swamp rabbit 5k

back in january, i mentioned i was gearing up to make a grand return to the marathon.

it will be a return but it won't be grand, at least not in the sense i was originally hoping for. i followed my m.o. and slogged my way through another 16-week "training" "plan". provided i survive, this will be marathon #10. it will be marathon #8 that i did not properly train for. common sense might suggest i stick to half-marathons and shorter, but what's the fun in that?

so yes, i have a little 26.2-mile jaunt coming up next weekend. it could have been a throwdown with marlene, but she actually trained. even if you tied her legs together she'd still beat me.

marlene is accepting donations to cure her club arm

so yes, this is technically taper time. however, if you don't train, you don't have to taper*. it is also a good idea to run a hard 5k a week before a marathon**.

friday evening i ran the ghs swamp rabbit 5k. it's a crowded race with 4,000+ participants, but it's only $6 and includes a t-shirt. i bumped into my former (i'm not allowed to say "old") cross-country coach from high school before the race and we stashed our t-shirts under a tree. is it not runner code to not steal from other runners? apparently some still need to learn this rule as our shirts were gone when i went back for them. another rule people should learn is "don't line up at the front with your small children". would you put your child out in front of a wildebeest stampede? i didn't think so. let's apply this same common sense to human stampedes, shall we?

do you see me?

the race organizers delayed the race a few minutes because the traffic was awful, giving me time to run to the porta-potty instead of potentially peeing on myself mid-race. this also served as my "warm up", to which my coach shook her head in dismay.

random people at the race

i haven't done speedwork since my last 5k, so i knew i probably wouldn't pr. i was hoping to at least go sub-21 again, and i did with a 20:54-ish. this course was hillier than the last - the first mile had two short inclines (i wouldn't call them hills), mile two was a roller coaster (the most painful mile in any 5k in my opinion) and mile three was mostly flat. my legs were beat up from mile two, and my right quad is still a little sore today. perhaps that is also due to the 0-mile cooldown i did afterward. yep, no warmup and no cooldown*** - i am a textbook example of how not to train and race.

note: i am not the man in black

friday (3/6) race: 3.1 miles / 20:54 (avg pace 6:38) / 72*
6th overall/1st age group

the award was an authentic railroad spike
(the "swamp rabbit trail" is part of the rails-to-trails project)

*, **, *** please consult your physician before following any ctk training advice

all four race photos from the greenville news
the artwork and railroad spike © ctk 2011