Hustle or Hustled?

Most 5Ks are run as awareness and fundraising vehicles for charities. Larger races like the marathon and half marathon are corporate sponsored, but are done simply for the sake of runners; no one is making a profit. The 5K I ran yesterday, on the other hand was organized by a company designed to make money. This was the second for-profit race I've done this summer, in addition to the one I spectated, but I won't make this mistake again.

Yesterday's run was called the Santa Hustle 5K. I finished it in 26:16, a full 1:30 faster than my PR from this summer. I tweeted out that time, along with my shock, because I didn't feel that I had run that quickly. It turns out that the course, although certified, was about 1/5-1/4 of a mile short of a full 5K. The corrected distance of 4.65K seems to be the reality, but it's really going to be hard to know positively what the distance was, because the race organizers are covering their asses. They're issuing corporate statements that sound apologetic, without actually taking any blame. If I recalculate my pace based on this distance, my pace was 9:05 per mile, meaning I would have a 28:13 for a 5K.

I'm ok with that pace and time. It's slower than my last race, but not by much. The race went fine, so 28:13 seems reasonable. The first mile seemed like I was running slowly, nowhere near the 8:55 that my chronograph clocked between the start gate and the first mile marker. The field was too crowded to get any speed going, though. There was a 180 degree turn after about a mile and a half that immediately encountered the crowd-slowing hydration station. I ran the third "mile" a minute faster than my first or second mile, which seemed unlikely to me, especially considering I walked part of it while taking off my jacket.

Charity races tend to be capped at 2,000-4,000 people to make sure they run smoothly. For-profit races don't do that, because it would limit profits, so they end up with double the number of runners, if not even more. This leads to many problems with the race going off smoothly. One for-profit race this year had lines of 2-3 hours for packet pick-up because of the 40,000+ participants and poor planning. The other for-profit race I did this summer started 30 minutes late because of a vendor and people had to wait 10 minutes while a bridge lifted for a boat to pass, in the middle of their race. Those runners also had to dodge tourists during the last .2 miles of the course because it was held at a tourist attraction with no roped off course.

These races attract people because they have a clever concept and/or great swag. I received a Santa hat and beard yesterday, in addition to a long-sleeve tech shirt that looks like Santa's jacket. Others give out really expensive running jackets, sweatshirts and medals. They have much better marketing behind them, too. It makes sense; if you're making money, you can pay for a good ad campaign, which will lead to bigger profits. Charities don't want to spend money on marketing that could be better spent on their actual cause.

I don't want these for-profit races to disappear. I think they are a great gateway for new runners. People who may never consider running otherwise may be lured in by the fun concept and giveaways. If these races get more people into running, they serve at least one good purpose. Personally, I will just avoid them in the future. They aren't providing me with the product I actually want when I pay to run a race.

5K Double Header

On Saturday, I will be running in two 5Ks. I cross the starting line of my first one at the Klement's Sausage House right by Miller Park in Milwaukee. That's at 8am. At 6:30pm I will cross the starting line of the second race on Lombardi Avenue by Lambeau Field. I am hoping for some big things from these races. I am postponing my 16 mile team run until Monday after work, so I want it to be worth it.

Last year, I ran the Lambeau Field 5K a week after the 16 mile run and I was still in pain. I probably had a stress fracture in my femur already, just didn't realize it. I still managed to finish the 5K in 33 minutes, but that was the last real run I had until November. That was a long time without running. I don't have any of those problems this year at all. I am not walking with a limp, and only have a slight tweak in one thigh, but only after I run.

I have never really said this before a race before, but I want a personal record (PR) on Saturday. The last 5K I ran was at the end of April and I finished in 28:43, for a 9:15 pace. That is my PR and it was almost 40 seconds faster than before. I did run a timed 3 miles a week after I set that PR and finished a bit faster than 9:15 per mile. I think I can run faster than that on Saturday. I don't think I can do it in both races, but in the morning one. I know that running at 6:30 after driving and an earlier 5K may slow me down.
I don't know what time I am setting as my goal. In reality, 28:42 would be great, because it would be my new PR. However, I know that won't make me truly happy. I shaved almost 40 seconds with my last PR, so 28:00 would be amazing. That would put me in the top 10% of my age bracket, something I never really imagined. I just have to average 9 minutes per mile. I think I can do that. It is only 3.1 miles.

After thinking about this for a while, I really want to break 28 minutes. I will be shooting for 9 minute miles. I've come close to that pace for that distance before, I can do it again. I will post tomorrow to let you know how I did.

Personal Record

I love running. I love the egalitarian nature of the sport. I love that most races are held at breakfast time so I can feel that I've accomplished a full day's worth of activity before noon. I love that when I'm in a race, my main competition is me in the last race. There may be people that seem to be right next to me the entire course and I want to pass them, but they're more of a rabbit, not competition. That last part is my favorite. I ran a 5K yesterday and finished in the top third of my 35-39 age bracket. That's better than my normal middle of the pack finish. I finished in the top third of all women; that's also better than my normal placement. That's all nice, and does show me that I am improving. Better than all of that is the fact that I ran :39 faster than my prior best time in a 5K. That is a victory.

I love other sports, but the objective nature of running really appeals to my analytical nature. Hours can be devoted to whether the Green Bay Packer team of 1996 was better than the team in 2010, but there is no way to know the answer. I can tell you, with proof, that I ran more quickly yesterday than I did in 2010. I can argue that I ran farther yesterday than I ran in 2010, but that is impossible to prove, since I didn't use GPS either time. This is one of the main reasons I love running, but it's also the hardest to really believe. We are taught from an early age that if you're not first, you're last. I don't think it's expressed directly that way very often, but that's the message given from most competitions. People can name the World Series or Super Bowl winners, but not the teams they beat. We can name presidents, but not the other candidate. Unless you're an elite runner, it's different. You can name your time, but not the winner's name or time.

Day 74C--16 Miles

That is how far I ran on Saturday. A new personal record in both time and distance. Luckily, the heat and humidity broke a bit, so I didn't want to die right away. I did want to die about mile 12, though. My legs were starting to get super sore and did not want to keep going. The only thing that got me through the rest of the run was sheer stubbornness. I was not going to fail at my run. Here are my mile splits:
14:08--mile 1 (I have no idea why this was so slow.)
11:40--mile 2
11:36--mile 3
11:34--mile 4
12:23--mile 5
15:10--mile 6 (this included our first gatorade/water stop)
11:24--mile 7
11:43--mile 8
12:02--mile 9
12:48--mile 10
14:06--mile 11 (our second gatorade/water stop. Also lots of stretching)
13:11--mile 12
12:07--mile 13
13:51--mile 14 (third gatorade/water stop with hosing off.)
12:44--mile 15
11:49--mile 16

Because of the heat, we ran a 4:1 interval, instead of 5:1, so our overall pace was slower. Although, looking at the splits, I see that miles that we didn't stop for food or water were run at our normal 11:30 pace.

I wanted to cry when the run was done. My legs were so sore that driving was difficult. I had a hard time moving my right leg between the gas and the brake. I had to push it with my hand. Luckily, I was in really slow traffic and a short drive, so I didn't have to switch back and forth very often. I went home and spent much of the next hour soaking in a cold bath, which helped a lot. I was able to get out of the house later that day and walk to the train & to the movies.


This weekend's run has led me to discover a new muscle. It's commonly called the IT band, which is short for iliotibial band. I think mine became problematic from walking and running unevenly because of my tight calves. I will be spending the next few days stretching that out so I can continue to run comfortable. I will also make sure to keep my calves and thighs stretched so they don't put excess stress on my IT band.

Day 53C--8 miles

Today was the 8 mile run. The weather was perfect; a bit cold to begin, but then the running made us warmer. We ran at an 11:24 pace, which is close enough to 11:30 for all of us to be happy. Actually, the pace includes a bathroom break of 2 minutes and a Gatorade/water stop of another minute, so our running was even faster. Either way, I am happy that we finished and finished strong.

Our entire group of seven women finished together as a group, despite ankle issues and way too much chafing. The ankle issues belonged to Jenn and the chafing was all mine. I will be looking into other ways of defending against this. It's like a skinned knee, but after you've hurt it, you continue to rub it repeatedly for more hours. It's not super painful, but it's also not pleasant. I also have a black toe, which I got last week on the 7 mile run, and will probably have the rest of the training. It hurts like a bruise right now, but I'm scared that it will hurt worse when the nail starts to fall off.

Even with all of that, I am so happy that I finished my run. It is the longest I've ever run at a stretch and I felt so good when it was over, that I even did some yoga to stretch out my muscles. I'm now off for a ton of walking. It's summer festival time and I'll be walking to and from the festival and all over for a few hours.