Running Ruminations

After the whirlwind that was January-May and finally racing at the Mountains to Beach marathon, school dismissed for the summer, and my family and I headed east to the Midwest, as we always do in June and July. With MTB behind me and the Biofreeze San Francisco Marathon ahead of me, on the last Sunday in July, my training for SF didn’t really begin in earnest until I was in the midwest in mid-summer. 

Unfortunately, this year I’d only be able to race once before the BSFM, but I was happy to return to one of my favorite local northeast Ohio races: the North Canton YMCA July 4th 5 miler. I’ve run the race twice before and always enjoy it because it’s well-organized, has easy logistics, and usually offers a great opportunity to race against high schoolers and kids half my age, haha. 

The trying thing, of course, is that early July in northeast Ohio nearly always promises challenging weather conditions — hello, excessive heat and humidity and a killer dewpoint — making the race less about going for a specific clock time and more about racing against other people and racing against the elements.

For as long as I had been in the midwest this summer, prior to the race, my running felt extremely sluggish and forced. My paces were much slower, and getting out the door was significantly more challenging than usual. At any rate, perhaps because my training up until 7/4 had been so lackluster, I went into the race with zero expectations or time goals and just hoped I wouldn’t feel completely awful from start to finish. Nothing hurt or anything like that, but I honestly think that the heat and humidity in the midwest this summer has been soul-sucking and energy-draining. (world’s smallest violin, I know)

The five-miler course was exactly the same as it was the past two years, and the community members whose streets we overtook on race morning brought their A game as they usually do, with many families setting up their own aid stations in their front lawns and/or setting out sprinklers or hoses for runners to run through. Over five miles, I’m pretty sure I hit every official water stop to dump water over me and hit another 4 or 5 sprinklers or hoses. It was awesome. By the time I finished the race, I was soaked in both sweat *and* water. 

Given the heat and humidity on race day, I don’t think I looked at my watch at all during the race and instead based my air-quotes “racing” off my perceived exertion. Each time I saw a woman in my immediate or almost-immediate vicinity, I slowly tried to reel her in and advance up the leaderboard. For the past two years, I’ve won my age group, so trying to place high in my new AG (hopefully while running fairly decently) was enough of a goal for the race this time around. Again: less time-based goal, more placement-based.

For the past two years, I usually go out hella hard and die and claw my way to the finish, but this time, I finally didn’t fly off the line idiotically and instead treated the race more like a  tempo or steady-state effort. Somewhat miraculously, given how my running felt while I was in the midwest, I felt strong from start to finish during the race and methodically reeled in as many women as I could. From beginning to end, I chased down four or five women, and I only got passed back once. Success! 

The 5 miler was also my first race where I wore my rabbit Wolfpack crop, and let me tell you, when it’s hot and humid as hell outside, going with a crop is fantastic.  Don’t worry about how you’ll look in your race pics relative to the flatness of your stomach. No one cares but you. Promise. Body misgivings can go to hell. Life’s too short. 

Race day ultimately gave me 10 miles for the day, between the race and my warm-up and cool-down, and I was delighted to learn that I posted 2nd/50 in my new AG (missing first by only ~40 seconds, damn!), 14th female out of 200+, and 102/600+ overall. I usually don’t care about race statistics — I’m more satisfied in knowing that I ran hard/accomplished what I sought out to do than stacking myself against other competitors — but given the day and my training, I’m especially proud of my effort. 

While I wouldn’t be particularly enthusiastic to sign up to race hard in early July in the midwest, I think I’ll always come back to this race (if I’m in town). It’s inexpensive (maybe $25 when I registered in April), the race shirt premium is attractive and something I routinely wear, the AG awards are nice (previous years were mugs and bookbags), and I love the small-town vibes of racing in North Canton, as well as the fun post-race environment afterward. They even have puppies you can adopt from the post-race party! Kids can run in the (free) kids’ race before the 5 miler, and if you don’t want to do 5, there’s a 2 mile option as well. Everyone wins.

There’s something about beginning a holiday with a race; even if I race poorly or more slowly than I want, it puts me in a great mood for the rest of the day and leaves me hyped all day long. If you’re local to northeast Ohio or are in town for July 4th and want a racing opportunity, I’d definitely recommend the North Canton YMCA 5 miler. If I’m in town, I’ll be there.