The Good News and Bad News

Ran the Brandon 5K this morning.  There is good news and bad news.  The good news is, I tried my new Bose SoundSport earbuds.  They worked super nicely.  They were plenty loud and comfortable and even though I was sweating, they did not come out of my ears or make sweaty popping noises in my ears.  The other good news was I was able to finish the race and still make it home to clean up and get to Sunday school and church on time.  I actually finished third in my age group, got my medal and even got a banana, a smoothie (with whey protein) and a slice of pizza.



The rest of the good news came after the race.  I needed to get in a few more miles to prepare for next weekend, so I went for a run after church.

I ran another 5k and ran it better than the race, so improvement is good.

The other great news was that I got one of my Christmas presents early... and it was super great and helpful for me on my second run.



In case you do not know what this is (I did not know)...  it is an anti chafe balm.  It is like a deodorant/antiperspirant stick, but for the purpose of making the area that normally chafes, nice and slickery.  I was a bit chafed after the race, so I was happy to have some lubricant to keep from chafing further.  It was really pretty nice.  I will definitely use this product again.

I suppose there is other good news.  I learned some stuff.  To be clear, the things I learned today, I already knew, but I generally need to receive the lessons more than once in order for them to sink in.  I learned -- again -- to not start the run too fast.  HOLY COWBOYS!!!! I have NO IDEA what I was thinking today.  It was a pretty small race, so I could see everyone.  When we started out, it sure seemed like everybody just TOOK OFF running.  I was feeling good and fresh and just went out with them.  I was cruising.  When I got to the first mile marker, all my technology told me that I had run mile 1 in 6:40 -- WAY TOO FAST... for me.  I have been training and running 7:20 or so.  6:40 is really fast for me.  But, heck, I was still feeling pretty good... UNTIL... I wasn't.  All of a sudden, my heart was flying.  My breathing was deep and fast and labored.  I had to stop and walk before I got to the mile 3 marker.  I WALKED!! in a 5K.  I was NOT happy!  So, I started running again, but had no real rhythm.  Mile 2 was still 7:45 even though I walked, but I could not hold it.  Heart was still beating out of my chest, and my breathing was heavy.  I WALKED TWO MORE TIMES in mile 3.  WHAT THE HECK.  I NEVER have to walk in a 5k.  But I did today.  Mile 3 was terrible, and I finished in 26 min or so.  Avg. pace 8:30 or so.  I have not seen the official results yet and I did not turn off my garmin or strava -- I was too mad!  I did not even pick up my medal at the finish.  Not happy!  I went back later and got it, as you can see above.

Note to self... do not start out too fast and gas.  It ain't worth it.  It don't work.  Oh, well.  They say that everybody has a bad race from time to time.  Maybe the good news is that I got the bad race out of the way and next weekend I can have a good one.  I did run again, after church, and ran much better, so I guess I learned my lesson.  I suppose I will get faster at some point.  Maybe 6:40 per mile will be no big deal at some point.  BTW... the guy in my age group that passed me during mile 3 asked me what happened.  I told him I started out too fast and ran mile 1 at 6:40.  He said, "OH MY!  If I had run a 6:40 mile, they would have to call an ambulance."  LOL.  Oh... and the anti-chafing BODY GLIDE stick worked great!