I've done hundreds of races in my running career. I've run some well, and others not so well. But I've never had an experience like Saturday.
It was a small 5k on the Prairie Path in Villa Park, not far from where I live. When I say small, I mean probably fewer than 150 runners. It was perfect fit for what I was looking to do as I continue to recover from injuries and such.
As we started, however, I realized my GPS watch had yet to orient to the satellite. So I was on my own to figure out time and distance. I would get no help from the watch. That would have been ok, had I not taken a wrong turn and gotten lost on the course!
I seldom pay much attention to course maps before a race. Unless I am hoping to be especially competitive in the race, I like to discover the course as the race unfolds. And, as I've often said, I don't expect to be leading the race, so I'm sure they'll be someone ahead to follow.
That's good in theory. But it didn't hold up in practice Saturday. I was probably running in 4th or 5th place in the race, but the runners ahead of me had quite gap, and I lost sight of them. So we got to a portion of the course, I'm guessing near the two mile mark, where we were supposed to turn from the street and head back onto the path.
There was no one there to direct the runners, but I didn't see the need for someone at that point. So I confidently headed west on the path. So as I ran down the path, feeling good, lost in my thoughts, I must have gone a half mile or so before I looked around and realized there were no other runners in front or behind me!
So I turned around, and eventually got back on the course and finished. My 3.1 miles had turned into at least 4. My friends had finished quite a while earlier. Probably had showered and eaten breakfast by the time I finished. I think they were wondering if maybe I'd been eaten by a lion (or had some other mishap) out on the course.
Nope, I just took a wrong turn. There's a first for everything!
My only dissapointment is that I was hoping to improve on my time in another small neighborhood 5k I did a couple weeks ago. That one was on the roads in my neighborhood, starting at a church around the corner from my house. So I couldn't get lost.
That was my first race in months, and I managed to run 7:20 pace without too much trouble. It felt great to pin a number on and get back in a race. So I was hoping for the same feeling, but a faster pace
That was clearly not to be Saturday. It was fun to be out there racing. But I'll have to look for improvement at some future race.
Til then, I'll see you on the roads.....................
