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Ankeny Summerfest 5K Run
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Ankeny Summerfest 5K Run - Run5k
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Comments: The start was kind of funny... the emcee told us about the course, but I didn't pay much attention to this, it was like listening to the teacher in Peanuts, you know, "blah blah blah". I figured I'd follow and it was a short race, not many trees in Ankeny, so its not exactly really easy to get lost. One thing that struck me was how much more respectful the crowd was than one in California when the guy started talking. People actually were quiet, polite and there were no snide comments. The start was a little confusing, the guy didn't even say 1, 2, 3 or "On your mark, set, go!" they just fired the cap pistol and off we went. Now, I'm going to tell you just how much I LOVE my Garmin and how I think its going to really improve my races at this point. I rabbited out - I always do this, and at the quarter mile point I'm clocking a 6:50-7:05 pace and think "whoa, whoa, whooooa Nelly!" and I can already tell from how tired my body feels that this is going to be a hard 5K. So I throttled it back, but still had the best mile time I've had in a 5K this year by far - I hit the 1 mile mark at 8:20. I wanted to run this race in the 26-27 range and given that I knew I'd slow down from the way I felt, I was very pleased. It was also nice as this is the first course I've been on in a long time where it felt like the first mile actually WAS a mile. The Garmin and the marker agreed at 1 mile, 2 and 3. Unfortunately, I did get passed a lot in this race... which given how young the crowd was (and apparently fit) I expected. That really didn't bother me, as the purpose of this race and the next two 5Ks I'm registered for is not to serve as PR opportunities but instead to get me back into good run racing shape and to keep my race skills from 'getting rusty' as I train back up to run Cowtown Half and Napa next year. I haven't put in the mileage or intensity to run 5Ks like I'm capable of doing, and at 46 you can't get away with slacking off for very long, as race fitness goes straight into the potty quickly. There's really not much to say beyond that I simply need more miles to run better (shrug)... and as I noted earlier, this was a slightly uphill race the whole way. It would have been a LOT more fun if they'd run it counterclockwise instead of clockwise... oh well. I really pushed myself to not fade too much in the last half mile, but I got passed by a girl that's barely taller than my own daughter LOL, and no one passed me in the last quarter mile, even though I heard footsteps. Crossed the finish line feeling a little naseauous, which means I ran hard but not outside my capabilities at this point in time, I didn't blow up. I had been planning how I was going to run Granger next Saturday as I ran the last mile, and I may attempt to do that race as a negative splitter the whole way... Go out running right at 9:00 and see if I can crank it up a little faster each mile AND come out with a slightly faster finishing time. We'll see! What would you do differently?: Not slack off for 3 months. Not gain 10 pounds. I can really tell the extra weight is affecting my speed. I'm rating this a 'good run' though given that I was tired (my own fault) and that my first mile was better than I thought I'd pull off.  Post race
Warm down: Grabbed a bottle of water from one of the volunteers, got a danish and God, it was a piece of gooey tasty goodness. Chatted with a guy that had finished near the front - running around about sub 6:00 - who said this was a hard course, which made me feel better about my performance. What limited your ability to perform faster: Being fat, and fit but not run race fit. Oh well. Event comments: I'm getting my run mojo back, a step at a time, and I'm actually enjoying the process because I don't tie my self-esteem to how 'fast' a race but rather how much I'm enjoying the experience. And my Dad was there to watch me run :) Last updated: 2008-06-27 12:00 AM
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  2008-07-13 10:21 AM |
 Subject: ...This user's post has been ignored. Edited by Spokes 2008-07-13 10:47 AM |
| 2008-07-13 10:52 AM in reply to: #1525745 |
Expert 823   Stafford, Ks | Subject: RE: Ankeny Summerfest 5K Run Congratulations. Sounds like you had a blast! And that dude on your right is PASTY! Enjoy the great midwest while you are here! |
| 2008-07-13 8:55 PM in reply to: #1525745 |
Iron Donkey 38643    , Wisconsin | Subject: RE: Ankeny Summerfest 5K Run California livin' will do that to ya. Way to go, Spokey! The report took longer than the run, I bet! |
| 2008-07-14 3:50 PM in reply to: #1525745 |
| Champion 4942 Richmond, VA | Subject: RE: Ankeny Summerfest 5K Run Don't feel bad - when I ran high school cross country, the two teams that seemed to win CC every flipping year was either Ankeny or Indianola. They must have some extra special 5K motoring pills in the water over there. I see we were "representin'" the Sac on the t-shirt. "Yeah, I'm from out of town."
do I see cheerleaders in that picture? hot diggidity!
btw : you are not that tan, you are just standing next to the whitest man alive. |
| 2008-07-14 11:16 PM in reply to: #1525745 |
| Champion 6046 New York, NY | Subject: RE: Ankeny Summerfest 5K Run YOU ARE NOT FAT!!!!! sheesh just run more.
you did great. and I cannot believe you did not notice the cheerleaders.... but the part that cracks me up the most is that you showered and shaved BEFORE the race! |
| 2008-07-15 8:35 AM in reply to: #1525745 |
| Master 2379 Alpharetta, GA | Subject: RE: Ankeny Summerfest 5K Run SPOKES!!! Your RR made me tired..."are you ff'ing out of your mind?!" Nice job, Scott. If you hadn't shaved, you'd have gone faster - shaving burns precious energy...should've saved it for the race... Hope you get some tongue when you return home. |
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United States
Ankeny Optimists Club
65F / 18C
Sunny
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 0/
Well, first I had to fly to Iowa. That was on Saturday. I mean, its a hell of a drive from Sacramento, CA to Ankeny, IA. My arms sure were tired when I landed in DSM.
Ok, I did not get nearly enough sleep as I was so jacked to go to the airport yesterday (I'm writing this RR shortly after the race). Like say 3 hours, tops, before The Blonde kicked me out of the Civic with a peck on the lips (I know I should have gone for some tongue, dammit) at 4:50 am.
Eventually, the plane landed in DSM, I hugged my parents in the lobby, we went home, I ran an errand with Mom, ate, and then passed out for 3 hours in one of the living room recliners, which screwed up my sleep pattern even more, because I woke up at 7:30 CDT feeling like I'd been run over by a minivan full of ISU fans (DIE ISU, DIE!), and then I was wide awake until 12:30, watching an extremely lame movie on the SciFi channel on my folks HDTV, finally crashing on the couch and tossing and turning until my watch alarm went off at 5 am.
Shaved, showered, grabbed a glass of OJ from the fridge and then tried to con Dad into hopping into the 'pala and getting to Ankeny sooner (I was so paranoid we'd be late, and it was 5:45 am at this time, packet pickup was supposed to start at 6:30 with the race starting at 7:30. He just looked at me like he usually does - like I'm completely out of my f'ing mind - and we left at 6:00, getting to the race site at 6:25 (Dead Moines truly lived up to its moniker of deadness at that hour on Sunday as we drove to Ankeny, which is a 'burb). They had the tables set up, I grabbed my packet, and then I rated the various runner's prowness based on their personal appearance as we had an awesome parking spot. Dad is a heart patient, and my Mom has Arthur-itis in her back and knees so they have a handicapped sticker about 20' from packet pickup.
Again, as I rated the runners, Dad looked at me like I was out of my mind.
The event took place in a park near City Hall... unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the park - should've grabbed the camera from Dad and took some pics, there was this flipping hilarious "No Swimming" sign posted on a duck pond in the park - and wound around a subdivision near majestic downtown Ankeny.
Ok, I knew I was in trouble - although I fully expected this run to suck, given the heat and smoke in Sacramento had totally thrown a wrench into run training this previous week - and based on the number of young people - i.e., fit college students - who seemed to make up the bulk of the runners, and the race size I'll guesstimate at 200-300. In other words, I was going to get dropped a lot, and feel more like 64 with something real bad wrong than merely 46 and somewhat out of prime running shape.
So, I jogged around the park for about 10 minutes, enjoying NOT! the humidity and the pollen in the air. I knew it would affect me a little - along with the massive lack of sleep - as I woke up 'gurling' with some congestion when I woke up this morning and after yesterday afternoon's nap.
I *know* I was tired as there were a TON of cute college girls there and I hardly noticed 'em at all. That is sad, and for that alone my Man Card should be shredded and I should be beaten with a sack of bamboo canes. Oh! The singer for the Star Spangled Banner was awesome, and a nice breeze kicked up as the start gun went off...