This past Saturday I ran in a local 5K. The location was the rail trail where I normally train, so I know it well. I had debated all week about whether or not to run it, given my current back injury. I had had an awful run the Tuesday before and had to stop due to back spasms. On Thursday I had a fair, but slow, run.
Last year I had
PRed at this race. It was difficult to go back this year and run it knowing I would be much slower. But...I decided that the day I don't do a race because I worry it won't be my fastest is the day I need to hang up my running shoes. I need to remember that I run because I truly love it and not let my competitive self get in the way.
I decided to go ahead and run it and try to stuck to around 10 minutes miles, because it seems the faster I go the worse my back is.
I arrived to the race about 20 minutes prior to the start. It was a very small race...just over 100 people and completely flat, out and back course. I grabbed my packet, put on my number and started my warm-up.
Before I knew it, we were off. It was very hard at the start to stick to 10:00 miles. I wanted to take off and run my best, but didn't want my back to give out in the middle, so I stuck to my pace.
By the time I made it to the halfway turn-around I was sore, but it was manageable. I kept on chugging along. By the time I hit 2 miles I picked up the pace a bit. I ran the last 1/2 mile at my normal 5K pace and was sore but able to finish it. My final time was 29:42....a far cry from last year's 26:52. But, I was glad I got out there and stuck it out.
About 1/4 mile from the end there was a man collapsed on the side of the course being loaded onto a golf cart to be taken to the ambulance at the finish. He was a tall, built guy and was a complete rag doll at the time...4 large men struggled to get him on. My guess is dehydration. It was very hot and humid. Kind of a scary finish to the race.
So...not the most interesting race report. I have since the race been fitted for an SI support and ran with it yesterday and my back felt great, which is awesome. I will talk a little more about my back injury and PT in my next post. :)
Here I am after the race: