As I stood at the starting line of the Ravenswood 5k Sunday, I was still trying to decide what kind of pace I wanted to run. I ruled out racing hard, but I also didn't want to post a really slow time. Then the horn went off, and I was running. My legs just started to move in the familiar pace I have done for most of my track workouts. More on that in a moment.
It's my final week of tapering before the Wisconsin marathon on May first. But before shutting it down for a week of light running and rest, I got to get in a full weekend of running overload! I was at two races over the weekend, which were very different, but equally enjoyable.
Saturday morning, after getting my final long run in (an easy ten miles) I went to Busse Woods for a 5k race I've been trying to get to for the last couple years. The Run for Rett is a relatively small event that raises money for Rett Syndrome. Many of the runners are those whose lives have been touched by this mysterious disease that robs people of most of their physical funtions. With a little less than 200 runners, it felt like a big family picnic, or a high school invitation cross country meet. They were up against several other races this weekend, including the CARA lakefront 10 mile race that same morning. But those who chose this race were happy they did.
It had all the elements of the much larger races, including chip timing, t-shirts, and corporate sponsors. The winner, Lisa Menninger, ran 19:47, to become the first female overall winner of that race. My wife ran as well, and enjoyed the course. I played cheerleader/father while she ran. It would be fun to run it sometime.
Sunday morning, I got up early, got the kids out of bed, and loaded them up in the car headed for Ravenswood. All Saints Episcopal Church was kind enough to offer childcare for runners at the Ravenswood 5k. This was a much larger race. It sold out early with about 3000 runners, and has become a tradition in that northwest side neighborhood.
Despite the forecast for rain, it was sunny during the race, and the rain held off until later in the morning. The race attracted some strong runners, including many from the Fleet Feet Sports racing team. Fleet Feet puts on the race, and does a good job. The race was fast and competitive with the winners, Todd Ptacek (15:07) and Heather Prekop (17:53) running really well. If you'd like to see all the results, they are posted here: http://results.active.com/pages/displayNonGru.jsp?orgID=234623&rsID=91820
I would be remiss if I didn't congratulate one of my regular running partners, Rick Staback, on winning his age division (55-60) with a time of 19:14. I plan to write a little more about his exploits soon, as he continues to post impressive times.
As for my experience, I was thinking about practicing my marathon race pace goal, but that didn't seem like enough of a workout. So instead I found myself running 7:00 pace, which is what I've been doing for most of my mile repeats on the track. I hit the first mile in exactly 7:00, and got a chuckle. Then I hit the second mile in exactly 7:00, and thought it was a little strange. I picked it up a few seconds for the last mile (6:50) but wound up with good, satisfying effort that left me feeling ready to run a marathon in a week.
So, I'll be among those checking the forecast, drinking lots of water, and eating lots of pasta this week, I will get a little running in, but just a little.
See you on the roads.....
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