and fitness with them.
What's Next
Who knows? Who cares? :) Yea, right, who would believe that, if that's what I said. Of course I have a plan....I ALWAYS have a plan. Hell, I had a plan after IMWI, albeit a minor, minuscule plan, but a plan none-the-less. From here on out, I want to capitalize on my huge fitness base I worked so hard to obtain during this past summer and exploit that into some new PR's in the 5k at the Freaky 5k on October 26th and then at the 5 mile Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. I will be doing minimal training, but working in some basic fartlek (sounds like it looks - Fart Lick)(means "speed play") runs coupled with short distance long runs (6-8 miles). I will also try to loose some of my muscle weight and get down to the weight I was back in 2009-2010 (150-155 range). I want to get back down to that range for my 2014 race season to hopefully finally break 3 hours in the marathon. I figure if that's going to happen, I need everything just right, just like in the Ironman.
So until next time!
Be fast, be strong, and carry on!
No comments:
Post a Comment