20:58, good enough for 3rd place

I have fond memories of the Shelter Island 5K event. In 2008 it was my first race ever. Because I was running in the LIVESTRONG Challenge Austin 5K, the 2009 Shelter Island 5K was not scheduled to be part of my race calendar. But the LIVESTRONG 5K was not a real 5K, so when I received an email reminder about Shelter Island, I signed up.

For this race, I just had one goal: set a new PR by finishing the race in under 20 minutes. With an average pace of 6:29 during LIVESTRONG, I knew that it was possible. In order to finish 3.1 miles in under 20 minutes, I need to run at a max pace of 6:25. So I set my sights on running a 6:15 pace.

On the morning of November 8th, I arrived at the start line at 6:00 AM to pick up my bib number. It would be another 45 minutes before I planned to do a little warm-up jog. At about 6:50 AM I did a one-mile jog and some light stretching. The national anthem played at approximately 7:25 AM. I stood at the front of the start line where all the people who plan to finish strong start these short sprint races (I suppose this is true). Surprisingly, a fellow Breakaway athlete, Dave Platfoot, said hello. I guess Dave and I were the only two athletes to skip the planned trail run to do this 5K instead. At 7:30 the starting horn went off.

I started out very fast after clearing the messy and crowded start line. For some strange reason there was this old, gray-haired man in the front of the starting pack, and as soon as the horn went off he raised his arms in the air and just stood there. Now don’t get me wrong. Normally, I have tremendous respect for elderly folks, but this was ridiculous. As I moved close to this old guy on my right, I shoved him out of my way with my right arm, “Get out of the way.” I confess it now so that I won’t have to do it later on when my career is over like Andre Agassi. So yes, I shoved an old man at the start of the Shelter Island 5K.

So the leading group of runners, which included Dave and myself, led out at a super fast pace, about 5:15 (??). In any case, it was way too fast. Unfortunately, I tried to keep that pace for about half a mile. I slowed down a little bit for the rest of the first mile, but I think I was running way too fast for my current ability at about 6:05. By mile 1.5 and mile 2, I was definitely feeling the redline of my heart rate, and I had slowed down to about 6:30. I knew at this point that I would not be finishing the race in under 20 minutes. For about 30 seconds I felt a little sorry for myself and disappointed. I saw my average pace slow to about 6:40 – 6:45 with about 0.75 miles left in the race. For the last half mile I attempted to sprint, thinking that I should finish the race with a time that began with 20 minutes rather than 21 minutes.

As I approached the finished line, I saw the race clock very close to the 21-minute mark. I heard the announcer screaming that there were 10 seconds remaining before the 21-minute mark. As the announcer counted down the seconds to 1, I crossed the line. The volunteers at the line handed me a slip that said 21:01. I looked at my Garmin, and it said 20:59. I am compelled to go with the “official” time because that’s what’s in the record books. I felt really disappointed to have missed the 21-minute mark by two seconds. But I consoled myself quickly with the very nice champagne brunch and the fact that I just bested my previous PR by almost one minute.

For brunch, I enjoyed lots of fruit, some powdered scrambled eggs, a little bacon, and a little breakfast burrito with salsa. I stayed away from the juices and alcohol. The Platfoots joined me at the table where we made small talk with some new runners who had just recently gotten into running.

Talking with the noobs reminded me of myself a little more than one year ago. I did my first training run on October 12, 2008, and ran my first race, the Shelter Island 5K less than one month later. My time last year was 21:56. I remember how I thought I was going to finish the race in 18 minutes. Yes, laugh out loud. During my one month of running I saw my 5K times decrease by three minutes each time I did a practice 5K. I remember some of my earliest 5K times were like 28 minutes, then 24 minutes, and my fastest ever in practice was 21:38. All these times were attained during my pre-Breakaway Training days. Even my recent 5K PR was set in April at 21:55 at the Carlsbad 5000. I joined Breakaway one month later in May 2009. After seven months of training with Breakaway, I entered this 5K knowing that breaking 20 minutes was realistic. My downfall today (if you want to call it that) was that I ran the first mile too fast. Dave Platfoot suggested that I run at about a 6:10 and just try to ignore the fast starters at the beginning.

After brunch we decided to check the posted official times. Dave finished second in his age group (30-34). I found my name on the 3rd page (!!), so I was very surprised to see that I had finished 3rd in my age group with an official time of 20:58. Not only did I get under the 21-minute barrier, but it was good enough for the podium. Oh the sweetness of the podium. How I missed that exuberant feeling. I immediately called Maria to share the good news, and I also placed a call to Murray who was responsible for getting me into all this running and multisport stuff.

We all waited for the awards ceremony to begin. They handed out awards to the youngest people first, so it took awhile. The overall race winner, a 16-year old, finished the race in 16:56. That’s just plain crazy. The cool thing about this awards ceremony is that there are lots of people there for it because of the super nice brunch they serve the finishers. So when they announced my name, I ran up to the stage amidst lots of congratulations and well-wishes from my fellow runners. So cool.

My prize was a $50 gift certificate for dinner at the Kona Kai hotel restaurant. Very nice. But honestly, I would have preferred a cheap medal instead. I know. I’m vain. But what can I say?

I’m so glad I signed up for the Shelter Island event this year. I have very fond memories of this race, my first race a year ago and my first running podium finish.