Running Ruminations

The first race in my inaugural SV Half marathon weekend was Saturday’s Food Truck 5k, scheduled for 3pm on Saturday afternoon, beginning in the Arena Green area very near the SAP Center. An afternoon start time typically all but promises GI catastrophe for me, so I tried not to worry too much about it and figured if nothing else, this was a no-pressure event for me; more than anything, it would be a fitness check. Lisa suggested that I race the 5k to see what was there, to see how my fitness was coming along in the 4 ½ weeks of running that I had been doing post-stroke, and then on Sunday, I’d take the half easy and use it more as a glorified long run. This approach jibed well with me, and when Saturday afternoon presented with glorious 80-degree, sunshiney temps — perfect for life, less than ideal for racing a 5k —  I just hoped for the best.

Because my six year-old was coming with me to run the kids’ race later that afternoon, and because we had barely made it to the starting area on time (after coming from a morning birthday party), my warm-up was virtually non-existent. Again: no pressure, no matter. I rendezvoused with the lovely Paula, who’d be hanging with A during my race, and after some hellos and pictures with the rest of the RR ambassador crowd, we lined up at the start and waited for go-time.

Never before have I begun a race by chasing after an ice cream truck, but at the inaugural Food Truck 5k, I absolutely did — and it was as fun as it sounds.  We began the race situated pretty squarely in the middle of Arena Green, and as soon as the race began, we made a couple quick turns on the streets before picking up the Guadalupe River Trail and heading north.

On the course, before getting onto the GRT, I encountered some of my Wolfpack teammates serving as course volunteers and monitors, which was great. I’ve run on the GRT roughly a bajillion times, allowing me to know exactly where we were at any given time and where we were (likely) going, for better or for worse; sometimes I think it’s almost more helpful to not know where you’re going because you’ll be less tempted to zone out. The course stayed on the GRT and turned to return south before too long, and with the way the course was structured, inbound runners could (somewhat) see those outbound, at least when the tall grasses weren’t blocking the view.

I tried hard to pace myself with the 5k, after basically doing no speedwork or even remotely fast running yet in my fitness build-up post stroke, and I’d say I failed pretty miserably at this valiant attempt. My paces crept catapulted upward, and when it got hard — which of course it did — I just tried to stay mentally engaged. I mean, seriously, I’ve been reading so much about mental fortitude lately; it was high time to apply that shit!

Somewhat miraculously, I never felt like I was going to start dry-heaving from the morning’s birthday festivities (I was all but convinced that the morning’s cake and pizza would make another appearance), nor did I embarrassingly shit myself mid race, so as far as the bodily harm realms were concerned, I did pretty well. I tried to smile through the discomfort, the feeling that I was no where near the shape I’d like to be in (which, newsflash, of course I’m not going to be there right now, given recent life events… c’mon, self; be realistic!), the randomly hot 80 degree afternoon, everything. Again: so much running lit I’ve consumed recently all talk about the effects that simply smiling during hard efforts can have on one’s rate of perceived exertion, so it’d behoove me to do it, even if it was all a fascade.

At the very end of the race, once we hopped off the GRT, as I saw another group of my teammates, one mentioned that he thought I could go get the third woman. Hearing those words — despite feeling tired, and hot, and everything else — apparently lit a fire under me momentarily. Sure enough, right after he said that, I was on the heels of the third woman, and with just shy of 10 seconds to the finish line, I somehow outsprinted her (Garmin says that 8 second sprint was a 4:33 pace!!). Isn’t that bizarre? Seconds earlier, I felt so tired and so hot and so out of shape and so this, that, and the other, but in the (literal) final moments of the race, I found another gear and pressed it mercilessly. This is what Endure and so many other books I’ve read recently are all talking about; we all have another gear, even when we’re sure we don’t. We do. We always do. 

Post-race, A and I hung out for a while, chatting with lots of other runner friends and milled around before the start of the kids’ race. For my effort — third female, 21:30 finish — I earned a Sports Basement gift card (adding to the one that I won in a random draw at the Meb event earlier in the week, woot!), which was totally unexpected and quite generous. I liked the participant shirts and medals — a detail that, admittedly, I typically don’t pay a lot of mind — and I look forward to actually wearing this race shirt on my training runs.

I had a blast at the Food Truck 5k, and I think it’ll be an event that just gets better each year. I thought it was impressively organized and well-run, and I expect the community interest will increase in coming years, too. I’m super grateful to have been able to participate in its inaugural iteration and to race it with whatever I had in my tank on race day. The community and SJ vibe was spot-on with this race, and I’m excited to see the event grow. 

My eldest and I had a blast chatting with new and old friends and checking out the many food and beverage trucks, in addition to the band and various vendor tables. It was a fantastic afternoon with beautiful (albeit warm) weather, and it looked like the community turnout was solid and enthusiastic, too.  I didn’t cool-down at all, save for sitting in the shade for a bit before the kids’ race, and before too long, it was A’s turn to run.