Busy weekend! Just a quick parkrun overview: official time was 31:03. Didn’t really have a plan per se, but decided to give it a good ol’ college try. My ultimate goal was to run kind of hard but not hard enough to completely destroy my body for the Sunday 5k. And in the end it worked out; my average pace was 10:00/mi and I actually achieved negative splits due to the first half being uphill. Once I hit the turnaround I decided to really hoof it and see what I could do going downhill. So 10:19, 10:01, and 9:50 were my mile paces, and once I hit the last bench (my little milestone post which also happens to be about .10 of a mile to the end I think), I pushed myself hard. 8:11 was my pace at the end. Pushing but not too much.
Then, I went to the corn maze at the Pumpkin Patch with my friend Missy. I got in for free because of my pass that I got for running the Foot Traffic Flat! Huzzah!
We successfully navigated the corn maze and then I went home and then I went out for a friend’s birthday party. Had a couple of drinks, which I don’t recommend doing the night before a race. Thankfully I paced myself and didn’t stay out all night.
Location: Oregon City, Oregon
Distance: 5k
Chip Time: 30:13
Pace: 9:44/mi
CVIM stands for Clackamas Volunteers in Medicine, by the way. I know you were wondering about that. The race benefits free healthcare to low income individuals in Clackamas County, Oregon, which is a great cause! I hope more people show up in the future.
This is the second time this race has been put on and so it was a very small crowd. Only 86 participants, most of them walking or running slowly, because I managed to get 19th place, which is … wild.
Pre-Race
After parkrun I drove to Oregon City, which I had never been to before. It is a lovely little town, and the Singer Hill Cafe, where I got my bib, was equally as lovely.
This is the library, with some type of religious building in the background. I sat and ate my breakfast from the cafe here–a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel, very tasty–and looked through my bag o’ swag.
Then, the next morning I … drove back to Oregon City. Sorry, this pre-race rundown isn’t that exciting. I did wear one of my pairs of running shorts, which I think is the first time I’ve done that for a race. They are pretty great, as long as I remember to put the anti-chafe stuff on my inner thighs. Which I did.
Swaaaag
One of the most surprising things was a hat! A baseball cap which, of course, does not fit me at all. No hats do. My head is the size of a small planet. But they also gave us some LIV hydration powder which I’ve never used before, and some lip balm. I appreciate when we get lip balm. All in a Clackamas Community College tote bag. I am flush with tote bags now.
After the race there were free Bombas socks and Vaseline moisturizer and cocoa butter lip balm. Two lip balms now! I am flush with lip balm. No medals for this one which made sense. Natural Grocers was there and gave out bags with some random stuff, mostly literature on how great they are. There was also a kiosk with a woman from United Healthcare to get people insurance if they need it I guess. She looked very bored to be there.
Atmosphere
When I arrived it almost looked like I was the only person there. A very small crowd of people, mostly much older people too. And a lot of groups of people who seemed to know each other. This is kind of a blessing and a curse for me; on one hand, it’s nice to have a smaller group race because it feels more personal (and often the gifts are better) but on the other hand, because so many people knew each other, I felt like an odd man out. But I wasn’t alone; there were some guys who were clearly good runners who also showed up and seemed like they were on their own. I think there are a lot of “lone wolf” runners out there; when I finished the Beaverton 5k and had to rush to get to parkrun right after, I noticed a lot of the singular people who were leaving early. People like me who show up, run, get medal and food, and leave.
It’s kind of a weird thing.
The Race
I’m around 90% sure that my time was ultimately determined by the amount of beers and lack of sleep I had last night, but the fact that I almost got sub-30 even after walking four or five times is a testament to my fitness progress. I started off strong–too strong, perhaps, as I was attempting to get a new PR. My mile 1 pace was 8:52, a new mile PR for me at least (and sub-9:00, woo), but I went off too fast and slowed down by a minute for the next two miles. However, the paces on those were 10:10 and 10:09, which is kind of surprising to me! I thought they would be more in the 11 minute range. Every time I started running after a short walk, my pace was well above 10 minutes.
I’m also getting good at sprinting to the finish. Not a proper sprint, mind you, but more of a … good hustle. So my extra .10 of a mile (.13 to be exact) was in the 8:21 range. Not too bad.
Like I said earlier, I think I could’ve done better if I hadn’t stayed out the night before. But I’m happy with my results, because it shows a higher fitness level overall.
After the race I went home! The end.
NEXT RACE REPORT WILL BE ON THE PORTLAND (HALF) MARATHON! Until then.
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