Two Days Worth of 5Ks!

Why not write a post that talks about what happened almost eight weeks ago?

My goal this summer was to run as many small-town 5Ks as possible, in the search of a sub-20 minute finish time. As I talked about in a previous post, I somehow managed to achieve this goal in my first race of the summer. I confess, after that happened, my desire to run tons of 5Ks decreased.

I did manage to run two other 5Ks over the summer and this is an abbreviated version of what happened.

The Kick Up the Dirt 5K, Bemidji, MN
A great excuse for a day trip, this 5K was about 2 1/2 hours from the house. On paper, it sounded like a great day out. I had vague childhood memories of Bemidji and figured it would provide for a day of entertainment followed by an exciting early evening trail run. The run was sponsored by the Bemidji Parks and Rec department and I was looking forward to a difficult, muddy run on the cross-country ski trails.

We arrived to Bemidji and it became clear that my childhood memories were worse than vague. I don't think I've ever been there. The highlight of any trip there is a photo in front of the Paul Bunyan statue, so we immediately did that.

 

Then we realized that this was the only thing to do in Bemidji.

We drove around the small downtown area looking for a cute cafe or restaurant and couldn't find anything. We eventually settled on the deli at the whole-foods co-op and ate at their picnic table. When we asked a recently arrived local for advice about shopping, she recommended Target and Wal-Mart. 

Commence "bad-ittude." Bummed out, we headed to the race and my negative attitude kept going. The race was on a manicured disc golf course and consisted of two laps. I almost cried when the woman explained the route to me. "Go all the way around the landfill, and ...(something)." I managed to convince myself that I wasn't going to do well. Then I didn't. The old adage about running being mostly mental is so true.I did however get a participant ribbon and the landfill was a beautiful, grass-covered hill in a beautiful park setting. So it wasn't that bad.

Good Neighbor Days Memorial 5K, Gordon, WI

One of the good things about running is the personal connections that are formed with running buddies. In 2012, during the Garry Bjorklund 1/2 Marathon, I was reunited with my best friend from High School. Since then, running has been a bond that has rekindled a cherished friendship. We ran the 2013 Bjorklund and met up to celebrate each others' achievements after the race. In that spirit, we coordinated to run this 5K.

It was a beautiful day in Gordon and the organizers assured the racers that last year's problems with the race distance (closer to 7K than 5K) wouldn't happen again.

Seth and I took off from the starting line and ran the first segment out of the parking lot. (See Map featuring "varied terraine(sic)" below).

From the parking lot, the race progressed almost straight uphill. I never run hills. This was tough. The hill plateaued for a second, then went back uphill. And turned to sand. Then we cut from the sand road to crushed gravel. I mean, this route was tough. It didn't help that an 11 or 12 year old passed me. Then another guy, then another and the first woman finisher passed me too. I kept going, but it was grueling. Then I looked at watch. Impossibly, a sub-20 minute was a possibility. I turned on the gas for the last bit, but came across in 20:01. I couldn't believe it. The course was crazy hard, and I almost PR'ed! Seth came in right after me and we celebrated a #1 and #2 spot for our age division. Then we looked at our GPS. Mine said 2.83 miles and his said about 2.9 miles. Oh well. At least it wasn't 7K. And I had fun with an old friend. And I got my first trophy. See what can happen when you don't have a "bad-ittude?"

Lady Bomber 5K

**DISCLAIMER** No ladies were harmed during this run.

Michele Caputo picked quite a run to have dedicated. It's a big day for me.

Today's run was a 5K race. I've made a goal of researching all of the local 5Ks for the summer, with an eye on running as many of them as possible. I love small towns, and I especially love their 5Ks. Last summer Kate and I tried to visit as many local "Days" as possible. Small town festivals are wonderful. Lots to eat, fun crafts to buy and great parades, etc.

This particular 5K was a part of Barnum, Minnesota's "Spring Fever Days." Now, you might be asking, why would a town have a Spring Fever Days in June? Well, let's just say that summer(and spring) came late to the area this year. Kate and I decided to head to Barnum for the race because I thought it wasn't too far from Duluth. We headed into Duluth for the afternoon and set out for Barnum around 4:45. The race was scheduled for 6pm, so the timing was perfect. Or so I thought. We hit road construction traffic immediately upon leaving Duluth and I decided to check the Google Map directions to get to Barnum. That's when I found out it was 37 miles away. Gulp. I started to think that the whole trip down to Duluth and to Barnum was going to turn out to be a complete waste of time.

Nervously, I kept driving and the traffic eventually broke. We reached Barnum in time to register, change and warm up.

Here's where it gets interesting.

This summer I've made a goal of trying to run a sub 20 minute 5K. It's a really fast pace for me, but I've been close in the past so it's reasonable. I kept this in mind as I set out at the starting gun on the Lady Bomber 5K (which is named for the Barnum High School's basketball team, not a misogynistic sadist routine, by the way). I started the race hot, as usual and ran my first mile in less than 7 minutes. That was good, because I had been obsessively working out paces all afternoon. It was uncomfortable, but not impossible. There were only a few people in front of me, but I was out to achieve my goal, not win the race. After the turn-around (it was an out-and-back) I noticed that none of the frontrunners had an orange sticker that indicated my age group. If I could maintain my pace, I'd break my goal and win my age division. That was good motivation to keep it up and my second mile came in slower than the first, but in the low seven minute plus range. Chugging along into the third mile, I started looking for inspiration as I looked at my watch and remembered why I run. My fundraising is important to me and this year it's more important than ever. I channeled my son Ellis and asked for a little bit of help, thought of my wife and my son Arlo waiting at the finish line and I decided that I was going to make the haul to Barnum worth it. I dug in and kept the hard pace. Around that time, a young kid passed me. I thought to myself, "I could use him to pace me and get me in on time." That lasted for about 2 yards as he cruised past. Damn 17 year-olds.

I knew it was going to be close as the finish line came into view. I was full out sprinting as the next 5 seconds stood still. I looked at my watch and had no idea what I saw. I saw the finish line clock at 19:something. I saw Kate with her hand in the air, yelling at me to push it for the last few strides. Then I saw the kid in front of me buckle (I thought he was passing out). Then I saw the lady in front of him waving us to the right so we would hit the finish chute. I ducked under a ribbon and another lady (maybe a Bomber?) took off my finishing tab. That was at 20:something.

The next few minutes were doubts and questions. Did I finish under 20? Would I have if I didn't have to duck and swerve at the end? How close was I?

The doubts stuck in my head until Monday when the results were posted and I saw my name as the 5th overall, 1st in age group, 19:59 finisher.

I did it!

Thanks again for the donations! They really make a difference.

https://www.coloradogives.org/forellis

RUN STATS:

Distance - 5K

Time - 19:59

Soundtrack - Assorted Green Day songs, of all things.