The Race

Christy and I decided to register for a race in hopes that the commitment would help us get out and exercise. It worked. Knowing that I was going to be running in a 5K, got me out of the house 3 times a week. It even pushed me to run farther than I normally do.

A couple of weeks before the race, my knees started hurting. They do that a lot. It could be because I didn't stretch good enough, or because I was running on the sidewalk instead of in the dirt, or because I needed new shoes. I hoped it was one of the first two and tried stretching better and finding more opportunities to run in the dirt. But, when my hip started hurting, too, I knew it was my shoes. A week before the race I was still training in my old shoes and limping half way through my run.

I decided to make a trip to my favorite running shoe store--The Runner's Den on 16th Street between Glendale and Bethany Home. (Now maybe you can see why I was hoping to put it off until after the race.) They have fitted me for shoes in the past and have helped me find ones that give me the right support. The guy who helped me said I would be OK to run in my new shoes for a 5K, but if I was doing a marathon not to even try.

I went out the next morning in my new shoes to try them out and try to break them in a little. My hip didn't hurt, but my knee still did. I just knew that I'd have to take it a little easy of the race.

The morning of the race, I picked up Christy and we headed to the race. It was out here in Surprise. We got our numbers and stuff and started warming up. There were a lot of people. I couldn't believe how many kids there were. There were even a few moms pushing strollers. One of the stoller pushing moms and I were pacing (is that the right term?) each other the last half. She would pass me and then I would pass her and so on. But, when the finish line was in sight and she passed me, I thought to myself "I can't let someone pushing a stroller beat me," so I picked up the pace and passed her one last time. I finished before her, but as Jonathan pointed out I didn't beat her.

It was fun to race. I finished 68th out of 137 racers with a time of 31:06. I think that was pretty good for a first time. Now I have a time to beat the next time I run and yes, there will be a next time. Who wants to join me?