My First Race for 2013

I ran my first 5K last weekend (4/6/2013).  It wasn't my first 5K total.  I've run several of them in the past.  But it was my first since restarting my training this year.  This was the Bentonville running festival and it has a 5K race, and also a half marathon.  One nice thing about living in Bentonville is that, being the home of Wal-Mart, we are a little spoiled by how well-run events are.  Not only that, but we end up with some pretty impressive guests at events.  This is a good example.  When I went to pick  up my race shirt, number and timing chip for the race on Friday, Bill Rodgers was there signing books and taking pictures with people.  He was also the keynote speaker at the pre-race pasta dinner but I didn't go to that.  He's the most famous marathoner ever, so that is pretty nifty.

Endomondo Tracker

I used it as my week 5, run 3 run (Run 20 minutes, no walk periods).  That would roughly be 2 miles for most people, but I'm not that fast. :) 

So it's probably about a mile an a half.  I didn't quite finish the entire 20 minutes with no walks.  I did roughly 13 minutes on the first leg and then had to take a walk break for about 3-4 minutes.  Then I did another 8 minute stretch. 

"But wait," I hear you say.  "A 5K is 3.1 miles.  What happened to the rest of it?"

Well... I staggered through that as well.  Mostly running.  Some walking.  My time came in at 41:53.7.  My best race to date was 32:37:5, and that was running the entire distance.  So I don't feel too bad about this result. 

In terms of results, I finished 20th for men 45-49.  That sounds pretty good... except that was out of 22.  Hmm...

Overall I was 490th out of 621.  That sounds a little better! :)

 It doesn't really matter of course.  I'm not in this to compete. 

Yes, OK, somewhere in the back of my mind I had this fantasy about running the entire thing.  But I didn't really expect that to happen.  I'm not there yet.  I did hope to finish my 20 minutes with no walks, but I'm not there yet either.  So I'm repeating it this week.  I know week 6 is only going to be harder and I'm not ready for it.

I've got to start dropping some pounds soon because I think that's what is holding me back more than anything.  I'm currently 15 pounds heavier than when I was running at this time last year.  That's not going to work.  I need to start dropping some.  I'm trying to eat better and I'm getting to the point in the 5K training where I should start burning off more pounds.  But for weeks I've been hovering around the same 270 pounds on the scale.  I'm hoping that starts changing soon.

The good news is that I'm ahead of where I have been in the past for this time of year.  Usually I get serious about doing Couch to 5K more towards the summer.  That's not a bad thing, but it means by the time I finish the program, most of the races are already over with because it is getting too cold for them.  By starting early this year, I'll finish earlier and be working on 10K training during the summer time instead.  I'd like to run at least one 5K per month and get in at least one 10K race this year, and continue on from that and be ready to run a hal