Just Keep Swimming: Johnny's Run Like Hell Race Report

On Saturday, I raced a 5K called "Johnny's Run Like Hell" that is one of my favorite local races. It starts at 3 pm at a bar (Johnny's Irish Pub), and ends at the same bar. Awards are given out in the bar. Prizes? Bottle of wine. Throw into the mix a fantastic long-sleeved, Halloween themed, t-shirt and I am sold.

Several people I knew were doing the race: Kim A., the Krazy Kellmans, K-Dub (our resident neurosurgeon who was on call during the race), Travis and his sister Jenna, along with some others.

Travis, Kim, me, Dave, Jennie, MK post-race

I met Kim and Travis at his sister's house (which was 1 or 2 blocks from Johnny's) at around 2 pm. We hung out as she got her family ready for the race (i.e. her husband donned his Willy Wonka costume and their 2 twins, their oompa loompa paint). It was hysterical and adorable! Kim, Travis and I then made our way to the race site, I did a brief warm up (because it was chilly out!) and we lined up.

Willy Wonka and 2 of his oompa loompas!

I had no expectations for this race, based on my fluctuating off-season training and lack of running any distance over 6 miles since Ironman Wisconsin. But, this would be a good test to see just how much fitness I had lost, how much slower had I gotten after an intense long course season of 2 Ironmans, and just a good race that I was planning on enjoying. I wore Gary the vibrating Garmin and my HR monitor to collect data for Mary.

I am never good at pacing 5Ks. I figured I would take the first mile out at 7 min. pace and go from there. My 5K PR is just under 22 minutes (21:48 or something like that) and it was actually at this race in 2009. That year my average pace was just under 7:00 min/mile. So I figured this was safe, as the first mile is always a little fast. Plus, at this race, the first mile has a significant downhill. I have always run 5Ks with this particular strategy: run your first mile conservatively, the 2nd mile steady, and then push the last mile. The last 0.1 is the kick into the finish. I think I picked that up running XC in high school and it has worked fairly well for me (although I never actually negative split anything anyways).

Anyways, the race started, and I was off and running! I hit 1 mile in 6:55. Oops, a little fast! Mile 2 had a medium sized hill to run up and then there were some twisty turns. Mile 2s pace was 7:15. I blame the hill. Mile 3 has this long, unfortunate hill to the finish (the same one you run down at the start) where you can hear the announcer but you can't see the finish, and then when you finally do see the stupid orange cones, it takes FOREVER to get there. By this point, I was tired and cramping and was ready to be done. My 3rd mile split slowed to 7:29.

Overall time: 22:56 (per my Garmin) with an average pace of 7:15. (Per the results: 22:57 gun time with an average pace of 7:24). Weird how they are so different.

So, while this was ~70 seconds slower than my 5K PR, I was THRILLED to go under 23 minutes. I haven't run a 5K in over a year, I have barely been running, and all of my run times in triathlons during the year have been crappy. I know it's ridiculous, but I was worried that any speed I had managed to develop over the past few years had been destroyed, so I am happy to know that it's still there somewhere!

And now, please be as amused as I am by this photo montage taken by Tim (big head in the hat) with his iPad 2 while we were hanging out after the race outside the bar. Who brings their IPAD to take photos with? This guy! But it was hilarious because as he was holding it up to take the panorama, we all saw ourselves in the screen and were giggling/trying to get into the shots.

I was 11th female and won my AG, so I took home a medal and a lovely bottle of red wine!

me (AG winner), Jennie (overall W winner), Matt K. (AG winner)

After the race, Kim, Travis and I went back to Jenna's house to change into warm clothes, and then headed back to the bar for post-race drinks, socializing, and award collecting. We hung out for a while with various friends, and then we went back to get our cars after everyone started to get cold. Travis and Kim left, and I went back into the bar to go to the bathroom, saw Matt Kellman still in there, and the next thing I knew I had a beer in my hand and I was having a conversation with John Tuttle, who ran in the 1984 Olympic Marathon. He's now a competitive Master's runner who was in town for some Master's championship in Perinton that I had no idea was happening. Anyways, it was pretty cool to meet a running legend! Even one that was very, very drunk and raced in the Olympics the year that I was born. I also made 2 new friends who were being entertained by Matt Kellman and Tim Dwyer's bar antics.