My First 5K

As part of my Triathlon training I ran a 5k this morning.  This is not only my first 5k, but my first organized run.  I met up with my training partner (Debbie) at the Frostbite 5k.

A week ago I was supposed to run a 4K. I didn’t even buy running shoes until two days before. I didn’t train at all. I was saved by bad weather. I didn’t run.

This past week I ran indoors at the YMCA. 1 mile, 3 times. Not a huge distance, but I did better than I thought I would. For some perspective, the last time I ran a mile, I was in high-school, and despite being lean and muscular I could barely breathe and almost vomited.

So today, I didn’t wimp out.  I even rode my bike to get there, which was a good idea due to lack of parking.  There were over 700 people running.

For the first 1.5 miles I kept up a good pace without walking. I think my first mile was about 11:30. After the halfway mark I did drop to a walk a couple of times to recover before getting back to a jog.

I saw a lot of Couch to 5K t-shirts. There were some icy spots on the road.

My finish time was 34:16. I did a lot better than I thought I would.

The ride home was at a leisurely pace. My legs are sore.

Some observations from a bicyclist point of view:

• Running requires fewer layers of clothes in cold weather
• A 5K run wasn’t bad, but a 5K bike ride is nothing
• I was generating enough heat during the entire run, it was like climbing a hill on the bike, constantly
• A lot of people run – how can we get them on bikes?
• Once the run was over, I quickly got chilled
• I had minor knee pain, and will probably look into one of those bands that goes around the leg just below the knee

I don’t think I’ll ever become a regular runner, but I’ll do it enough to train for my Triathlon in late July.